View source for Chintō

{{short description|Kata practised in karate}}
{{Infobox martial art form 
| name          = Chintō
| other_names   = Gankaku, Jin Do or Jin Tae
| image         = 
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = 
| martial_art   = [[Karate]]
| origin        = [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]], [[Ryūkyū Kingdom]]
| creator       = Unknown, first known teacher: Chintō (Annan)<ref>[http://www.msisshinryu.com/history/tomari-te/ Tomari-Te: The Place of the old Tode]</ref>
| creation_date = 
}}

'''Chintō''' (鎮東) (In [[Shotokan]], '''Gankaku''' (岩鶴)) is an advanced [[kata]] practiced in many styles of [[karate]]. According to legend, it is named after a stranded [[China|Chinese]] sailor (or pirate), sometimes referred to as Annan, whose ship crashed on the [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]n coast. To survive, Chintō kept stealing from the crops of the local people. [[Matsumura Sōkon]], a Karate master and chief bodyguard to the [[Ryūkyū Kingdom|Ryūkyūan king]], was sent to defeat Chintō. In the ensuing fight; however, Matsumura found himself equally matched by the stranger, and consequently sought to learn his techniques. 

Its understood the kata ''Chintō'' was well known to the early [[Tomari-te]] and [[Shuri-te]] schools of karate. Matsumura Sōkon was an early practitioner of the Shuri-te style. When [[Gichin Funakoshi]] brought karate to Japan, he renamed ''Chintō'' (meaning approximately "fighter to the east") to ''Gankaku'' (meaning "crane on a rock"), possibly to avoid anti-Chinese sentiment of the time. He also included the use of high side kicks (yoko keri keage) instead of the original front kicks (mae- geri keage) and modified the actual pattern of movement, or ''embusen'', to a more linear layout, similar to the other Shotokan kata. It is sometimes said that Chintō should be performed while facing eastwards due to its name, however, this could equally be a reference to its origins and the legend of Sōkon and Chintō.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kata Series: Gankaku|url=http://skksa.co.za/category/kata-series/|website=SKKSA|date=20 March 2015 |accessdate=29 March 2017}}</ref>

The kata is very dynamic, employing a diverse number of stances (including the uncommon [[Fujian White Crane|crane]] stance), unusual strikes of rapidly varying height, and a rare one-footed pivot. Today, ''Chintō'' is practiced in many karate styles like: [[Isshin-ryū]], [[Wado-ryū]], [[Shūkōkai]], [[Isshin Kempo]], [[Chitō-ryū]], [[Shōrin-ryū]], [[Shitō-ryū]], [[Okinawa Kenpo]], [[Shotokan]], [[:it:Koei-Kan|Koei-Kan]], [[Gensei-ryū]], Goshin Kagen Goju [[Matsubayashi-ryū]], Bushikan-Ryu Karate, and [[Yoshukai Karate|Yōshūkai]]. Chinto is also practiced in [[Tang Soo Do]] [[Soo Bahk Do]] where it’s known as ''Jin Do'' or ''Jin Tae''.

== References ==

<references/>

*Redmond, R. Kata: The Folk Dances of Shotokan, 2006 )

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20091007213102/http://www.geocities.com/karatejmh/chinto.htm Akari-ki Karate: Chinto]
*[http://www.msisshinryu.com/kata/empty/chinto.shtml Isshin-ryu chinto kata page]

{{Karate}}

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[[Category:Karate kata]]


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