Karate is something I’ve never done before, so it was a surprise to find myself doing some in the form of learning the Anan kata at a recent Foxfist event. The Anan kata is a nice little Karate form. In fact, there’s enough in there for it to be the only form you ever needed to learn for a small, self-contained, but effective, martial system. There are deflections, strikes, stand-up grappling and kicks.

The similarities between Okinawan systems and Southern Chinese martial arts systems are quite obvious in this kata, I think. But see what you think. Here is Anan being performed by somebody who, unlike me, knows what they’re doing with it.