Karate | Okinawan Goju-ryu | Gekisai (1&2) kata

In this clip the choreography of the kata is shown at a slow pace. After this, specific explosive power transitions related to the combat application (bunkai) in the kata are demonstrated.

Performer Lex Opdam
Origins of the shown form: Okinawan Goju-ryu karate
Lineage of the performer: (Okinawan Goju-ryu karate: IOGKF-Meibukan-MMF)
Video was taken in Nijmegen, Netherlands, oktober 2020.

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While these short video examples are freely accessible, they are intended for Martial Mindfulness practitioners. The context of the content is covered during the lessons and the examples shown are meant to support training.
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About the Gekisai kata

Around 1940, Goju-ryu founder Chojun Miyagi, together with some other masters (among them Shoshin Nagamine), developed the Gekisai kata and accomplishing the goal to make karate more accessible to a larger target group. Ultimately, Chojun Miyagi designed two kata for Goju-ryu Karate-do - Gekisai dai ichi and Gekisai dai ni.

'Geki' means "fighting" (attack and seize") or "to confront" and Sai means "to hurl and break". Put together, it can mean "to destroy," but is is more often translated as "to seek out and to destroy". Seen against the background of World War II, the aggressive name probably was chosen to influence the morale and the intellectual substance of most youths, preparing the for the hardship still to come.
The word "dai" often is added to the Gekisai kata. Depending on the placing of the kanji for "dai" it means a number, for example Gekisai dai ichi. Originally more basic kata were planned, but only these two, Gekisai dai ich and Gekisai dai ni were included in the official Goju-ryu Karate-do system by Chojun Miyagi in 1948.

From 'KARATE GOJU RYU MEIBUKAN' ISBN 9781933901749