Costal Breathing (Chest Respiration)

呼吸には，大きく，胸式呼吸と腹式呼吸がある。幼児を除く現代人にとっての自然な呼吸は胸式呼吸であり，息を吸う際には胸（胴体の上部）を膨らませる（肋骨を開く）ので腹が凹み，息を吐く際にはその凹んだ腹が元に戻る。日本においてラジオ体操や学校で指導されるいわゆる”深呼吸”は，大きく胸を開いて空気をできるだけ多く吸い込むようにする胸式呼吸である。ここでは，息を吸うことに重点が置かれている。

Breathing is roughly classified into two groups; costal and abdominal. Natural breathing for people of today except infants is costal breathing (chest respiration), in which the abdomen becomes hollow in inhaling since that the chest (the upper part of the body) swells as the ribs are stretched or expanded, while the hollow abdomen returns to be as before (the abdomen swells) in exhaling. The "deep breathing" learned in school or Radio Exercise in Japan is costal one, which requires us to inhale as much air as possible by swelling the chest widely. Here, it put a stress on the process of inhaling.

Breath

空手の真髄は，呼吸である。坐禅と同じく，空手も，丹田呼吸を行う。他の武道でも通常，丹田呼吸が求められるが，空手は特に呼吸を強調・重視する。徒手空拳の武道である空手では，呼吸と身体動作を精妙に合わせることが，戦いのための奥義であると考えられている。

Breath is the essence of karate. We breathe in and out by tanden breathing in karate as well as in zazen. Indeed tanden breathing is usually required in other martial arts, but karate especially emphasizes the importance of breathing. In karate, as a martial art without arms, putting breath and physical movements together harmoniously is thought to be the heart of fighting.

Posture (position) of the Above-the-waist

空手の稽古，特に形（型）の稽古をするときの上半身の姿勢は，坐禅をするときの姿勢と同じである。すなわち，背筋を伸ばし，肩を落とし，顎を引き，腹式呼吸をして丹田に意識を置く。

Posture (position) of the above-the-waist in practicing karate, especially katas, is the same as one in zazen. That is, in both karate and zazen, we have our back straight, our shoulders lowered, our chin drawn, and focus in on our Tanden through abdominal breathing.

KATA Naifanchi

KATA Naifanchi
Naifanchi is one of the most important KATAs in Shito-ryu, or Okinawan classical karate.

The movie below is Naifanchi of Shito-kai.

The movie below is Naifanchi played by Choshin Chibana sensei, the founder of Shorin-ryu, in his later years.

There are three Katas named Naifanchi: Shodan, Nidan, and Sandan. Naifanchi Shodan is the original but anonymous one, while Nidan and Sandan was made by Anko Itosu sensei, the master at Shuri-te (karate in Shuri area), who is known as the restorer of Okinawan karate. Choshin Chibana sensei was one of immediate pupils of Anko Itosu sensei.

Encyclopedia of Okinawan karate and Martial Arts

『沖縄空手古武道事典』　 高宮城繁・新里勝彦・仲本政博（編著）　柏書房

In this encyclopedia, shito-ryu is introduced as Okinawan karate. Especially, in the chapter describing katas of Okinawan karate, the katas of both Shito-ryu and three major schools in Okinawa (Shorin-ryu, Okinawa Goju-ryu, and Uechi-ryu) are arranged in parallel. Photographs of my grandmaster, the head of Seisyukan, Minoru Nishida sensei performing the katas of Shito-ryu are inset.