What about the Ladies?
- blackburnhakira
- Aug 21, 2025
- 2 min read
Did you know that there are kata in karate and Judo that were created specifically for women?
Kenwa Mabuni, the founder of Shitō-ryū karate, was known for his commitment to making martial arts accessible to everyone. He grew up as a small and frail child, and this motivated him to create forms that could be used effectively used by individuals of all sizes.
Mabuni developed two kata, Aoyagi (Green Willow) and Myojo (Bright Star), in response to requests from women's schools, that would be practical for women's self-defense, and would be easy to learn, remember, and apply. These techniques would have to be suitable for smaller individuals, and not require as much strength to perform, but still be effective. Mabuni, along with Shin-No-Jinden Ryu founder Yasuhiro Konishi, developed the Aoyagi kata under the guidance of Aikido’s O-Sensei Morihei Ueshiba. Imagine three giants of the martial arts combining concepts and skills into a single kata.
Now imagine those techniques being available to larger, stronger individuals, yet still retaining their efficacy and ease of performance. Many male karate-ka avoid these katas, and so you tend to see them done only in tournament competition and only by women.
Its interesting to note that Judo also has a kata for women practitioners.
Joshi Goshin Hō, the ‘ninth’ kata of Kōdōkan jūdō was created in 1943, and was once part of the standard women’s jūdō curriculum in Japan. Historically, women practiced a less physical method of jūdō than men, and their instruction was mostly for health and taught as calisthenics rather than competition. Jirō Nangō, a retired Japanese Navy admiral in charge of the Kōdōkan, felt that Joshi Goshin Hō would meet the increasing demands for more self-defense-oriented jūdō for women. However, Joshi Goshin Hō is in a state of decline caused mostly by concerns about the effectiveness of its techniques. However, Joshi Goshin Hō is still worthy of a place in self-defense training, and could be combined with controlled sparring for teaching self-defense skills.
What are the members of the gentler sex learning, that we have been avoiding with our “Tim the tool-man” attitudes of bigger, stronger, faster, more power? What if we combined the skills of Aoyagi and Myojo, along with drills from Joshi Goshin Ho, but apply the techniques with our (male) speed and power?
I look forward to researching these, thank you! Often the most growth comes from working on things we are least efficient at. The results can be multiplicative.
Fujian White Crane was developed by a lady and later a student of hers went on to develop Wing Chung they used the tools they had in the best way they could and exploited the weaknesses of there opponents .
As a martial arts teacher is like being the Forman on a job site different people doing different jobs require different tools not every tool is a hammer despite what most blacksmiths will tell you haha ,a wood saw will not do well on metal nor can a welder join two pieces of wood together effectively but if you can recognize that just because something is different, doesn’t mean it’s a lesser form of something or a weaker version of…
I've never heard of Kata for Judo, men or women, but that only reveals that I don't know Judo as much as I would like. Same thing for Shito-ryu. And the US is full of dojo teaching Shito-ryu.
Where could I study them, as the Kata would be a boon to older males who need the gentler touch of a woman, but still remain effective?