First theory is correct. The hops were added to comply with JKA competition rules. Simple as that. Anyone who practices this Kata and doesn’t plan to use it in JKA competition should just end where you end and omit the hops.

Yeah, no on that last theory. Doesn't matter if shotokan is technically a few years older than shito-ryu, chinte is also found in several different branches of shorin-ryu as well shudokan and the three bunny hops are not found in any of those versions. Although extremely rare, some branches of Tang Soo Do, which comes primarily from shotokan also includes chinte and in their version(s) they don't include the hops. Something you have to remember is that Funakoshi was said to not have known very many forms. His original curriculum consisted of 15 kata, however, it's been theorized that he learned the 5 Pinan from Kenwa Mabuni and not from Itosu. Also, towards the end of his life, it's also been said that Funakoshi sent his highest-ranking students (including Nakayama) to Mabuni to learn more advanced kata.

This is a situation that may need help from The Ministry of Silly Walks.😎👍🥋

It needs to be added that there is also a Shorin-Ryu version of the Kata written "Chinti" with some interesting variations of certain techniques (e.g. the two-finger-"block" going upwards not sideways), that can be found on KZfaq. Regarding originality a common theory is that a lot of Kata versions "floated" around in 1900s Okinawa, after emerging to the general public after Meiji restauration from 1871, as every upper class family had their distinct version of Kata patterns (see all those versions of Passai and Kushanku) or even unique Kata only known in the families. Funakoshi Gichin, father of Shotokan (but not official founder), seems to have collected some from other Karate masters, esp. Mabuni Kenwa, founder of Shito-Ryu, who was kind of an encyclopedia of Kata in person. Funakoshi did not name or show Chinte in his books of 1936 ("Kyohan") and 1942 ("Nyumon"), so it is not even clear if he knew or practiced this particular one. Funakoshi did an interview with his main teacher Asato Anko in the early 1900s and published it posthumus in 1915. Here Asato speaks about some Kata named Chintei and connects it with the old masters Oyadomari and Matsumura (which translator Henning Wittwer interprets as a writing error for "Matsumora") from the Tomari region. Detached from Funakoshi, the founders of Shotokan style (Nakayama etc.) added some Kata to Funakoshi's original Kata list found in Funakoshi's "Kyohan" book like Unsu, Gojushiho (split into two versions of Sho and Dai), Sochin, Ji'in, Chinte, the Sho version of Bassai and Kanku. It is not clearly documented where they took them from. So it is very likely that Chinte was added to the Shotokan curriculum around or after Funakoshi's death in 1957, more or less adapting it from some source outside the Shotokan community, most probably Shito-Ryu community.

In the Kenkojuku style of Shotokan Karate the hops are removed and replaced with a back step in zenkutsu dachi. It in my opinion is a better to solution to arrive at the the starting point for the kata.

The 3 hops at the end of Chinte are just useless crap, that got added in order to comply with the rather new stupulation that a kata starts and ends in one and the same point. If you look at older Kata, this stipulation does not exist. Thus in some styles Chinte is done without the 3 hops at the end. All in all I am just happy that I don't have to make up my mind with thigns liek that, as I have turned my back on Shotokan many years back and started with another style.

I saw the title and I’m like “it’s the silly hops”

We gotta remember that most of these were used for weapons training

So why hop? Why not just step back?

Jesse Encamp covered this a while ago

Because Gichin Funakoshi was a rabbit 🐇🐰🐇🐰.

That's why hops are in alcohol. Drink to much, you start hopping

Those moves feel more like a troll that was invented because the rule of embusen sounded stupid. I think the traditional practitioners felt insulted at having to adapt an ancestral kata for competition. Competition was also negatively regarded by masters as Funakoshi. So I guess this was their way to flip the finger at the whole industry.

the version I heard for why it ends in a different spot was that the creator of this kata passed away before completing it, so it is unfinished

Hops at the end of the Chinte are moving the practitioner back to the starting point.

Hi Oskars Zvejnieks. I don't practice the advanced kata, because the intermediate & kihon versions are challenging enough. Here's my take on the "hops," anyhow. The tradition of kata beginning & ending at the same point promotes symmetry of technical practice; as well as the precision of the individual steps. Karate, by tradition, is a precision exercise, from which many combative benefits flow. The fact that Shotokan has these three "hops" at the end of Chinte (is it?), well the reason is that the Shotokan masters designed it that way. Shotokan is known for it's heavy emphasis on exacting body mechanics... and adding the three hops returning to the origin point... would support this emphasis. I don't believe the three hops were meant to qualify for the "modern" kata competition rules. I believe the formal competitions simply want kata done true to their traditional form. People agonize over kata form way too much. Simply do it to traditional karate standards. Obviously there are specific bunkai in addition to standard techniques... it's up to the practitioner to figure that puzzle out. Mastering karate tradition to the implied black-belt level is hard enough... getting lost in esoterica won't help with that. Nice commentary. 😍😍😍😍CHEERS.

Really cool video, I had some fun seeing someone talking about karate curiosities lmao! The only thing I had to say is that, I don't know if it is right, but Shotokan actually is a Tomari-Te style, within Shorin and the others you have mencioned, eccept for Shito-Ryu, wich is, ideed a Shuri-Te style. Please, keep the good work. Oss. 🙇‍♂️

In boxing we hop on our heels to recover from a blow the groin. It's either that or some ancient karate master's trolling technique.

Hi, I take these Hops as a Key for me to start to modify what is useless or what I can't do anymore because of my age. I replaced it by an arm grap, arm break and a takedown which makes a lot more sense for me. Who tells me I must do a Kata exactly in the way it is teached 100 years ago? If you look at the different styles, I think that's a good Argument for my PoV.

Kumite is more important than Katas, competition too. Kihon is the technique of basic movements. If you know them in depth, you can do the Katas. Therefore, the most important thing is the basic movements (kihon), the technique.

Whole Style of Karate forms ONE Kung Fu Kuen! 🥱☯️

Kara te is simply certain parts Of shaolin kung fu the hops Are done in certain forms Of kung fu the hop is this ( hop like a sparrow) You are close to opponent Hop back from a knee strike

3:22 Hello, I practise Shorin Ryu Kyudokan and we have Chinti. No hops.

Unfortunately most of them do not work on the street fight

Chinte has some interesting ideas in it, but I absolutely refuse to do those stupid hops.

@KARATEbyJesse can explain this. ❤

There are a number of "quirks" that have been added to kata. This hop appears to be one. Your explanation is probably accurate. The newest one is a silly step out and back prior to beginning the kata. Some quirks are due to misunderstandings or simply because someone made a mistake and others repeated the mistake because the person who made the mistake was of a higher rank. There are also those who decide to do kata "their way" instead of how it was originally taught. Kata tends to disintegrate over time due to forgetfulness and mental and physical laziness. I see kata in my own style that are almost unrecognizable. Here's the issue, folks. There is no "your way" of doing kata. Most kata of most styles are on the Internet; thus, there is no excuse for doing the kata incorrectly. Many of the videos are of the original masters. Do what they do, how they do it. It's just that simple. There are no excuses. Do your basics correctly. Do the katas correctly. Those are what will save your life on the street.

Why would they add hops instead of simply adding steps to simply walk back as they bow out?

The explanation of the 3 jumps back are simply steps to get back to the starting point, no need to overthink this since there is no technique attached to these steps.

Why put in three hops when one step would do the job?

O kata é uma discpilina para o manuseio de armas.

OK but surely you could just do something like a couple of retreating steps with maybe some knife hand blocks or something? Those hops are usually what you see in practice when you don't have the floor space for the whole kata.

WTF Taekwondo 1st dan black belt pattern also has unusual stuff - the penis grab and pull. While groin strikes are good self defense, one should not go for penis pull as people wear jeans. It was a truly WTF? Taekwondo

You should look at chinto as the Okinawan styles practice it. Before funakoshi neutered karate for Japanese nationalism.

If you dont understand the meaning or application dont call the lata BS. Àlso - kata is a form encompassing different techniques which the karateka needs to figure out and apply. Some of the applications will be found in other martial art styles - for instance Aikido, Judo etc....did you search there for a possible application? Is it possible that the hops were merely added to bring the karateka back to the starting point? Suggest you look again. Based on your comments here I can point out numerous moves in various katas that makes no sense.

Just let AI run it and tell us what it means ;^)

I think your point is valid, but your argument is weakened by your dismissive tone and weak evidence for your position.

Those hops could be small evasion techniques with a forward inline guard. It could potentially have an application in combat.

Whatever the purpose of the bunny hops, they are a blast!

The three hops are a grab arm break and takedown. Meiykio Nidan and many other older kata do not end at the starting point

Muay Thai has Kata they always do Kata before the fights in Thailand, Boxing has Shadow Boxing but Shotokan exaggerates the importance of Kata.

The original purpose of Karate kata was physical exercise. Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate Do was once a physical education teacher, who taught Karate to children as a method of exercise. The same is true with the forms exercises of Shaolin, which Bodhidharma taught to other Buddhist monks because they suffered from muscular atrophy, or loss of muscle, due to their physical inactivity caused by many daily hours of meditation. Here is something to ponder-- that is, Eugen Sandow asserted that muscular overload can be achieved by the Brain via the mind-muscle connection by consciously contracting your muscles. The same thing can occur in Karate kata-- that is, you can use your brain to consciously contract your muscles after each dynamic strike or block. There are 3 phases of strength training: (1) the concentric phase, in which the muscle shortens to overcome the resistance; (2) the isometric phase, in which the muscle contracts without joint movement; and (3) the eccentric phase, in which the muscle lengths. Dynamic exercises are when muscles contract with joint movement. All 3 phases of strength training can be developed through Karate kata as can Sandow's theory of muscular contraction using the brain and the mind-muscle connection. However, Karate Kata should focus on each of the 3 phases of strength training, not one or the other, and done as strenuous physical exercise, not as a choreographed dance.

The Japanese ruined karate. It should have stayed on Okinawa.

As a Student of Kyokushin in my opinion tough spar and Kumite is more important than Kata I think Shotokan and Goju ryu give much importance to Kata.

Too rigid and strong not flexible or fluid like chinese kung-fu.

Unfortunately, practicing kata those created a new generation that thinks what they do is martial arts, and they can defend themselves by practising it just by doing these silly moves! Karate schools should look at the practical martial arts such as Muaythai and develop their systems. Despite some styles such as kyokushin karate they still have katas but their focus on the kumite is more. Also the other developed arts such as shidokan karate, where u practice only 4 katas and the focus is on the fighting part. Osu..