MMA, Karate and Self Defense from Mill Hill Dojo
This is Sensei Mark Brown, who despite been totally blind with type 1 diabetes, has managed to master the art of karate-do. Here he is demonstrating the Gojo based kata of Saifa, translated to mean 'Rip and Tear' is an early chinese Kata incorperated into the Goju syllabus by founder Miyagi Sensei.
It is possible that Kata Saifa is one of the earliest of all kata with the origins linked to ancient chinese monk boxing. The kata was eventually taught to Kanryo Higaonna, a sensei from the dawn of karate in Okinowa, who had spent a life time leaning and studying karate. The kata was finally formalised and included in the GoJu Ryu karate syllabus under the instruction of Miyagi Sensei.
The form itself is based on close quarter combat with emphasis placed on grappling techniques, charging and over balancing with the tempo and feel of the kata switching between soft technical tearing moves into hard direct strikes capable of smashing ribs.
The kata of Saifa in Goju-Ryu Martial Art schools is quite a highly ranked form requiring expert knowledge and techniques to perform correctly. Other karate schools that adopt the kata such as GKR have the kata quite low in the syllabus and students use the kata as an introduction to the goju feel of the form.