Pinan

Series of five empty hand forms taught in many karate styles
the municipality in the Philippines

The Pinan (平安) kata are a series of five empty hand forms taught in many karate styles. The Pinan kata originated in Okinawa and were adapted by Anko Itosu from older kata such as Kusanku and Channan into forms suitable for teaching karate to young students. Pinan is the Chinese Pinyin notation of 平安; when Gichin Funakoshi brought karate to Japan, he spelt the kata name as Heian, which is the onyomi of 平安. Pinan or Heian means "peaceful and safe". Korean Tang Soo Do, one of 5 original kwan of Korea, also practice these kata; they are termed, "Pyong an" or "Pyung Ahn", which is a Korean pronunciation of the term "ping an".

According to Motobu Chōki, one of Ankō Itosu's early students, the Pinan kata was created by Itosu and was originally called Channan (チャンナン) and had slightly different movements. When Motobu asked Itosu about this point in his later years, Itosu replied, "The form is somewhat different from those days, but now I have decided on the form as it was performed by the students. Everyone preferred the name Pinan, so I followed the young people's opinion." Since Motobu (b. 1870) began studying under Itosu at the age of 12 (East Asian age reckoning), this means that the Channan was already in existence by the 1880s. The name "Pinan" was suggested by students of the former Okinawa Prefectural First Middle School (now Shuri High School) or Okinawa Prefectural Normal School, where Itosu was a karate instructor at the time, and was adopted by Itosu. The Channan is now lost, but some believe that the Motobu ryū's "Shirokuma" (白熊, ) kata may be Channan because of its similarity to Pinan. The Pinan kata were introduced into the school systems on Okinawa in 1895, and were subsequently adopted by many teachers and schools in the 1900s. Thus, they are present today in the curriculum of Shitō ryū, Wadō ryū, Shōrin ryū, Kobayashi ryū, Kyokushin, Seido Juku, Shinki Ryu, Shōrei ryū, Shotojuku, Shotokan, Matsubayashi ryū, Shukokai, Shindo Jinen Ryu, Kosho ryū Kempo, Kenyu Ryu, Kushin Ryu and several other styles. Funakoshi modified the Pinan forms to Heian forms, introducing his version of Kushanku (actually renamed Kanku Dai). The 5 kata were Pinans Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yondan, and Godan.