Another one of Yasutsune Itosu's "second editions," Bassai Sho is the smaller version of "Penetrating a Fortress," having fewer movements and a slightly smaller frame than its predecessor, Bassai Dai. Since there exist many different versions of Bassai kata, it is uncertain which one Itosu used as a model for Bassai Sho. It is entirely possible that Bassai Sho is simply one of the different versions of Bassai and was imported by Itosu. In either case, Bassai Sho is similar to Bassai Dai in its embusen and style of movement. While Bassai Dai is a very heavy kata that uses very large movements to demonstrate outer strength and power, the smaller techniques of Bassai Sho should exhibit an inner calm and energy.
Many of the kata's applications involve defenses against stick attacks. The kata uses many grasping (tiger-mouth) blocks to that effect. Although Bassai Sho contains standard techniques found in other kata, they are performed is a very unusual manner. For example, using the back of the hand for awase-uke, or performing double tsukami-uke vertically. New adaptations for previously learned techniques are prevalent in Bassai Sho. The kata has a total count of 27 and, although at one time the kiai points were on moves #17 and #25 (Best Karate #9), presently they are on moves #17 and #22.
