KATA VIDEOS

My Kata:

I have had many requests for a listing of my Mokuroku-No Kata., catalogue of kata. So this page sets forth the kata of the Goshin-Do Karate-Do style that I teach and practice.

I have had the pleasure of learning several Kata from other styles of Karate-Do and still perform the Kata as a means of remembering the people who shared them with me. However, in the final analysis, the Goshin-Do Karate-Do style is the style that has found a treasured place in my heart.  In addition, while I have training in Ryukyu Kobudo (ancient weapons art of Okinawa), I have only set forth Karate kata below; for a listing of my kobudo kata, please use this link: https://senseijohn.me/2010/03/21/mokuroku-no-kata-goshin-do-ryukyu-kobu-jitsu/

Unless noted, all Kata are derived from the Mokuroku No Kata of the Goshin-Do Karate-Do style of Karate of Shihan Thomas DeFelice, Ku-Dan (9th Degree Black Belt), Menkyo Kaiden. Shihan DeFelcie’s Sensei were Hanshi Frank Van Lenten (who founded the Goshin-Do Karate-Do Kyokai) and Shihan Al Gossett.

For various reasons, Shihan DeFelice divorced himself from Hanshi Frank Van Lenten’s Goshin-Do Karate-Do Kyokai on August 3rd, 1970. He then sought to redefine and refine the kata syllabus. The result was a solidified Kata curriculum (under the Goshin-Do Karate-Do banner) that has remained unchanged since 1975.

Goshin-Do Karate-Do Patch Of Shihan Thomas DeFelice

Notwithstanding the above, the Kata for the Black Belt Ranks of San-Dan and Yon-Dan (3rd and 4th Degree Black Belt) remained incomplete and subject to future development. The development of kata requirements for these ranks was never forthcoming by Shihan DeFelice. As such, Sensei John Szmitkowski drew upon the vast resources of his knowledge of kata extraneous to the Goshin-Do Karate-Do style and incorporated relevant advanced kata for these ranks.  The Kata taught at these ranks, as set forth below, are unique to those Yudansha that studied Goshin-Do Karate-Do under the direct tutelage of Sensei Szmitkowski.

Issho-Dojo Patch Of Sensei John Szmitkowski

The following is the Kata curriculum of Goshin-Do Karate-Do: (The Kata are presented by Name – rank requirement – translation of Kanji – note as to source system) – Some kata have videos – some videos feature archival footage of Shihan Frank Van Lenten & a contemporaneous performance of the kata by Sensei John Szmitkowski filmed outdoors in beautiful natural locations for an aesthetically pleasing experience.

Taikiyoku  – 10th kyu – To Build the Body and the Spirit    (1)

Dai Nihon Teno – 9th kyu – Great Japan Heavenly Kata (1)

Sanchin – 9th kyu – Three Battles (2) – here are two very unique videos:

Sanchin in the snow with winter poems

Sanchin (Shobu version) with vultures

Ten-Ni-No – 8th kyu – To Rise Above The Common (3)  Ten-Ni-No Kata filmed in 1985 and a 2013 snowstorm

Fuku Kata – 7th kyu – “Vice (As In Vice-president)” (4) video of Fuku Kata  filmed in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona

Gekisai – 7th kyu – To Destroy (4) a video spanning 1960’s to 2012 (filmed in the last snowstorm of 2012)

Kanto – 7th kyu – Fighting Spirit (5) video filmed in a snowstorm and the desert of the Superstition Mountains, Arizona

Seienchin – 6th kyu – Calm in The Storm, Storm in the Calm – also -Walk Far To Quell & Conquer (2) – Video filmed at beautiful Cape Cod, MA

Wansu – 5th kyu – Flying Swallow, also known as the Dumping Kata & Name of A Chinese Envoy (6) Video spanning 1960’s to 2012 (filmed in the last snowstorm of 2012)

Ananku – 5th kyu – Fight To The South, also Peace from the South (7)  – Video featuring Hanshi Van Lenten(CapeCod & NY Skyline)

Chin-Ni-No – 4th kyu – To Rise Above The Earth (3)

Seisan – 3rd – kyu -13 Hands (7) – Video featuring Hanshi Van Lenten

Gojushiho – 2nd kyu – 54 steps (of the Black Tiger in the White Crane System) also “Useishi” in Okinawan language -The Phoenix (7) video 1960 to 2012 (filmed in a snowstorm)

Seipai – 1st kyu – 18 Hands (2) Video featuring commentary by Shihan Thomas DeFelice,  & Seipai in the snow with Sensei John Szmitkowski

Chinto – Sho-dan – Fight To The East also,Name of A Chinese Sailor (7) – Video featuring Hanshi Van Lenten (also Cape Cod & Ringwood, NJ scenery)

Tensho – Ni-dan – Turning Hand (2) Video filmed in a snowstorm

Bo Kata No Sho – Ni-dan – First Bo Kata (5)

Chatan Yara No Sai  – Ni-dan –   Sai Kata of Yara   (8)

Suparunpei (Pechurin) – San-dan  –  108 Hands (2) – Video  (filmed at beautiful Cape Cod, MA)

Hakutsuru – San-dan –  White Crane (9)

Nami-Kiribi   –  Yon-dan –  Cutting Wave (10)  – video filmed at Highland Lighthouse, Cape Cod

RARE ABANDONED KATA RECONSTRUCTED

The following are Goshin-Do Karate-Do Kyokai kata (abandoned when the kyokai was disbanded in 1983) which I recreated using archival text, notes, photos and film also featured in the videos

Sunsu Kata; Not only does this video feature footage of Hanshi Van Lenten performing his version of this hallmark kata of Isshin-Ryu Krate-Do, it also shows Shimaboku, Tatsuo Sensei’s recognition of Hanshi Van Lenten as a Ju-Dan, 1oth degree black belt.

Jion Kata: A very rare version of the traditional kata recreated at Goldfield Ghost Town, Arizona

Jitte Kata: A very rare version of the traditional kata recreated at Goldfield Ghost Town, Arizona

Kunchaba Kata: Hanshi Van Lenten’s version of this Uechi-Ryu Kata (Kanshiwa Kata)

NOTES:

(1) These Kata are of Japanese origin and were included in the Goshin-Do system by Shihan Frank Van Lenten as a tribute to Sensei Gichen Funakoshi.

(2) These Kata are derived from the Goju-ryu system; derived from the original Kata taught by Masanobu Shinjo.

(3) Ten-Ni-No and Chi-Ni-No are the companions to two other kata, Jin-I-No and Sansai Kata. All four kata were created by Seiken Shukumine (1925-2001). The four kata were representative of a style of Karate-Do he created and named Genseiryu. The kata themselves were created by Shukumine-Sensei between the years 1953 and 1962 when he abandoned the Genseiryu style. These two kata were incorporated into the Goshin-Do Karate-Do style in or about 1975 by Shihan Thomas DeFelice as part of organizing a new Karate-Do Association – the Bergen Beikoku Karate-Do Renmei with the two other co-founders: Sensei, Howard Viele & George Chalian. The two kata were requirements of this new association.

(4) The Gekisai Kata and the Fuku Kata are derived from the Gekisai-San Kata and Fuku Kata of Sensei Toguchi.

(5) These Kata were developed by Shihan Frank Van Lenten directly. In the case of the Kanto Kata, the Kata was developed and demonstrated to Shihan Van Lenten’s instructors as an example of the Goshin-Do Karate style. In the case of Bo Kata No Sho, the Kata was developed as a means of introducing the Karate-Ka to the Art of Kobu-jitsu.

(6) The Kata Wansu is derived from the Isshin-Ryu system of Karate as a tribute to Sensei Tatsuo Shimabuko who taught the system to Shihan Van Lenten.

(7) These Kata are derived from the Shorin-Ryu system. Specifically, the Kata are derived from the Shobayashi-Ryu sect that began under Sensei Chotoku Kyan and continued under Sensei Zenryo Shimabuko under whom Shihan Van Lenten studied this system. The Shobayashi-Ryu sect continues under the direction of Zempo Shimabuko, the son of Zenryo Shimabuko.

(8) The exact origin of the Goshin-Do Karate method of performing the Chatan Yara No Sai Kata is unknown.

(9) The Hakutsuru Kata is derived from the Kamemura Hakutsuru Kata of the Matsumura Seito line of Shorin-Ryu Karate.

(10) The Nami-Kiribi Kata was developed by Sensei John M. Szmitkowski in 1997 in fulfillment of his requirements for the rank of Yon-Dan.