Meikyo

Nijushiho

The name Meikyo is composed of two kanji: bright and mirror. The name of the kata can only be Bright Mirror. The name is probably taken from the opening technique where the performer pulls both palms up to his face and looks in them as if he is holding a mirror. Much like Kanku-Dai, Meikyo contains a symbolic opening technique which defines the name of the kata.

Japan has three national treasures: the jewels kept at a Shinto Shrine in Tokyo, the Sword of Hachiman kept at Atsuta Shrine, and the Mirror of Japan kept at the Grand Shrine at Ise. I have been to visit all of these treasures, but unfortunately the Japanese do not allow anyone, including themselves, to actually lay eyes upon them. The closest you can get is to look at the gates of

明鏡

Meikyo – “Bright Mirror”

Meikyo

the fence around the inner sanctum. The reason that I bring up the national treasures is that Meikyo is perhaps symbolic of the Mirror of Japan kept at Ise.

Roots in Rohai

Meikyo is reportedly a Shotokanized Rohai. Rohai is a kata performed in Okinawa that has four particular versions. One version is Matsumura Rohai, the other three are the Rohai left behind by Itosu. Itosu Rohai has three incarnations of Rohai, Rohai Nidan, and Rohai Sandan. Supposedly the Shotokan kata Meikyo is a compilation of Itosu’s three Rohai kata.

Sun Worshippers

Meikyo was Nakayama Masatoshi's favorite kata, and as such, he saved if for last in his Best Karate series. In the book The Martial Arts by Michel Random, Nakayama is reported to have said that Meikyo is very similar to a folk dance performed to convince the goddess Amaterasu to come out of the cave she hides in. Japanese Shinto legend has it that Amaterasu cried and her tears fell into the Sea of Japan, forming the islands of Japan. She is the goddess of the sun.

Nakayama vs. Kanazawa

The Best Karate series shows Meikyo as having three sets of blocking and stepping punch combinations. The first two sets contain down blocks. The third set contains inside blocks. However, if you look in Kanazawa's book, there are three different sets. The first set are down blocks, the second set are inside blocks, and the third and final set are upper level rising blocks. Which set of instructions is correct?

I don't know. I would think that the best way to perform it would be the way that the original Rohai kata it is taken from is performed. However it is in Rohai, that's how it should be in the Shotokan kata as well. The other way of doing it would be a more recent modification of the techniques, and therefore not as true to the original.

Presented here are directions based upon Nakayama's Best Karate Volume 11, since that set of books serves the most people as the standard by which kata are learned and performed more than any other. Who created this kata? I have a possible suspect: Nakayama himself. I believe that this kata appears last in the Best Karate series because it is Nakayama who created it. The kata is completely unique and only performed by people who practiced Nakayama’s style of Shotokan Karate. It never appeared anywhere in print before Nakayama published it in Best Karate. Also, Funakoshi never mentions the kata anywhere in his texts that I can find. I believe that Meikyo is Nakayama’s importing of Rohai into his own system of Karate, and that is why it was his favorite kata. What evidence do I have? Nothing more than speculation... which means my evidence is just as good as any other story about the source of any other kata you might read about.

Directions

1. Natural Position - Like Gankaku and Sochin, Meikyo does not begin with any special posture. Simply stand in the natural position with the hands resting at the

Meikyo

sides in relaxed fists. There should be no tension in the body as you assume this posture, nor should there be any tension left as you stand here. 2. Reach and Pull Back - Reach up with the hands open without bending the elbows until the hands are crossed at the wrists in front of the forehead. Most people do this as a wide, circular action out to the sides. As you begin to reach up, start sliding the right foot out into a horse riding stance as you lower your torso by bending both knees. Pull both hands back, clenching them into fists, and draw both arms back until the fists rest at the waist. Be sure that the elbows are not visible from the front.

Perform this technique with deceleration and increasing tension. 3. Look in the Mirror - Without any serious tension, keep the elbows close to the sides of the body as you bring your open hands up from their drawn positions to a point in front of the face where the little and ring fingers touch. The elbows should still be torso width apart, so your forearms are in a triangle shape. 4. Open Handed Wedge Block - Flip the hands over so that the palms now face away from the face, and slowly add tension and decelerate the arms as you wedge block outward with both hands. The finishing posture should have the hands in front of the shoulders with the elbows at 90° angles. 5. Down Block and Punch - Shift the left foot so that it becomes the front foot in a new front stance facing to the 45° angle to the left. Turn the hips to the side as the arm descends to block. Down block strongly as you do this. Step forward and punch middle level along the same angle, bringing the hips squarely to the front as the feet pass and then keeping them front facing for the rest of the step.

Shift the right foot over 90° to the other 45° angle while throwing a down block, and then step forward and punch with the left hand along that same angle. 6. Two Tiger Mouth Blocks - Step forward with the right foot into a new back stance. The step will be somewhat awkward because you must take a heading 45° to your left. Step quickly at first, but the last quarter of the step should decelerate as this technique is performed slowly. As the stance begins to take shape, bring the right forward and up from underneath so that it appears to scoop upward. The right hand should end up over the right knee. Lift the left elbow up and over the head so that the left hand ends up in front of the forehead palm up. Both hands should be palm up and open, and the thumbs should be out. 7. Stab Downward - Shift forward about six inches in your back stance. As you shift, close both hands into fists, and then rotate the wrists as you stab downward with both of them. When you are finished, your left hand will be in front of your navel while the right hand will be extended forward to the low level. Shift the left foot forward as you shift into a front stance with the right leg forward as you stab. 8. Pivot and Turn - Pivot on both feet into a front stance that faces the rear by looking over the left shoulder and turning counter-clockwise. Perform this quickly in one explosive motion. As you do this, leave your hands where they are in relation to the room, not in relation to your body. 9. Reach and Pull Back - Step up with the right foot to the left and then outward so that you are in a new horse riding stance. As you do this, reach forward and pull back

Meikyo

as in the beginning of the kata. Unlike the beginning of the kata, you will not do the mirror looking nor the wedge block, though. 10. Repeat as Necessary - From your previous position with both hands at your waist drawn back, fold the arms for a left down block and head out on the 45° angle. Down block. Then, along the same heading, step in and punch middle level. Pivot as before to the right and down block again, then step in and punch at the other 45° angle.

Step 45° to the left with the right foot as above, slowly decelerating as you perform the two tiger mouths. Stab downward while shifting into a front stance, and then turn, leaving the hands where they were, repeating the motions above. Then step up into the horse riding stance again, performing the reach and pull. 11. Inside Block and Stepping Punch - Step out at the 45° angle and perform an inside block in a front stance with the left foot forward. Step and punch middle level.

Shift to the right 90°, and inside block as you shift. Step forward and punch with the left fist middle level.

12. Bottom Fist Strike - Step to the left 45° with the left foot, assuming a side-facing horse riding stance. Look to your left. As the foot settles, perform a bottom fist strike to shoulder level with your left fist. 13. Crescent Moon Kick - Turn the left foot forward, open the left hand, and crescent moon kick into the left palm with the right sole of the foot. Do not step forward, instead, move to replace the foot where it came from. As you set the foot down, assume a back stance with the right foot becomes the rear foot.

After the kick connects with the palm of the hand, down block strongly with both arms so that the left fist ends up over the left knee and the right fist ends up over the right knee. The blocks are not squared to the room, but rather are aimed in the directions the knees point in the back stance. 14. Shades of Heian 2 - In place, without stepping, bring both hands up strongly into the opening double armed block of Heian Nidan. The right forearm should end up pointing forward at forehead height, and the left forearm should point at the ceiling.

The knuckles of the right fist should line up with the wrist of the left arm as far as height is concerned, but when viewed from the front, there should be a space at least 8 inches wide between the right fist and the left forearm for your face to be seen through. 15. Double Block Again - Step forward into a back stance with the right foot becoming the front foot, and bring the arms down to the left waist and then back up again strongly into the same posture as before. 16. Double Down Block - Step forward with the left foot into a front stance with the hips square. Block with both hands by crossing them at the wrists and bring each down to the sides of the body pointing out at 45° angles to the floor. 17. Double Inside Block - By now you should feel as though Jion and Heian Nidan were mixed and jumbled together in a strange fashion. Step forward again, this time into a back stance. Cross both arms over the torso and then perform double inside blocks that focus when you step.

Meikyo

18. Snapping Punches - Shift forward with both feet about six inches as you uppercut punch with both fists from their current positions. Snap the punches and return the hands to their original positions immediately. 19. Pivot and Upper Block - Turn to the rear 180° by pivoting on the heels counterclockwise. As you pivot, reach up over the forehead with the right open hand while you draw back the left hand. Strongly upper level rising block with the left hand as you complete the pivot into a new back stance with the left foot forward. 20. Triangle Jump - One thing that's for sure is that Shotokan Kata seems to have an affinity for triangles. You make triangles with your hands at the beginnings of kata, triangle postures, triangles on the floor, and now a triangle in the air.

Leap off of the left foot and jump upward, smacking the right elbow into the left palm at the mid point. Best Karate says that you should attempt to jump in place, but most people seem to travel about a stance length when they perform this kata. When you complete this jump, you should perform a right handed sword hand block and land in a back stance that has the right foot forward.

Technically the jump is just like the one from Kanku-Sho, the only difference being the elbow strike and the fact that you change which shoulder you are looking over in mid jump. It is a 360 degree jump. Don't let the fact that you change directions fool you, you are still putting the feet back where they came from, just in different positions because you change which way the back stance faces during the jump. It isn't that hard of a jump, despite all of the press to the contrary in various kata books.

The jump in Unsu is much more difficult, and so is the jump and duck in Kanku-Sho. 21. Sword Hand Block - Step backward into a new back stance and sword hand block. 22. Finish - Pull the left foot back to the natural position and relax.