Jiin can be interpreted as “Love and Shadow,” with some preferring the translation of “Temple Grounds.” Gichin Funakoshi named the kata Shokyo which translates as “Pine Shadow,” but this name was never adopted by his students. Having many similarities to Jion, Jiin is most likely another kata inspired by the teachings of a Buddhist temple in China. Jiin is sometimes grouped with Jion and Jitte, since all three use similar techniques, and all three begin in the “Ming salutation” posture (palm over fist). Jiin is a fairly plain, no frills kata, not offering much in the way of new techniques. Its primary technique is the kosa-uke (uchi-uke/gedan-uke), similar to the one found at the beginning of Jion, except in Jiin, gedan-uke (rather than uchi-uke) hovers over the front leg.
Jiin contains two uncharacteristic features for a Shotokan kata. First, jodan is the target for move #34; traditional straight punches to jodan do not exist in JKA Shotokan kata. Second, in order to finish on the starting point, the karateka must pull in the left leg, an action not in accordance with JKA kata procedure. If the practitioner pulls in the right leg, as is normally the case when finishing in kiba-dachi, the starting point won’t be reached. Perhaps for these reasons, it was decided to remove Jiin from the JKA syllabus, leaving 25 kata instead of 26. Of course, one should know that starting and finishing on the same spot in kata training is a relatively new concept implemented to standardize the judging of kata for competition.
