progression to the ball of the foot is a hallmark of the style. Ranks Wadō-ryū uses a typical karate belt order to denote rank. The beginner commences at 9th or 10th kyū (depending on the organization and school) and progresses to 1st kyū, then from 1st–5th dan for technical grades. The ranks of 6th–10th dan are honorary ranks. Although some other karate styles add stripes to their belt for the dan ranks, Wado-ryū practitioners tend not to follow that practice. The rank at which Wado practitioners are first able to teach is usually 3rd dan, but this depends on the organization. Some Wado ryu organizations require completion of a special course in addition to attaining a certain dan rank. Schools that use the same belt color for multiple kyu ranks typically, although not necessarily, use stripes to indicate progress within that belt color. Kata Kata are predefined, specific patterns of movement that incorporate and encapsulate martial techniques, concepts, and applications. The exact movements of a kata often vary from one organization to another, and even from one school to another within the same organization. The variations can range from gross deviations apparent to the untrained observer to very subtle minutiae. In his 1977 book on Wadō-ryū (published in English in 1997), Ōtsuka declared only nine official kata for Wadō-ryū: Pinan Nidan, Pinan Shodan, Pinan Sandan, Pinan Yodan, Pinan Godan, Kūshankū, Naihanchi, Seishan and Chintō. Within his text, Ōtsuka provides detailed notes on the performance of these kata, which has resulted in less deviation across organizations on their performance. However, Ōtsuka did teach other kata. Perhaps because Ōtsuka did not provide specific notes for the performance of these other kata in his text, there is greater variation in these other kata across organizations and schools. Kata associated with Wadō-ryū include: Ten-No: basic drills first invented by Gigō Funakoshi (son of Gichin Funakoshi). Taikyoku series: developed by Gichin Funakoshi as a preliminary exercise before the Pinan series; many Wadō-ryū schools teach these basic kata, particularly Taikyoku Shodan (太極初段). Pinan kata: created by Ankō Itosu, and consisting of Pinan Shodan (平安初段), Pinan Nidan (平安二段), Pinan Sandan (平安三段), Pinan Yodan (平安四段), and Pinan Godan (平安五段). Funakoshi renamed this series as the Heian series. Kūshankū クーシャンクー (公相君): "Sky Viewing". Kūshankū was the Okinawan name for Kwang Shang Fu, a Sapposhi (emissary of China's ruling class) sent to Okinawa in the 18th century. This kata uses