Kendokai Karate Kata "Keum Gang" and "Paektu"

Nakamura Hideo Sensei's karate school, Kendokai (Fist-Way Association. However, it's worth noting that Nakamura Sensei opposed factionalism in karate, saying "karate IS karate."), puts a lot of emphasis on kata, kihon, and body conditioning (esp. striking and kicking sandbags). Below are two of the katas performed by Lee Young Sensei of the Kasugai Dojo. Notice the portrait of Nakamura Sensei on the wall.

Keum Gang Kata:

Paektu Kata:

Both katas are named after the famous mountains in North Korea. Keum Gang is a mountain famous for its beauty and popular among South Korean tourists, and Paektu has near mythical significance to the Korean people. This shows that Nakamura Sensei had a strong desire to honor his heritage (I guess it's safe to say so).

Keum Gang kata has a lot of oizuki (lunge punch) and quick up-down parry that comes off the gedan barai (low block). It also includes "ibuki", or the slow abdominal breathing, in the kata. Its about the same level with the famous Heian katas, but may be with a little bit more movements.

Paektu kata is definitely challenging because of many maegeri (front kick) and rapid punch combination. It also includes ibuki breathing. The final movement has a curious "stomp punch", backfist, and ridge hand strike combination.

I'm really not qualified to analyze another school's kata so I'll leave it here, but it's very clear that the katas of the Kendokai are based on solid karate techniques and would complement any karateka's current training, which is what I'm doing.