Gojūshiho (五十四歩 lit. 54 steps?) is a kata practiced in karate. In some styles of karate, there are two versions of this kata - Gojūshiho Shō and Gojūshiho Dai. An advantage of the two versions of the kata is to better master the difficult techniques presented therein, but not without facing some confusion, for many sequences are the same and others only slightly different. The embusen of both Gojūshiho Shō and Gojūshiho Dai are nearly identical. Gojūshiho Shō begins straight off with a wide variety of advanced techniques and, as such, is highly recommended for study. Gojūshiho Dai consists of many advanced open-handed techniques and attacks to the collar bone.
Gojūshiho Shō and Gojūshiho Dai are two versions in Shotokan of the same, single Shōrin-ryū kata called Useishi (54) or Gojūshiho. Originally, the names were reversed so that Dai was called Shō, and Shō was called Dai. The name change seems to have happened sometime in the 1960's or 1970's.
It should be noted that, within the Shotokan Karate-dō International Federation of Kanazawa Hirokazu, the "Dai" and "Shō" forms are reversed.
Gojūshiho Shō and Gojūshiho Dai are two versions in Shotokan of the same, single Shōrin-ryū kata called Useishi (54) or Gojūshiho. Originally, the names were reversed so that Dai was called Shō, and Shō was called Dai. The name change seems to have happened sometime in the 1960's or 1970's.
It should be noted that, within the Shotokan Karate-dō International Federation of Kanazawa Hirokazu, the "Dai" and "Shō" forms are reversed.
