Synopsis:

This fighting style is based upon Chinese future telling, there are 8 signs upon a circle upon which the practitioner walks endlessly. Then at a certain sign the practitioner bursts into movement, using indirect, circular attacks and deflections to take out an imaginary opponent. The object of these actions is usually the unbalancing and taking down of the opponent before hitting him where it hurts.

As the practitioner walks around, attuned to the 8 signs, one of them will spring into his mind and he will act accordingly, performing a set of moves not unlike a short kata. These moves rely on subtlety and trickery to be successful.

(Synopsis courtesy of Rathryn Ramos)

By Eric Moss

Kusanku kata has traditionally been called the "night fighting kata." Recently however, this assumption has been challenged by several prominent martial artists. They maintain that the "night fighting" designation is basically a myth, perpetuated by misinterpretation of the name or techniques. There are several good arguments to support this position, but it is obvious that Kusanku kata does contain techniques well- adapted to fighting at night. While the inclusion of these techniques might be purely a coincidence, I believe it is doubtful the kata is also coincidentally called the "night fighting kata." I suspect that night fighting techniques were intentionally included in Kusanku kata....

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