Kanzawa kancho introduced over the last 20 years several katas to the SKIF syllabus. Adding to the 26 kata set practiced by the major Shotokan associations, although with some small differences, Kanzawa introduced 4 katas: Gankaku Sho, Nijuhachiho, Seipai and Seienchin. All of these katas are practiced in other (Okinawan) Karate styles, as in Goju-ryu and Shito-ryu.
The incorporation of these katas in the SKIF’s menu is seen as a “two in one” step towards a major objective: First of all, Kanazawa sensei states that these kata provide training on Shiko-dachi, a stance not used in any of the standard 26 kata, plus the training of a large set of higher level techniques and all the other strong points that those styles provide that shotokan doesn’t. Second, it’s also known the effort that Kanazawa sensei is doing by promoting the “Karate as one”, while trying to diminish the gap between the different branches and styles, claiming that karate is only one, and that it should be understood as one.
The Kanazawa’s versions of the Katas are slightly different from those practiced in the other styles, in order to accommodate the inherent difference between them, although they remain very close to the original (opposing for instance the Kyukushin karate who practice the katas with the same name but can barely resemble to the original ones). Similarly to what Funakoshi (and later Nakayama) did, he adopted a different name from the Okinawan original.
Below is a table with videos comparing the SKIF version to the closest traditional version:
| SKIF | Okinawan | Notes |
| Seienchin | Seienchin | From Shito-ryu |
| Seipai | Seipai | From Goju-ryu |
| Gankaku Sho | Chinto | From Shorin-ryu |
| Nijuhachiho | Nipaipo | From Shito-ryu, tomari-te and White crane wushu |
NOTE: Some of the videos are performed by SKIF karatekas, which are the only
reference for the katas I found, and they agree with the version that was taught to me
as a SKIF karateka. Only Nijuhachiho video is performed by Kanazawa himself.
