San dan gi is a sparring drill commonly used in Goju Ryu to introduce sparring techniques to beginners. However, like all other basic techniques, kumite drills, and kata that are taught to beginner karateka, san dan gi is not easy to master.
Practicing them right will lay a good foundation and help you become better at jyu kumite or free sparring later on.
This post covers nine different san dan gi drills and tips to help you master them and get the most out of these seemingly simple drills.
Table of Contents
- What Are San Dan Gi Drills?
- Purposes of San Dan Gi Drills
- Tips to Get the Most Out of Your San Dan Gi Drills
- San Dan Gi Number One
- San Dan Gi Number Two
- San Dan Gi Number Three
- San Dan Gi Number Four
- San Dan Gi Number Five
- San Dan Gi Number Six
- San Dan Gi Number Seven
- San Dan Gi Number Eight
- San Dan Gi Number Nine
- San Dan Gi Demonstrations
What Are San Dan Gi Drills?
San dan gi in karate means “three-level moving”, “three-level sparring” or “three-level training” which refers to the three levels (jodan, chudan, and gedan) that the three attacks in the san dan gi drills aim at.
San dan gi drills are partnered sparring exercises where one partner attacks three times in three steps and the other partner defends three times in three steps and then follows up with counter-attacks.
San dan gi drills will be the first kumite drills that you are taught after you’ve learned a few basic punches, blocks, and stances.
In Goju Ryu, san dan gi is generally part of the grading curriculum and you will be tested on san dan gi techniques from around 8th kyu and beyond.
Although they are considered drills for beginners, you will continue to be tested on san dan gi as you progress through your ranks.
In some dojo, san dan gi drills that include more advanced techniques like throwing are also taught to advanced students.
Purposes of San Dan Gi Drills
San dan gi drills aim to help students practice the following:
- Punching and kicking techniques (oi tsuki, mae geri, kansetsu geri)
- Blocking techniques (both close hand and open hand blocks)
- Stances (sanchin dachi, shiko dachi, neko ashi dachi, kokutsu dachi, zenkutsu dachi, etc.)
- Distance and timing
- Body conditioning.
Tips to Get the Most Out of Your San Dan Gi Drills
1. Have the correct martial attitude
The most important thing when you practice san dan gi or any other karate drills is having the right martial attitude.
Always treat these drills like actual micro fighting sequences and don’t just go through the motions because your instructor asks you to do or because you need to learn them to pass a grading.
If you have this martial attitude in all of your practice, kihon, kata or kumite, when you are in a real fight, you’ll be a natural and you’ll be ready.
As the legendary swordsman, Miyamoto Musashi, once said “you can only fight the way you practice“, you can also only compete the way you practice and you can only show what you’ve got in a grading the way you practice.
2. Produce the best techniques possible in all drills
When you are attacking, attack with full power and intensity and get the targets right. Attack as if you are facing a big and strong opponent and you need to finish him or her off with a single attack.
When you are defending, again defend effectively with correct and powerful techniques and with the right timing. Defend as if your life actually depends upon it.
Like other partnered drills, both the attacker and the defender need to do their jobs well for the exercises to be beneficial.
If the attacker does a good job of attacking and imposing real threats upon the defender, the defender will be forced to work hard and defend properly.
If the attacker’s attacks are weak, miles away, or missing the target, the defender either doesn’t bother to block properly or can’t improve on his blocking techniques if he or she does block properly.
3. Apply principles of power generation
It is not easy to generate strong and effective techniques while on the move, especially if you are a beginner. The following principles can help improve the power of your techniques:
- Have a well-rooted stance or a solid foundation from which to launch your techniques
- Involve as much body mass as possible in all techniques, the more body mass is involved, the more powerful your techniques will be
- Relax as much as possible, tension in any part of your body will slow down your techniques and reduce their power
- Transfer all power of your techniques through instead of holding them back at the contact point (think throwing a ball, not catching a ball)
- Practice with a makiwara and other training tools, you can’t produce powerful techniques if all you ever do is air-hitting or air-blocking.
4. Maintain good postures and correct stances
Throughout the drills, you should maintain correct posture with your neck and back straight and your eyes on the opponent.
You should stay focused but relaxed and breathe naturally throughout the exercises.
You should also have correct stances which is one of the aims of these drills.
Although some stances may first feel awkward, if you practice these drills over and over again, the stances will become natural to you in a real fight. Strong and well-rooted stances are critical if you want to have powerful and effective techniques.
5. Work on your distance
You will be partnered up with people of different heights, strengths, and technical levels in these drills. So, take advantage of this opportunity and work on your distance, timing, and body conditioning which is hard to do when you practice on your own.
If you are the attacker, you need to have the correct distancing so that your attacks are actually effective, for example, your fist is touching the defender’s nose or solar plexus if the defender fails to block the attacks.
Over time, with a lot of practice, you will have an innate sense of what would be the right distance in free sparring in order for your techniques to be effective.
On the other hand, if you don’t pay attention or don’t really care if your punching fist is ten inches away from the target, you will bring that attitude into a real fight and miss the opportunity to learn and improve on your distancing.
6. Work on your timing
If you are the defender in the drills, you have the opportunity to time your blocking. Do not move before the attacker moves or before the attacker fully commits to the attack.
If you move too soon, in a free sparring situation, an experienced fighter can change their attacks mid-way, making your blocks ineffective.
If you are the attacker in the drills, you can dictate the rhythm of the attacks. It’s good to make it a little unpredictable so that the defender must work harder on his or her timing.
7. Work on your body conditioning
In those go techniques, if both the attacker and the defender produce the most powerful techniques possible, they will condition their arms and legs in those exercises and become stronger as a result.
If they are either lazy or want to be nice to their partner and produce weak techniques, both will miss the opportunity to learn what it is like to be threatened with a strong attack or to block a strong attack.
Strong techniques mean you will get a lot of bruises at the beginning. But as your arms and legs are more conditioned and you learn to kime properly over time, those bruises will become fewer and fewer and will eventually disappear.
Below are details of nine san dan gi drills with increasing levels of difficulty.
A part from San Dan Gi Number One which is commonly practiced in most Goju Ryu dojos, other san dan gi drills vary a lot depending on where you practice.
San Dan Gi Number One
In this drill, the attacker will attack with three punches to three levels, jodan, chudan, and gedan, using sanchin dachi, sanchi dachi and shiko dachi respectively.
The defender will defend with jodan age uke, chudan yoko uke, and gedan barai using the same stances as the attacker.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the right leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari age uke |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the left leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with migi chudan yoko uke |
| 3. Step the left leg forward into a 45 degree shiko dachi and punch gedan tsuki | 3. Step the right leg back into a 45 degree shiko dachi and block with hidari gedan barai. Note: In step 3, some dojos may add a gyaku tsuki counter-attack after the gedan barai and another gedan barai with the original blocking hand |
| Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until the defender run out of dojo space. You will now do the defending techniques 1 to 3. | Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until you run out of dojo space, in which case you should kiai loudly to let your partner know. It will now be your turn to attack. |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Number Two
In this drill, the attacker will attack like in Sandan Gi Number One. The defender will defend using one hand only for all three steps. The defending techniques are age uke, uchi uke, and gedan barai.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the right leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari age uke |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the left leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari uchi uke (it is known as soto uke in Shotokan) |
| 3. Step the left leg forward into a 45 degree shiko dachi and punch gedan tsuki | 3. Step the right leg back into a 45-degree shiko dachi and block with hidari gedan barai |
| Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until the defender run out of dojo space. You will now do the defending techniques 1 to 3. | Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until you run out of dojo space, in which case you should kiai loudly to let your partner know. It will now be your turn to attack. |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Number Three
In this drill, the attacker will attack as in San Dan Gi Number One. The defender will defend using open hand techniques (koken uke, hiki uke and shotei uke), using alternating hands.
The defender will also use kokutsu dachi stance for the last block (shotei barai) instead of shiko dachi.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the right leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari jodan koken uke |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the left leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with migi chudan hiki uke |
| 3. Step the left leg forward into a 45-degree shiko dachi and punch gedan tsuki | 3. Step the right leg back into a kokutsu dachi and block with hidari gedan shotei barai |
| Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until the defender run out of dojo space. You will now do the defending techniques 1 to 3. | Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until you run out of dojo space, in which case you should kiai loudly to let your partner know. It will now be your turn to attack. |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Number Four
In this drill, the attacker will attack as in San Dan Gi Number One. The defender will defend using open hand techniques like in San Dan Gi Number Three but using the same hand for all three steps.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the right leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari jodan koken uke |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the left leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari chudan hiki uke |
| 3. Step the left leg forward into a 45-degree shiko dachi and punch gedan tsuki | 3. Step the right leg back into a kokutsu dachi and block with hidari gedan shotei barai |
| Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until the defender run out of dojo space. You will now do the defending techniques 1 to 3. | Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until you run out of dojo space, in which case you should kiai loudly to let your partner know. It will now be your turn to attack. |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Number Five
In this drill, the attacker will attack as in San Dan Gi Number One. The defender will defend using open hand techniques (koken uke, hiki uke and shotei uke) like in San Dan Gi Number Four but will use neko ashi dachi for the first two steps instead of sanchin dachi.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the right leg back into a neko ashi dachi and block with hidari jodan koken uke, the other hand covering the suigetsu (solar plexus) area |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the left leg back into a neko ashi dachi and block with migi chudan hiki uke |
| 3. Step the left leg forward into a 45-degree shiko dachi and punch gedan tsuki | 3. Step the right leg back into a kokutsu dachi and block with hidari gedan shotei barai. |
| Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until the defender run out of dojo space. You will now do the defending techniques 1 to 3. | Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until you run out of dojo space, in which case you should kiai loudly to let your partner know. It will now be your turn to attack. |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Number Six
In this drill, the attacker will punch jodan tsuki and chudan tsuki, kick mae geri and then punch gedan tsuki.
The defender will defend with jodan age uke, chudan yoko uke, and gedan barai. There will also be a gyaku tsuki counter-attack.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the right leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari age uke |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the left leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with migi chudan yoko uke |
| 3. Kick mae geri with the left leg, landing in 45-degree hidari shiko dachi and punch hidari gedan tsuki | 3 (i) Step the right leg back into a kokutsu dachi, block the kick with hidari gedan barai using the same hand; (ii) turn toward the attacker into hidari zenkutsu dachi and punch migi chudan gyaku tsuki; (iii) turn back to a 45-degree shiko dachi, block hidari gedan barai with the original blocking hand |
| Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until the defender run out of dojo space. You will now do the defending techniques 1 to 3. | Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until you run out of dojo space, in which case you should kiai loudly to let your partner know. It will now be your turn to attack. |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Number Seven
In this drill, the attacker will attack as in San Dan Gi Number One.
The defender will defend with jodan age uke, chudan yoko uke, and gedan barai. There are also two counter-attacks after the last block: kansetsu geri and jodan gyaku tsuki.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the right leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari age uke |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the left leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with migi chudan yoko uke |
| 3. Step the left leg forward into a 45-degree shiko dachi and punch gedan tsuki | 3 (i) Slide right into a 45-degree hidari neko ashi dachi, block with the punch with hidari gedan barai; (ii) kick hidari kansetsu geri to the attacker’s knee; (iii) turn into hidari zenkutsu dachi facing the attacker, punch migi jodan gyaku-zuki to the nape of the neck or behind the ear (iv) return to shiko dachi and block hidari gedan barai |
| Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until the defender run out of dojo space. You will now do the defending techniques 1 to 3. | Repeat two more sets of techniques 1 to 3 above or until you run out of dojo space, in which case you should kiai loudly to let your partner know. It will now be your turn to attack. |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Number Eight
In this drill, the attacker will attack as in San Dan Gi Number One.
The first two defense techniques are the same as in San Dan Gi Number Seven but the last defense technique is followed by complex counter-attack and throwing techniques.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the right leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari age uke |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the left leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with migi chudan yoko uke |
| 3. Step the left leg forward into a 45-degree shiko dachi and punch gedan tsuki | 3 (i) Slide left 45 degrees into the inside of the opponent and assume migi nekoashi dachi stance, block the punch with migi gedan barai; (ii) right hand then grabs the attacker’s wrist; (iii) switching feet, kick hidari kin geri to the attacker’s groin; strike hidari uraken uchi to the attacker’s left jaw; (iv) throw the attacker’s arm back and away, drop to the right knee, takedown with the right hand behind the attacker’s ankle, the left hand pressing the attacker’s left knee to the right and right hand pulling left (v) as the attacker falls backward, slide in holding the right leg but covering the attacker’s right leg with the left knee, left palm smashing down to the attacker’s groin, the right hand controlling the attacker’s left leg; (vi) bring the left hand under the attacker’s right leg, throw the leg away, roll the attacker to his right and escape quickly. |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Number Nine
San Dan Gi Number Nine is the same as San Dan Gi Number eight except for the last defense and counter-attack techniques.
| Attack | Defense |
|---|---|
| The attacker starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) | The defender starts with a natural ready stance (heiko dachi or hachiji dachi) |
| 1. Step the left leg straight forward into a left sanchin dachi stance and punch jodan tsuki | 1. Step the left leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with hidari age uke |
| 2. Step the right leg straight forward into a right sanchin dachi and punch chudan tsuki | 2. Step the right leg back into a sanchin dachi and block with migi chudan yoko uke |
| 3. Step the left leg forward into a 45-degree shiko dachi and punch gedan tsuki | 3. (i) Slide right foot back into hidari shiko dachi blocking migi gedan bari using the same hand as the chudan block (ii) strike hidari empi uchi (elbow strike) to the attacker’s jaw; the left hand continues down to strike the attacker’s groin with the back of the hand, making the attacker lift his/her weight up off the ground; (ii) squat down to roll backward onto the back while bringing the left hand up under the attacker’s groin, forcing him into a forward roll; (iv) with the right hand, keep the attacker’s left arm trapped across your body in an arm bar; as the attacker comes up, attack his face to force his head back down with hidari shotei then strike the groin with the back of the hand, elbow to the ribs, heel to the face |
| Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner | Return to the natural ready stance when you are finished and bow to your partner |
San Dan Gi Demonstrations
Other posts you might be interested in:
Shotokan’s Complete System of Kumite Practice
Karate vs BJJ: Which One Is Better for Self-Defense?
Karate vs Wing Chun: Which One Is Better for Self-defense?
How to Systematically Improve Your Karate Sparring
Choki Motobu’s Wisdom in “My Art and Skill of Karate”
References:
San Dan Gi – G.I.F.T. Martial Arts
San Dan Gi Drills One Through Six (author unknown)