Jitte (or Jutte) means "Ten Hands." Mastery of the kata is supposed to imply that the karateka is able to perform the actions of ten men, further inferring that one has the ability to fight off ten armed opponents. Even within the Shotokan style, this kata has many variations. The JKA version consists of 24 moves. Jitte is a very robust and "heavy" kata, having many powerful techniques. Even the slow movements are executed with a certain vigor and tension. Although Jitte does not have any really complex movements, some of the hip motions require a lot of practice to develop proper kime. It is essential that the karateka demonstrate true budo spirit in each attack and defense, and every movement should be completed with absolute confidence and destructive power.
Many of the applications for Jitte focus on defenses against stick (bo) attacks; Jitte offers some new and unique techniques to that end such as bo-tsukami-uke, followed by bo-toriage, followed by bo-oshimodoshi. The zenwan-uchi-barai is likewise only found in this kata. Tekubi-osae-uke/tekubi-kake-uke occur in several other advanced kata, but are usually learned first in Jitte. The "stick defense" applications of Jitte usually work equally well against an opponent's arm, providing many arm-breaking techniques.
