October 17, 2007
The Great Kata Debate
There seems to be a constant underlying debate amongst martial artists. How relevant and useful is kata? It’s certainly no secret that many practitioners of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) find kata to be archaic and dated (and that’s putting it nicely). Yet traditional practitioners of the martial arts continue to learn kata, and place great value in its practice.
Being a martial artist that started learning kata during my very first karate class, it never even occurred to me that the martial arts could exist without kata. To me, it has always been the backbone of what I am learning; and as one of my instructor’s calls it, "the vehicle" to greater understanding of technique. It’s not just that either. Repetitive kata has the ultimate goal of the practitioner entering a state of mushin (mind no mind), which loosely translates into your mind being so free from thought that you just instinctively react to what’s going on around you. Simply put, mushin means "don’t think." One purpose of kata is muscle memory, another addresses the mental aspects of combat and just being. Kata, although not nearly all of my training, has constituted a large proportion of it.
Then I started hearing the debates, which are really more along the lines of "kata is stupid." Critics of kata say that it is only a "dance" and not a means to learn technique or self defense. Critics may possibly be equating kata to this:
I don’t post this video to make fun of this child. That is certainly not my intention. He is quite obviously doing what he was trained to do. What exactly he was trained to do, I’m not quite sure; but this is most certainly NOT kata as it was intended. Kata is not a kiai (spirit shout) sequence that emphasizes every single move. Kata is not getting into positions that make absolutely no sense. Don’t believe me? Just watch a video of any great karate master. Their kata looks nothing like this. Of course, one must keep in mind that this is obviously taking place during a tournament and many tournament participants are much more into putting "bling" into their moves than they are about performing a traditional kata.
In his book "Living the Martial Way," Forrest E. Morgan, Maj USAF says this about kata:
"Proper, traditional kata training provides a distillate of all the essential elements for developing kiai (which literally means to concentrate or focus the life force). It emphasizes the solid stances and correct movements that build haragei (the physical art of controlling and moving from one’s center). A qualified instructor will always stress moving from the one point, relaxing at key points, and lowering your center of gravity. With this kind of practice, you can’t help but build a strong hara (literally: belly, the area where one’s soul resides). Breathing in kata always centers in the tanden (abdomen). It is properly coordinated with the techniques, so kokyu chikara (breath power/internal power as opposed to external power) grows as each day passes.
But most importantly, kata is the quintessential exercise in kime (focus). It emphasizes coordinating and focusing physical energy in each technique, and teaches a student to concentrate his mental energy and focus it into the physical movement. Properly disciplined, traditional kata training even conditions the warrior to commit and focus his spirit through commanding the directions in which he points his eyes.
No, you can’t use a kata on someone who attacks you, nor will a properly executed, traditional form do much to win you trophies. But if you want to develop kiai, if you want to learn to destroy attackers utterly and completely, if you want to learn to defeat an enemy with a single glance, you’ll practice kata with utmost seriousness."
Kata may have been hidden in dances in the past. Kata may look silly to a beginner or to someone who knows nothing about it. Kata alone is certainly not an all-inclusive martial art. Traditional martial artists certainly aren’t going to break into Nai Hanchi Shodan or Chinto during an encounter in a parking lot; but those who train in traditional martial arts know how inherently important and fundamental kata is to their training.
**Stop over at The BBM Review for the latest review (complete with crazy pictures) on an upcoming DVD release called, "Shaolin Legend Live."
Thanks to E.M. for bringing my attention to this video.
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I’m a bit old school. I find kata to be an intrigual part of my martial arts training. My dojo also breaks down the kata and examines what each move is, why it’s done, and we then visualize while doing the kata. It’s much more than just memorizing the dance.
Now, I have a brother-in-law who teaches jujitsu in Texas. He’s awesome. He’s won countless awards and trained with some of the best. He thinks “kata is stupid” and doesn’t teach it to his students. I feel like they are missing out on some essential culture, but, it’s not my dojo.
In general, I think attitudes probably split among two big camps: those who learn martial arts so they can kick someone’s ass, and those who learn martial arts so that they’ll never have to kick someone’s ass. I don’t think that most of those in the former group understand the purpose of the second group’s practice. That’s fine by me; we can lock all of those from the first group in a cage and let them duke it out. When there’s only one left, we can hand him (and you know it would be a man) a crown through the bars and toss away the key. Did I mention that I’m not a big fan of bullies?
Wow! This is such a timely post. Just last night following a green belt test, I had a discussion about forms with the instructor. As a brown belt in Tae Kwon Do, I am expected to know seven kata and be learning kata number 8 and 9 for my black belt test. At least that is how the three of us scoring the test last night were trained. The GB candidate had to do only two forms – Chunji and Dan Gun. I was expecting Do San also. My instructor informed me that he doesn’t make them do forms because he hates them. If he expects people to do forms, then he must also and he doesn’t want to. Isn’t that nuts? I forwarded him and my husband (the third instructor on the panel and also a Black Belt) your post. I have volunteered to take the Kata training responsibility for the class and restore them to their proper place in our training.
I, being the newbie to MA that I am, know 3 katas and I love, make that LOVE doing them. I feel in control, I feel I have power and I just think kata epitomizes what MA is all about. Now that may be my being so new to MA, but if there was no kata,I don’t know if my interest would have been peaked to even start MA. I vote – YES that kata is very important to MA!
Great post. I can’t imagine practicing martial arts without kata. I think the mma guys just don’t want to take the effort that kata requires. They can’t see the instant results so they don’t want to take the time. Sad.
If you have read my blog, which BBM has from comments I have read, then you know my position on kata.
As for this youngster. Don’t discount everything he is doing. His form is clean and crisp. He is not rushing his form. He is focused.
He may have been taught something that is merely a form to win a trophy yet if you look closely he is receiving something less obvious from his training tho it may or may not be traditional/classical nor may or may not be useful in the street.
If you read the quote you provided about kata from the Major this youngster is gaining something from this practice yet does he know and understand what it is.
He is gaining strength, coordination, focus, and shiki or fighting spirit regardless of if it is effective in the street or not. We don’t know what training he is receiving from this kata in the dojo in regards to yokusoku/jiyu kumite.
As to the value of kata those who say it is stupid and not of value have never been trained properly with kata as they were taught how to dance with no substance and value.
Nuff said š and thanks for that quote as I like the way he explains the usefulness of kata. I will check out his book.
“Kata is not getting into positions that make absolutely no sense.”
I see :
Sanchin-dachi well executed.
Shiko-dachi very well executed.
Very good balance between the stances.
Good transitions.
Kata has value if trained properly.
One of the most dangerous aspects of kata, is that it can give a false feeling of effectiveness. Kumite is the test…
I don’t understand why some people are so critical of kata and its role in karate. I happen to love kata and I know that performing kata will not get me out of any sticky situation. Maybe it is dated. But so what? It should be appreciated for what it is, and where it came from. Just because something is considered “archaic” doesn’t mean it is should be disposed of. Its not all about hand to hand combat as a lot of kata critics believe. If you want to fight, go fight then. I can fight AND do kata and enjoy them both. I enjoy kata way more than fighting, but I don’t “dis” the people who prefer to fight. What would be the point? Kata is what it is. I think a lot of MMA practitioners should just “let it go” and if they don’t like kata, then don’t do it, but don’t try to change the past and don’t insult the people who celebrate it. Ok, done with my rant. š
and by the way, that boy in the video scares me.
WG: I feel the same way. It may not be for everyone, but that’s why there are different styles. I think mine is the best; I’m sure they think theirs is the best. To each his own; I just think it’s funny when people say kata has no value.
P. Bradstein: I like your comparison. š
Lisa: Good for you! Definitely check out that book. Lots of food for thought in it.
Lisa 2: I feel the same way.
Rob: I think the focus of many MMA participants is tournament based. They want to win in the ring so they only want to do the things that will help them do that, and now. I don’t think this is true of ALL MMA practitioners but I do think it’s true of the ones who voice their negative opinions about kata so readily. There are two very different distinct goals between traditional practitioners and many MMA practitioners. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.
Charles & Mat: I’m most bothered by the constant kiai, and if someone can correct me, please do, but I believe that particular kata is made up of several. He obviously has great balance to be able to do those low to the ground spins like that. I’m just not sure how useful something like that would really be unless you’re fighting in an attic. If someone can tell me the application for that, I’m all ears.
frotoe: Rant away. I agree completely and yes, a little scary. š
Apart from anything else, kata/hyung practise is great for working breathing and muscles. I always find hyung practise exhausting when done with any conviction and attention to detail, so from that point of view it has at least one obvious place in modern teaching. Like others have said though, there’s much more to it that that… but I’ve never seen Sanchin performed like that before! I’ve seen it fast (there’s a great video showing Chinese Southern Crane Kung Fu and Goju Ryu performing it at the same time, stark differences), but not with a kiai/kihap on every strike.
Different strokes and all that… š
Nice post!
Historically speaking, martial arts come from dance. I know people don’t want to admit it, but performing (with music) is by far the most likely origin of this type of practice. Dancing and fighting have always gone together. That’s why the Catholic Church banned dancing!
Beef-cakes who want to steal the meanest utility and discard the art, are a menace.
The Kiai clearly shows the shamanic origins of martial arts, like bowing to the room, it is an exorcist’s too.
The little boy is very good at what he is doing. He has great stances and great focus. However, I agree with you in that what he is doing is not traditional kata. It is something that was pieced together from several different kata. I recognize sanchin and seiunchin kata, and just a bit of seisan kata. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with that–that is, developing a new kata from parts of old kata. What I take issue with is how he is doing this kata. This is a kata that was obviously developed for the tournament scene. The constant kiai-ing and exaggerated stances bear this out, along with his leg swinging out during his pivots. If you participate in tournaments enough, you see a lot of this type of stuff–flash and showmanship taking precidence over style and substance. If this is all someone ever sees of kata, then I don’t blame him for thinking it is useless. (I also question any dojo that would give a child that age a black belt, but that’s another debate all together.)
That being said, my belief is that kata is the heart of karate. It is a training tool, not an end in itself. Its purpose is to develop timing and rhythm, breath control, coordination, focus and muscle memory. Done properly, a full force, full focus kata is also a pretty good cardiovascular workout.
Thos who participate in MMA may think kata is useless, and for their purpose it basically is. They want to participate in street brawling, not karate. I am told that in the old days, the Okinawan masters never had sparring events in their dojo. Kata was all there was. (The founder of my style reluctantly introduced sparring because the Americans he was training wanted to spar.) Yet these men were outstanding warriors, in a day and in a culture in which this could mean the difference between life and death.
Kata was all they had. It was enough.
(May I link your post to my women’s karate list?)
I feel like I need to point out a few things. First, you guys don’t seem to be aware that many people who train in MMA have also or DO also train in a more traditional manner as well. I trained for 2 years in a traditional style doing kata, sparring lightly with and without pads, yelling when asked, standing in horse stance for untold hours (well, that last is a bit of a hyperbole)… you name it. I did the flying side kick with enthusiasm. The point being that I am familiar with kata and understand what you’re talking about. These are the same things I said at the time to my friends who trained in BJJ, Judo, and boxing. While I might disagree with you, I won’t presume to tell you that you’re flat out wrong.
On the flip side, however, many of you are presuming to argue the MMA side (“Kata is stupid”) or are mischaracterizing those that train in MMA or in any of the sub-arts that are often associated with MMA. Beef-cakes? Really? I find that characterization to be insulting. Or the implication from several people that the reason I don’t do kata in my school is I’m too impatient or too lazy or just want to be a thug. Hogwash.
I sincerely don’t intend for this to be a critique against anyone here. Personal enjoyment is really ALL that one needs in a martial art if that is your goal. If you enjoy kata, great. I think you should train your heart out. If I joined you at your school for a lesson, I’d do kata, too and try my best. I’d probably have fun. If you feel that kata is a cultural aspect of martial arts that you value, great. I value the brazilian influence in my chosen art, too.
The debate really isn’t whether Kata is stupid. The debate is really whether Kata is a useful or even efficient tool in the development of martial skill or in a particular martial style. In other words, sure, I could do perform this kata and learn x, y, and z. But is there a more efficient way to learn the same skills? This is the crux of the debate, and I don’t pretend to know the answer. I “believe” that there are better ways to go based upon my own experiences. I learned more about practical martial skill in the first 2 months at my current school doing time tested drills and working against a progressive level of resistance in a controlled environment than I did in 2 years at my previous school doing kata and performing one and two step drills against a compliant partner.
Using language as an analogy, I want to learn German. I have 6 hours per week to spend learning German and I choose to spend 2 hours eating German food and listening to German drinking songs on the jukebox at the local German restuarant/bar on Hofbrauhaus night. This would be a blast. Fun and arguably I would be learning “some” German while listening to “So Lang Der Alte Peter” or “Bier Hier; Beir Hier.” I could even sing along. There are lots of reasons to spend the time at the German restaurant, but if mastering the language were my goal, wouldn’t I be better off finding a place to immerse myself in the language and actually engage in dialogue with people fluent in German?
So, if you ask for me to give my honest opinion about how to develop martial skill or self defense, I’ll disagree that kata is an important tool in the toolbox. Sure, you might develop some useful technique and it serves arguably serves some purpose. I’d just rather invest my time working in a progressively more resistant environment with a good partner, engaging in a physical dialogue.
I like kata, but I’ve always been bad at air punching. I agree with Lauren Christiansen’s philosophy that for basic self-defense, time is probably better spent working punching/kicking drills on pads/heavy bags. This from a man who wrote a book on kata! But for the traditional styles and “art”, you’ve got to have kata. My school (Islander’s karate) has just trimmed the number of katas in half; in place of the removed katas, we will learn the application of our remaining katas on a living partner. We are also learning escapes/counters to common mma techniques because so many people are into it, including some thugs. So many techniques that are learned in traditional karate might not work on the street because they were developed to attack a far different enemy; someone on horseback, someone wearing armor, etc. Interesting.
Adam: You are so right about the breathing. I only wish I could get all of that through this thick skull of mine. It’s like rubbing your tummy and patting your head at the same time.
Scott: Yep, the dance is how they hid what they were doing/learning.
Becky: I think I may have reinjured my neck from nodding in agreement so strongly. And yes, you may link it. Please tell me what that’s all about!
Steve: I was waiting for you to show up on this one. š I think your German analogy is a bit of a stretch, personally. Now if I was trying to say that drinking sake was increasing my skill level in self defense, then yes, but I’m not saying that. And I don’t think you’re a beefcake. I have a lot of MMA readers here whom I respect very much. Unfortunately for MMA, some of the most outspoken ones do fit that unfortunate description which is why, I think, MMA has the rep it does from traditional practitioners like those who gather here.
Combat Gal: That’s why kata can’t stop at kata. It has to move into application. Then it’s not punching air. I think that a lot of the sword techniques show examples of fighting someone on horseback or wearing armor, but no kata in my style presumes someone is on a horse or wearing armor. Maybe my sword experts can chime in on this one. . . .
Wow! That kid gets a 12 for intensity.
Personally, I always hated forms. They are the only reason I never actually earned a black belt, even with all the time and energy I put into TKD.
I did always think they were more like learning a dance. And I don’t dance. Plus they took way too much imagination to see the true application. I really wonder about kids who have to learn them. When the instructor says “move your arm like this, little Johnny,” does he really understand that he is simulating breaking a choke (or whatever).
I guess they have their place, but I wish I had found a system that DIDN’T use them!
Back to the boy in the video, I really don’t see how that form he (presumably) made up wouldn’t have just as many practical applications as any of the traditional patterns.
Kata, or poom-sae, as we TKD’ers say, are the heart of it all, because as you said, it’s not that you will have the perfect situation where the fight sequence in real life would be reenacted exactly like a kata, but rather it’s elements that you take from each one at each level of your training that teaches you a different aspect that can be applied to fighting or sparring. That’s part of what I try to incorporate into my own sparring when in competition. If my form includes a reverse hook kick, I should know how to use that instead of just throwing out roundkicks and sidekicks and punches. And coming from a discipline that DOES do extreme martial arts, (and having seen a few of my organizations’ finest doing it– a world champion and a World Top Ten), some of what that kid made sense, and some of it didn’t. Then again, it’s karate, so I didn’t recognize some of what was done, as it would be different slightly from TKD. BUT, there are always very traditional elements even in the extreme versions in my discipline, and it always comes back to knowing how to execute the basics well. And not quite so many kihaps.
By the way, from the tone of the post, are you sure you haven’t tapped into the psyche of John V of Martial Views a bit? It almost read exactly like something he’d write (and that’s a compliment!). š
Scott 2: That’s the thing-to each his own. As far as the applications go, like I said, maybe in an attic. . . š
Dani: That most certainly is a compliment. You do know that he’s my cyber-big brother right? That’s probably why. š
“According to Heshiki Zenko, kata–the true essence of karate–represents steps to eliminate the 108 Defilements, thus leading to the state of enlightenment. Through the intense practice of kata, the student literally climbs the steps or strikes the temple bell of the Self. With a gleam in his eyes, Heshiki likes to say that the student must literally ‘burn himself in kata.’
Through the years of practice the trained body will execute every movement with unbroken fluidity…Kata is shugyo, punching and blocking is shugyo, kumite (sparring) is shugyo. . . practiced properly, every aspect of karate is shugyo.”
Charles. C Goodin
I have mixed feelings about kata, even after all the years of training I’ve put into them. Still, I like practicing kata and can appreciate its tradition and usefulness (sometimes) as it contains martial applications (bunkai) needed for a life-and-death situation. It’s understanding and training the bunkai that’s vital; kata without an appreciation of its bunkai is meaningless. I think one of kata’s better features is that techniques are learned sequentially, making them easier to remember.
It’s said that you can spend many years – even a lifetime (!) on a single kata. Yet most traditional karate styles offer about a dozen kata just up to 1st degree black belt. That’s roughly 4 to 7 years of training. So where should we place our emphasis? Really, why do we need all these forms in the first place? What I see is that most of the bunkai/waza tend to repeat themselves throughout a style’s canon of kata anyway, which may explain that “wormholing” effect you mentioned recently. In my opinion, the sheer volume of kata that is taught within most karate styles is a bit much.
In my personnal opinion, martial arts without kata training is not martial arts! It’s as simple as that!
AmitiƩ,
Myrika ;o)
I watched the video…Cobra-Kai lives again!
Hapkido doesn’t have Poom-sae (forms) which is one reason I took it. You would not believe how long it would take me to learn such a series of moves! (I have a steep learning curve in that area – anything remotely dance-like!) I suppose when I take TKD with my kids I will learn forms with them. Our master says that the progression of the forms are responses to attacks, you would block the punch then kick so blocking in the form is followed by a kick, turning is to face multiple attackers, etc. I think the memorization and physical discipline of poom-sae will be useful in a self-improvement sort of way, not that you’d actually launch into say, Form Il-jang, when you’re accosted on the street!
I wonder if dancers do a form of kata. Even now, I still do repetitive movements for a kind of muscle memory, and to get me to a different, erm…place? I wish I could explain better. It makes me feel in control of my body, at the very least.
Hello, BBM. I must say I am a huge fan of your site and enjoy reading your posts. I’ve been taking karate (shotokan) since as long as I could remember. Recently, our studio has opened it’s doors to ju jitsu and also some thai boxing. While I am training it is common for the next class to sit and wait, often times these are the J.J. guys or the T.B. guys. While there are a select few who it is plain to see that they think that “kata is stupid” the majority of them, I can tell, feel that, while they do not practice kata understand the validity and the value of practicing it. So my advice to everyone kata or no kata, whatever your opinion, just keep an open mind.
You missed the point, bbm.
It’s not ideal. Yet, the kid has skills.
Katas are misunderstood and misused.
Mr. M: Nice quote.
John: “kata without an appreciation of its bunkai is meaningless”- I agree. If you don’t know what you’re doing, it doesn’t make sense to do it. But teachers also have to balance how much information they give students at any given time. Teaching bunkai to a brand new white belt would probably be really overwhelming. But definitely as you move up, you should be learning it as you go.
Myrika: I could have just written that statement; post done. š
Chris: Just missing the sleeveless gi. . .
Junebee: Right about the launching. I think that’s what a lot of people think about kata. That’s not what it’s for.
Lynn: Ever watch karate kid II? The dance that the girl does for Daniel is one exmaple of that. All muscle memory-same idea.
Kirk: Thanks for stopping by! Your open mind idea sounds like a good one.
Mat: I don’t think I missed the point at all. My point is that kata like this, as a representation of how kata is done by everyone, is very misleading. If a kata like this was my first introduction to kata, I never would have continued and would have thought kata was useless too. My whole point is that kata has great value, and that like you said, they are misunderstood, especially when a person doesn’t seek to understand what kata is really all about and just assumes (wrongly) that kata is a series of screams like my example.
Thanks for everyone’s comments on this post. It turned into quite a discussion!
I’ve just started to learn Karate and am learning a Kata at the moment.
I was led to believe that by learning Kata, you learn to execute the moves better.
Anyway, this is my first visit to your blog and I just wanted to stop in and say hello ~ so, hello.
I believe that there are two primary reasons some people donāt like kata, 1.) they are impatient, and 2.) they see them as a waste of time.
Itās easy to be impatient with kata because as anyone who has ever seen a UFC event knows, you donāt actually need kata to hurt someone. Since you can just swing your arms and legs around and hit someone with little to no training, why would you spend years learning kata? Why not just spend all your training time hitting the heavy bag and jumping rope? After all, it seems to work for those UFC guys. Sounds reasonable.
But, the problem with someone having the attitude presented in the above paragraph is that punching and kicking is NOT martial arts. If all the martial arts were, were throwing your arms and legs in the air then soccer, hackysack, bloody-knuckles, and kickball would all be martial arts.
Anyone can throw a punch, what makes it martial arts is how you throw that punch. Do you have proper stance, are you grounded, do you have proper alignment, rotation, focus, breathing, follow through, are you aiming for a specific target, and are you hitting that target? If not then I would say that youāre not doing martial arts. If the martial arts are nothing more then throwing your arms and legs in the air then theyāve entered into a sad state of impotence and a black belt means nothing.
Kata is a great tool for learning all of this. āYoungstersā and newbies just donāt know enough to realize the difference between martial arts and throwing your arm in the air. Doing kata forces you to lean all the little tangibles and intangibles that turns swinging your arms and legs in the air like gorillas into performing martial arts techniques.
As for the waste of time argument I can understand that too because most of the things I see in kata today donāt seem to have much purpose. One of the main differences between āold karateā and ānew karateā is the kata. In the old styles you might have have 3-5 katas but those katas were, in fact, textbooks that you could study and learn from for the rest of your life. If you knew the old katas you didnāt need to learn 15 more.
Today most schools do 10 or more katas (when I did taekwondo I did 11). Most of the katas people do nowadays are ones that some instructor just made up and donāt have the rich knowledge, subtlety, and teachings that the old oneās do. I sit on the judging panel for several schools in my area and every single one has students coming up, bowing, and then preceding to throw their arms and legs in the air as they go through a long sequence of techniques. If I ask them anything about the kata other than the choreography they look at me blankly because they are not taught that there is anything to the kata other than the choreography.
I definitely understand the attitude that kata is useless because people donāt understand what kata is for and most people arenāt taught that kata is anything more than simple choreography. If the martial arts are to have any credibility in todayās post UFC world people have to get back to the rich teachings of the old kata and spend some time learning that they are more then just choreography.
I like doing poomse. I am not fantastic at them–jungshim, jungshim (balance, balance)– my Master always says. But I do like doing them.
I go through phases with my forms. I think I totally know and “get” il jang (the first standardized form in WTF taekwondo) and I’m bored by it. Then, three months later, I do it and BOOM! I understand or realize something I hadn’t before.
I don’t see poomse, as a whole, as effective self-defense. What are the chances that people are going to attack me in the exact same way and place as poomse? Um, none. BUT individual aspects of the poomse are definitely useful to me. And learning timing, balance, spatial awareness, all of these are necessary. Learning how to move (like Master and I recently discussed) like water, fire, mountain, or tree are emphasized, too.
I see poomse as having a meditative quality as well. I’m not sure that most students see that at first, and I’m not sure most teachers are able to delve into that early one. I think it’s sort of a case of sticking with it to understand it…
Hey,
“If a kata like this was my first introduction to kata, I never would have continued and would have thought kata was useless too.”
Nah, you would have continued. Not knowing better. Then, you would have switched styles.
š
It’s hard to judge this young fella’s karate education. It’s only 1:30 minutes into his life.
Cheers
Matthew Schafer:
Those UFC guys are extremely well trained martial artists, kata or not. Many hold black belts in multiples styles.
Okay, so I finally got to see the video (I don’t watch streaming video over my phone or at work). You guys, that’s not kata. That’s a performance moving toward XMA, which has more in common with Wushu then any practical self defense.
If that kid keeps it up, he’s going to gain many things, not the least of which are good conditioning, a healthy set of lungs and perhaps an opportunity to compete on ESPN2 in some kind of “martial arts championship” filmed at the the Carri bean Beach Resort in Orlando, FL (yes, my Tivo keeps me from missing any MA related TV including these gems!)
What he won’t get are any practical martial skills. But that’s okay, as long as he knows it and is having fun. This isn’t to say that this is all he does. However, from his age and the black belt around his waist, I can only guess that it is.
So, to sum up:
1: MMA guys don’t necessarily hate kata.
2: MMA guys are not necessarily impatient or unskilled.
3: This kid isn’t doing a kata. He’s doing a performance along the lines of a gymnastics routine.
4: In my opinion, it’s okay provided that his expectations are realistic. š
Great Post and a nice video. Thanks BBM.
I am a traditional martial artist who also trains for combat sport (the best of both worlds, I hope) As a martial artist, kata is central to everything that I do. It is my primary method of training and cataloging technique. However, it is not the only way that I train.
Punching bags, conditioning drills, focus pads, sparring, and partner training are also all methods of training that I use in addition to kata.
It seems too many people feel that they have to choose one method of training over all others. I don’t agree with that way of thinking.
Properly interpreted, Kata is important – It teaches technique, good form, and muscle memory. But it unfortunately doesn’t replace putting your hands on another person and actually trying to make your technique work. For that you need a partner. You need to actually hit something.
As far as the young man in the video goes, I really can’t comment much on his kata; other than to say that he uses an aweful lot of unnatural body movements. (This type of over-exaggerated movement is popular in tournament karate – I guess it makes people think that the competitor is very powerful or something.)
But the ‘real’ kata takes place between the ears… it’s all in the head.
You can’t know, just by watching a kata, what the person is thinking. You have to ask him or her, “What is your application for that move?” “What are you trying to do to your opponent there?”
Taken at face-value, kata are just a bunch of kicks, punches, and silly movements strung together in a sequence… a dance.
However, if you have good, solid explanations for your movements; If you know how the techniques would be used in an actual combat situation, then your kata is good. It’s worthwhile practice.
If your just screaming, flexing, punching air, rolling around the ground, and kicking high, for no actual reason, then your just doing gymnastics. It may ‘look’ good and it probably gives you a decent workout, but it simply isn’t martial arts.
Anyway, that’s my opinion on the subject.
Thanks for bringing up the topic here.
Respectfully,
Rick