In my latest podcast, Michael Calandra asked me if there were any solo forms (kata) depicted in pictures in the Bubishi. My answer was no, but I explained that they appear as text descriptions—specifically, Nepai is mentioned (written in the Bubishi as 弐拾捌 ).
However, this answer is actually only half correct. To be more precise, there are no solo forms shown in pictures in the Bubishi versions of Miyagi Chōjun, Higa Seikō, Izumikawa Kanki, and Fukuchi Seikō. But in the Bubishi of Itosu Ankō—as presented in Mabuni’s 1934 publication—there is indeed a solo form illustrated.
Wait, what? The Bubishi of Itosu Ankō and the Bubishi of Miyagi Chōjun were different? The answer is: YES.
The absence of the solo form (kata) in pictures in the other versions is one indication of this distinction.
Karate Kenkyū Shitsu 