Jion is one of the longest intermediate kata in the shotokan karate system. Jion (translated: "Temple" or "Temple of love and goodness"). Normally practiced at brown belt level and sometimes used to grade for shodan black belt exams.
Jion is a strong kata in the Shotokan system, a very direct and fast kata, but also incorporating some circular movements. Jion is essential part of shotokan practice because of the importance of the perfection of the basic stances it contains, notably zenkutsu dachi (front stance), kiba dachi (horse stance) and kokutsu dachi (back stance).
