Seipai is a Naha-te kata.
Seipai is a staple of Goju Ryu stylists and remains remarkably unaltered across all Gojo ryu schools.
It is also a kata taught by Kenwa Mabuni in his Shito Ryu style and is still taught in many branch styles of Shito Ryu, including Shukokai. In the Shukokai system Seipai kata is first introduced once shodan is achieved.
There is little to found on the history and origins of this kata other than the kanji for Seipai which translates to the number 18 using the Okinawan dialect. However, the kanji for Sei can also mean ‘controlling’.
The pronunciation is an Okinawan rendering of the Fujian dialect. Sei means 10, and pai means 8. It is thought that this name was given because the kata has (or originally had) 18 types of movements/techniques.
Traditionally Fujian quan fa schools would have added the word bu meaning steps or sometimes ji meaning skill or technique after such a number. In Okinawa it is traditional to add the character for te meaning hands.
Seipai contains a variety of unusual movements and techniques including one that requires the unique use of a fist shaped like it would be when one knocks on a door which is called hiraken in Japanese.
The kata is generally attributed to Kanryo Higaonna who is said to have brought the kata back from Fuzhou district in China where he learned the form from Ryu Ryu Ko. There is, however, no evidence to support this. It is also thought that seipai may have its origins in the Dragon style of Shaolin kung fu.
Wherever Seipai may have it’s origins it is typically a Naha-te style kata, with slow tempo and anchored stances, particularly the use of sanchin and shiko dachi stances. There are a number of circular arm movements, again typical of the Naha-te style. Seipai, in the opinion of Sensei Su Wharton, pairs well with Seiunchin kata and anyone who has learnt both kata will notice that they have a similar ‘feel’ to them.
Seipai is unique also in that it does not feature 3 opening moves in line with Buddhist philosophy/convention as opposed to the core Higaonna kata which feature the standard 3 opening steps and double blocks. The kata is largely symmetrical in its use of left and right as is the case with the other Miyagi goju ryu kata.
Traditionally Seipai has been considered part of the Tiger or Tiger/Crane Shaolin systems, however researcher Akio Kinjo2 is of the view that, like the kata Kururunfa, it is from the Dragon Shaolin system.
Seipai bears at least superficial resemblance to the kata Nipaipo – an Okinawan White Crane kata created by Shito-Ryu founder Kenwa Mabuni and inspired by a kata called Neipai taught by Miyagi’s friend, White Crane master Gokenki (Goju’s sister school Tou’on-Ryu still practice Gokenki ‘s Neipai although it is said to bear little resemblance to Mabuni’s Nipaipo other than a similar embusen).
Some regard Seipai as the second half of Seiunchin, however there is nothing to corroborate this other than a similarity in technical emphasis and tempo. On this topic, it is possible that Seipai might have originally shared Seiyunchin’s kanji sei (meaning to control), while pai might have been the character pu or bu meaning steps. Accordingly Seipai might have originally meant controlling steps. This would seem to be quite an appropriate name given the bunkai of the kata which effectively control an opponent during consecutive steps forward and back.
Whatever the rationale and the meaning it’s a magnificent kata and a joy to do.
References
1See Mario McKenna’s article “Higaonna Kanryo and Nahate” at
http://okinawakarateblog.blogspot.com/2006/04/higaonna-kanryo-and-nahate-in-nafadi.html
2 See Joe Swift’s article “The Kempo of Kume Village” in Meibukan Magazine No. 6 at
http://www.meibukanmagazine.org/Downloads/MeibukanMagazineno6.pdf
dykiegirl's Karate Blog 