Pattern Sets

American Tang Soo Do utilizes classical Pattern Sets in training. Pattern Sets are prearranged sets of movements that are practiced repeatedly to develop skill in the coordination of movement. In simple terms, Pattern Sets are about the movement of structure. All Pattern Sets utilized in American Tang Soo Do are based upon classical Korean Pattern Sets.

Teaches basic movement, turning, defense, and punching. Utilized to prepare White Belts for more complex concepts.

The five Pattern Sets were created by Okinawan master Anko Itosu (Itosu Yasutsune) around 1900–1905. He simplified material from older Pattern Sets such as Channan (Jae Nam) and Kusanku (Kong Sang Koon / Kushanku) so they could be taught to schoolchildren. They were later carried to Japan by Gichin Funakoshi, who renamed them Heian and reversed the order of the first two. Korean instructors, including Hwang Kee of Moo Duk Kwan, learned versions of these Pattern Sets (often from Japanese texts and teachers who had trained in Japan) and kept the Korean name Pyung Ahn.

“Pyung Ahn” is the Korean reading of the same Chinese characters (平安) used for Okinawan Pinan and Japanese Heian. It is usually translated as “peaceful and confident,” “peaceful mind,” or “peace and safety.”

Bassai (you’ll also see Bassi, Passai, Patsai, Pal Che, Pal Sek) is one of the oldest and most widely practiced Pattern Sets in Okinawan karate, Japanese karate, Tang Soo Do, and some traditional taekwondo. The usual English gloss is “to storm a fortress,” “to extract from a fortress,” or “to remove an obstruction.” That meaning comes from the kanji Gichin Funakoshi later attached to the name; the original Okinawan word Passai had no fixed characters and no agreed translation.

Early books by Funakoshi (1922) and Motobu Chōki (1926) still write Passai. By the mid-1930s Funakoshi had switched to Bassai and the characters 拔塞. In Chinese those can mean “seize a strongpoint”; in Japanese they are often read as pulling out a plug or breaking through a barrier. Other theories exist: Akio Kinjo linked the sound to Fujian “leopard-lion” boxing; some point to Hokkien pa sai (“beat the lion”) from lion-dance movement. None of those origins is proven. The fortress reading stuck because it matches how the Pattern Set is performed: strong, sudden breaking of a defense.

Ankō Itosu took the Shuri/Tomari material he knew and produced the versions that dominate modern practice. He is generally credited with shaping Passai Dai (major / “old”) and creating or isolating Passai Sho (minor / “young”). Dai is the longer, better-known Pattern Set; Sho is shorter and often uses more open-hand and grasping work. Whether Sho is a cut-down Dai, a separate old Pattern Set, or Itosu’s own composition is still argued. He put Passai into the Okinawan school curriculum after the Pinan, so it became a standard intermediate Pattern Set.

Korean Kwan founders who had trained in Shotokan or related Japanese karate brought the Pattern Set home. In Tang Soo Do it is Bassai or Pal Che / Pal Sek (팔쇄), usually placed after the five Pyung Ahn Pattern Sets and before or alongside Naihanchi.

“Bassi” in a Tang Soo Do context is the Korean descendant of Okinawan Passai, standardized through Itosu, renamed Bassai by Funakoshi, and kept as a major intermediate Pattern Set for storming a defense rather than as a beginner Pattern Set like the Pyung Ahn set.

Naihanchi (also spelled Naifanchi or Naifanchin) is one of the oldest and most important Pattern Set families in Okinawan karate. In Shotokan it was renamed Tekki (“iron horse”). In Korean systems such as Tang Soo Do it is usually called Naihanchi or Chul-Gi / Cheolgi. There are three Pattern Sets: Cho Dan / Shodan, Ee Dan / Nidan, and Sam Dan / Sandan. Almost the entire series is done in horse stance, moving side to side on a single line.

The original meaning of the name is unknown. It is usually written in katakana, which marks it as a foreign (likely Chinese) word, not a Japanese phrase like “fight on a rice-paddy dike.” No surviving Chinese Pattern Set has been proven to be the parent Pattern Set, even though Motobu Chōki wrote that it came from China and was no longer practiced there.

The first written references are early 20th-century: Funakoshi’s 1922 book still calls it Naihanchi; Motobu’s 1926 book does the same. Before Itosu created the Pinan (Pyung Ahn / Heian) Pattern Set for schools, Naihanchi was often the first Pattern Set taught in Shuri-te and Tomari-te. Kentsu Yabu, a student of Itosu, told students that “karate begins and ends with Naihanchi” and that they should practice it 10,000 times. Motobu, a noted fighter, said the Pattern Set contained everything needed for real fighting.

Ship Soo (십수), also spelled Sip Soo or Sip Su, is the Korean name for the Okinawan/Japanese Pattern Set Jitte or Jutte (十手). The characters mean “ten hands.” In Tang Soo Do it is an advanced Pattern Set, usually taught after Bassai and Naihanchi. Some Moo Duk Kwan schools symbolize it with the bear. Shotokan counts it at about 24–27 movements; it is short for a Dan-level Pattern Set.

What the name means

The usual explanation is that a person who masters the Pattern Set fights with the power of ten hands, or can face ten opponents. A simpler reading is that it collects ten ways of using the hands.

Jion, Jiin, and Jitte

Jitte is almost always discussed with Jion and Jiin. All three start from the same covered-fist ready position (right fist in the left palm), a salute often called Chinese or “Ming.” They share some early motions and a heavy, upright feeling, so they were long treated as a temple set. The ji sounds, however, use different characters: 十 (ten) in Jitte, 時 (time/temple) in Jion, 慈 (compassion) in Jiin. Modern researchers doubt they were originally one series; they may only have been grouped later because of the opening and the sound of the names. Funakoshi left these three names alone when he Japanized most other Pattern Sets.

Tomari and a Chinese teacher

The usual origin is Tomari-te, the port village next to Shuri, with Chinese influence. There is no document that predates the generation of Matsumura / Itosu. Some writers think Itosu created or heavily reshaped it; others treat it as an older Tomari Pattern Set that he passed on with little change.

The main written clue is Gichin Funakoshi’s 1914 newspaper piece, repeating what he said he heard from Ankō Asato: a shipwrecked Chinese from Anan / Fujian taught several Tomari men different Pattern Sets because he was in a hurry to go home. In that list, Nakasato of Tomari learned Jitte; others received Chinto, Chinte, and Jiin. That story is oral, and the teacher is not named in any official record. It is the same kind of “stranded Chinese” tradition attached to Chinto and a few other Tomari Pattern Sets.

From Tomari the Pattern Set entered the Itosu curriculum (Itosu also trained with Tomari teachers such as Gusukuma). Funakoshi learned it there, put it in his early books, and taught it in Shotokan as Jitte. Shito-ryu keeps it as an Itosu-line Pattern Set. It is not a core Naha-te Pattern Set, though some versions use a sanchin-like stance at the start, which is unusual for Shuri/Tomari Pattern Sets. Korean Kwan founders who had trained in Shotokan or related Japanese karate brought Jitte to Korea as Ship Soo.

Jin Do (진도), also written Jin Toe / Jin Tae, is the Korean name for the Okinawan Pattern Set Chintō (鎮東). In Shotokan it is Gankaku (岩鶴), “crane on a rock.” It is an advanced Pattern Set known for one-legged stances, quick changes of direction, and a diagonal or back-and-forth line of movement. Tang Soo Do schools often symbolize it with the white crane and count about 40–44 movements.

The name

Chintō is usually glossed as “fighter to the east,” “quelling the east,” or taken as a person’s name. Funakoshi renamed it Gankaku after the crane-stance sequences, and to give the Pattern Set a Japanese name without a “war” flavor. In Tang Soo Do, Jin is sometimes read as advance and Toe as retreat—attack and withdraw—which fits the Pattern Set’s in-and-out timing better than it fits the original characters. Some teachers say it should be performed facing east because of the name; that is tradition, not a documented rule.

The shipwreck story

The popular legend: a Chinese sailor or pirate called Chintō (sometimes Anan / Annan) was wrecked on Okinawa, hid in a cave, and stole crops. The king sent Sōkon “Bushi” Matsumura to stop him. They fought to a draw. Matsumura fed him and learned his methods; when the Chinese left, Matsumura built a Pattern Set and named it after him.

That story is late and mixed. There are no 19th-century records of a Pattern Set named Chintō. The earliest useful written note is Funakoshi’s 1914 Ryukyu Shimpo article, based on what Ankō Asato told him: a castaway from Anan in Fuzhou taught several Tomari men different Pattern Sets because he was in a hurry to go home. In that list, Gusukuma and Kanagusuku learned Chintō—not Matsumura. Matsumura and Oyadomari are named for Chinte, not Chintō. The “Matsumura fights the pirate in a cave” version grew later and blends that Anan story with other cave legends (including ones attached to Kosaku Matsumora). Treat it as folklore built around a real Tomari–Chinese contact, not as a documented duel.

A possible Chinese cousin is Chen Tou (“sink the head”) in Fujian Five Ancestors Fist (Wu Zu Quan). The opening of Okinawan Chintō—dropping to cover the head—resembles that idea, but no one has shown a matching parent Pattern Set.

How it actually spread

Chintō was known in both Tomari-te and Shuri-te.

• Tomari: Kosaku Matsumora is repeatedly named as an early teacher. His line goes to Kotatsu Iha and Chōtoku Kyan. Kyan’s Chintō (often on a 45-degree line) passed into Matsubayashi-ryu, Seibukan, Isshin-ryu, and related schools.
• Shuri / Itosu: Ankō Itosu likely got it from Tomari teachers such as Gusukuma (Funakoshi says Itosu studied with Gusukuma). Itosu’s version travels front to back. Funakoshi took that line to Japan, straightened the embusen further, swapped some front kicks for side kicks, and called it Gankaku. Shito-ryu and Kobayashi Shorin-ryu keep Itosu-style Chintō.

So there are at least three living families: Matsumura/Itosu (linear), Matsumora (side to side), and Kyan (diagonal). They are clearly the same Pattern Set, not the same performance.

Korean Kwan founders who had trained in Shotokan or related Japanese karate brought Gankaku/Chintō to Korea as Jin Do.

Kong Sang Koon (공상군) is the Korean reading of the characters 公相君. The same Pattern Set is Kūsankū / Kūshankū / Kōshōkun in Okinawa and Kankū (“viewing the sky”) in Shotokan. It is one of the oldest and longest Shuri-te Pattern Sets and the parent of a lot of later material, including much of the Pinan / Pyung Ahn series.

The usual story is that the Pattern Set is named after a Chinese martial artist who came to the Ryukyu Kingdom in the mid-1700s. The main written hook is the Oshima Hikki (1762), a record of a Chinese ship wrecked in Oshima. It mentions a recent visitor called Kung Hsiang Chun (公相君) who demonstrated quan-fa. That visit is tied to the Qing embassy of 1756. He is said to have stayed near Naha (often Kumemura) until about 1761–62.

“Kūsankū / Gongxiangjun” is probably a title, not a personal name. Later writers also use Kwang Shang Fu and similar spellings. There is no primary document that says this man composed the Pattern Set we do today. What we have is the name of the Pattern Set, the Oshima note that such a teacher existed, and Okinawan oral tradition.

Tradition says Kūsankū taught Okinawans, especially Chatan Yara and Kanga “Tode” Sakugawa (1733–1815). Sakugawa already trained under Takahara Pechin; the story is that Takahara sent him to the Chinese teacher. Sakugawa is then credited with assembling those methods into a Pattern Set named for his instructor. A separate old line is Chatan Yara no Kūsankū, which some styles (Matsubayashi-ryu, Isshin-ryu, parts of Shito-ryu) still treat as less altered by later reformers.

Sakugawa taught Sōkon “Bushi” Matsumura, who made the Pattern Set part of Shuri-te. Matsumura taught Ankō Itosu. Itosu is generally credited with splitting the long Pattern Set into Kūsankū Dai (major) and Kūsankū Sho (minor), and with taking pieces of Kusanku (and Channan) to build the five Pinan / Pyung Ahn Pattern Sets for school teaching. That is why Pyung Ahn Sa Dan and Oh Dan still look like excerpts of Kong Sang Koon.

Japan and Korea

Gichin Funakoshi learned the Itosu versions, took them to mainland Japan, and in 1935 renamed them Kankū Dai and Kankū Sho—“gazing at the sky”—from the opening movement where the hands rise and the eyes look up through the gap. Kankū Dai was one of his favorite Pattern Sets.

Korean Kwan founders who had trained in Shotokan or related Japanese karate brought the Dai Pattern Set home as Kong Sang Koon. Hwang Kee put it into the early Moo Duk Kwan / Tang Soo Do list as an advanced Pattern Set. Most Tang Soo Do schools teach only the long (Dae) version; a few also teach So. In those systems it is often called the eagle Pattern Set and runs about 65–70 movements. It is usually a Dan-level requirement, after Bassai and Naihanchi.