Ānankū (Kyan)

Kyan Chōtoku introduced Ānankū after returning from a journey to Taiwan in the 1930s. He may have learned the kata while studying there and then brought it to Okinawa, or he may have taken inspiration from his time in Taiwan and created the kata himself. 

Shimabukuro Zenpō—the son of Kyan’s student, Shimabukuro Zenryō—states that Ānankū was designed by Kyan in 1931 to be a short beginner kata for his students at the Agricultural School in Kadena, simplifying and combining aspects of Kyan’s Gojūshiho (see Ūsēshī), Passai (see Passai), and Sēsan (see Sēsan).

Evidentially, Kyan taught both an Ānankū-dai (アーナンクー大; “Major Ānankū”) and Ānankū-shō (アーナンクー小; “Minor Ānankū”). It is possible that one of these versions became this version of Ānankū, and the other became the Ānankū of Matsubayashi-ryū (see Ānankū (Nagamine)).

Ānankū is normally written in katakana, however it is sometimes associated with specific sets of kanji. 

The characters 安南空 (An’nankū; “Peaceful Southern Sky”) or 安南光 (An’nankō; “Peaceful Southern Light”) are sometimes used, possibly suggesting that the kata was a “gift” from the Southward island of Taiwan. 

Alternately, the characters 安南公 (An’nankō; “Honorable An’nan”) or 阿南公 (Anankō; “Honorable Anan”) are sometimes used, possibly suggesting that they kata was named after Ānan, the instructor of Kyan’s own Tomarite instructor, Matsumora Kōsaku. In the case of these characters, the final kanji, 公, is used here as a suffix denoting familiarity. 

In both of these cases, it is notable that the pronunciation of the kanji is distinctly different from the way the name is read in katakana (i.e. the kanji read “An’nankū/An’nankō” or “Anankō,” while the kana read “Ānankū/Ānankō”).

• https://www.patreon.com/posts/clues-from-short-137774079 

• https://karate-shorin-ryu-piemonte.webnode.it/news/ananku-kyans-fukyugata/