The Pinan Flow System is a series of books by John Titchen of DART and Kyohan Shotokan Karate. He is an international instructor teaching self-protection and practical karate, he is best known for his scenario day training.
The Pinan Flow system is divided into 4 books;
Book one Pinan Shodan and Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan and Heian Nidan)
Book two Pinan Sandan (Heian Sandan)
Book three Pinan Yondan (Heian Yondan)
Book four Pinan Godan (Heian Godan)
The books go through various different exercises for karate-ka as well as, the kata, applications and the attacks the applications are done to. The attacks used are Habitual Acts of Violence, in other words street attacks, it also outlines the common types of violence depending on who is defending themselves and against who.
Having done the Pinan Flow System with John at seminars, it really is an interesting system, with many applications/uses and ability to transition between the kata and drills readily and freely. The books are an excellent reference point to go through what was covered in these. The pictures are of high quality, outlining each step of an application with the relevant move named from the kata given with the name and move number. Explanation wise these are clear and concise making it easy for the reader to follow.
All in all, these are possibly some of the best application books I have come across, it pieces together many years of work and has replaced the original ‘Heian Flow System.’ It takes a keen or experienced eye to work out moves of the kata but, if you look closely enough you should be able to find them. To gain a deeper understanding of the Heian kata I highly recommend you buy these books to further your own knowledge, be it kyu grade or dan grade.