
Passai?
The Passai kata's of our lineage can be a head scratcher
when trying to narrow down the the origins of the Passai
kata that are worked in Shorin-ryu (Kobayshi-ryu).
Kobayashi-ryu's Passai Sho is Itosu Passai Dai
Kobayshi-ryu's Passai Dai is Tawada no Passai. this kata
is also known in some styles such as Shito-ryu as Chibana
Passai. Miyahira Sensei referes to it as Matsumura Passai
which it really is not.
Matsumura Seito has two Passai kata funny enough called
Passai Sho and Passai Dai. Neither of these 2 kata are
the same or are close to our Kobayashi-ryu Passai Dai.
They do however share similarities like all Passai kata
do. My thoughts is that Tawada constructed a Passai kata
from both of Matsumura's Passai katas and/or other sources
to give us our Kobayashi-ryu Passai Dai.
The question is where is Itosu Sensei's original Passai
Sho?
Could it be Miyahira Sensei's Koryu Passai also known
as Gusukuma Passai?
The reason for Kobayashi-ryu not using the Itosu Passai
Sho is that after watching Chibana Sensei perform Tawada
Passai so masterfully, Itosu suggested that Chibana start
teaching that kata. Chibana learned Tawada Passai directly
from Tawada Sensei himself during the three years that
he studied with him. It has also been said that Chibana
learned the kata from a relative of his.