Suparinpei The Last Kata of Goju-Ryu Karate

An illustrated step-by-step guide to the structure, themes, and techniques of Suparinpei--the last kata of Goju-ryu.

Suparinpei, or Pechurin, is the highest and most difficult kata in the Goju-ryu system of Okinawan karate. Its performance has long been reserved for high-level practitioners, its history and applications obscured by misunderstanding and misinterpretation.

In this indispensable manual by experienced master Giles Hopkins, readers will learn the skills, techniques, and bunkai of this little-understood kata, step by step. Suparinpei explores the initial receiving, bridging, controlling, and lethal finishing techniques in sequence, and offers illustrations of both the applications and movements of Suparinpei. Hopkins questions conventional interpretations of kata movements, suggesting instead that there is only one originally intended application for each move in kata, and that each is to be understood in sequence and not as isolated components. This strict interpretation of kata movements reveals not only realistic self-defense executions, but also potentially the original intent of kata.

Giles Hopkins is a karate instructor and retired English teacher. He is the author of The Kata and Bunkai of Goju-Ryu Karate, a number of articles for the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, and blog posts and essays on the subject of Okinawan Goju-ryu and kobudo. Practicing martial arts since 1973, he holds black belt rankings in a number of styles, as well as sixth-degree rankings and a teacher's certificate in Okinawan Goju-ryu and Matayoshi kobudo, from the Zen Okinawa Kobudo Renmei and the Okinawa Kodokan.