Shotokan Kata · Advanced (Dan grade)
Step through all 48 movements. Use the arrows or press play. These are simplified schematics — pair them with the written sequence below and your instructor.
Note: the second jump (42) lands in ryōte-fuse — both palms on the floor. The upright schematic shows a low crouch as a stand-in; watch a JKA video for the true landing.
Kankū Shō is the advanced sibling of Kankū Dai — where Dai is the long, foundational “sky-viewing” kata, Shō is shorter, quicker and more athletic, and it assumes you already own Dai’s fundamentals. Its lessons are speed, spinning control and defence against a weapon: much of the second half is themed as answering an attack with a staff (bō) — catching it in both palms and pushing it away — and it demands two committed jumps that must land balanced and on-line.
Structurally it is built around three near-identical combat combinations (a grasping block, a front kick with a two-handed pull, a spinning back-fist, then block-and-punch), performed to different compass directions along the same embusen as Kankū Dai. The two jumps — a spinning leap onto a knife-hand block, and a flying crescent/back-kick that drops to the floor — are almost certainly a 20th-century addition by Gigō Funakoshi.
A text reference for the whole kata, following the current JKA count.
| # | Technique | Stance / turn |
|---|
Accuracy note: the current JKA count is 48 (Nakayama’s older Best Karate Vol. 9 counted 47); other schools group it as ~30 or 39. Kiai on 6 & 48 and the two jumps (29, spinning kaiten-tobi → shutō-uke; 42, flying mikazuki → ushiro-geri → ryōte-fuse) are corroborated across JKA sources. Per-move left/right and the exact move-42 kick sequence are the least consistently documented online — verify against Nakayama’s Vol. 9 and a JKA video.
Each links to a full breakdown in the techniques glossary.
Read Kankū Shō as fast counters, weapon defence, and evasion by jumping.
The augmented grasping block seizes an attacking arm; a front kick with a two-handed pull unbalances the attacker into the kick; the spinning back-fist and punch finish — one flowing combination, drilled to three directions.
Both palms catch a thrusting bō, then push it away and off-line — the defining weapon-defence theme that separates Shō from Dai.
The spinning jump evades a low attack and lands ready in a knife-hand guard; the flying crescent-and-back-kick clears attackers on two lines before dropping low to the floor to recover and counter.
The three grasp-kick-back-fist sets must match in speed and sharpness to each direction — letting the second or third get sloppy is an immediate flag.
The kaiten-tobi is a fast spin on the spot landing balanced in kokutsu-dachi with the knife-hand block — not a high, floaty leap.
Move 42 should be, in Nakayama’s words, a fairly level spin into a sudden drop to ryōte-fuse — controlled and low, ready to rise, not a crash.
Shō is faster and more acrobatic and adds the staff theme. Performing it at Dai’s tempo, or missing the bō-uke intent, misses the kata.
As an advanced dan-grade kata, Kankū Shō is judged on fast, identical repeated combinations delivered to the correct directions, committed staff-defence intent, two controlled jumps landing balanced and on-line (the spinning knife-hand at 29, the floor drop at 42), and the two kiai on moves 6 and 48. Speed, spinning control and clean landings distinguish a strong performance. Requirements vary by association — confirm with your dōjō.
The illustrations on this page are study schematics — they show the shape of each move, not a real body in motion. To see Kankū Shō performed at full speed by senior instructors, watch reference footage:
▶ Watch “Kankū Shō” performances on YouTubeOpens a YouTube search in a new tab. Look for JKA / Japan Karate Association or established Shotokan instructor demonstrations for the most standard version of the form.
Or explore the full kata library.