Tekki Katas

The Tekki Kata were originally known as Naihanchi. This name was changed to Tekki by Funakoshi to replace the Okinawan name. He attempted to change the original names of many of the Kata and this is one of the few names that caught on and became commonly used. Tekki Shodan is often credited to Matsumura Sokon of Tomari City, Okinawa, and both Tekki Nidan and Sandan are thought to have been created by Itosu Yasutsune, but as no written records exist (as is the case with any other Kata) we can not be really sure. Itosu specialised in the Tekki Kata and he taught them to Funakoshi. He made Funakoshi spend 3 years learning each one saying that whilst they were the easiest of the Kata to learn, they were also the hardest to learn. The name Tekki is composed of two kanji characters. Tetsu means iron or steel, Ki means ride on a horse, equestrian, or knight. So some valid interpretations could be Steel Horse Rider, Iron Knight, Steel Knight. Originally, the stances used in the Tekki Kata were Uchi Hachi Ji Dachi and Naihanchi Dachi but the commonly used stance throughout the three Tekki Kata is now Kiba Dachi or "Horse Riding Stance". The Kiba Dachi stance could lead you to believe that the techniques are supposed to be practised for use during battle on horse back.