Bassai Dai

Bassai is most often translated as "To Penetrate a Fortress" This is particularly evident in the kata's first movement, when the karateka launches forward with soete-uchi-uke. The word Dai means "big," describing the kata's larger movements, contrary to its counterpart Bassai Sho.

Bassai Dai is usually the first Sentei kata to be learned and is the most popular choice as tokui kata by 1st kyu examinees for black belt. It is characterized by many switching arm blocking combinations, making effective use of the hanmi/gyaku-hanmi positions. Performance of gyaku-hanmi in Bassai Dai is substantially more difficult than in H2 because in Bassai, the front stance should not be shortened to accommodate gyaku-hanmi.

Many techniques are seen for the first time in this kata such as tate-shuto-uke, sukui-uke, and hasami-uchi. The ryosho-tsukami-uke & gedan-sokuto-kekomi combination is unique to Bassai kata (both versions), while the powerful yama-zuki can ony be found in Bassai Dai and Wankan.