Enpi (燕飛), also frequently transliterated as Empi, is a kata practiced by Shotokan and other karate styles. Enpi means Flying Swallow. Enpi comes from the Okinawan martial art of Tomari-te, where it first appeared in 1683. It is believed to have been influenced by Chinese boxing. It is the sister kata to Wansu. Funakoshi Gichin changed the name to Enpi when he moved to the Japanese mainland in the 1920s. Funakoshi changed the names of many of the kata, in an effort to make the Okinawan art more palatable to the then nationalistic Japanese. The most commonly accepted theory about its creation and development is that a Sappushi Wang Ji, an official from Xiuning, transmitted the kata while serving on Okinawa. Legend has that Wang Ji had the habit of throwing and jumping on his adversaries. Because of this dynamic form of combat, this kata resembles a swallow in flight. In Gichin Funakoshi's dojo, Enpi was considered an example of the Shôrin (light and fast), rather than the Shôrei (strong and powerful) kata.

Instructions

Enpi or Flying Swallow is composed of 37 movements, arranged in the shape of a T, typically taking around one minute to perform altogether. Step-wise movements are as follows:

Embusen

This is the embusen of Enpi