Why Kata?

Discussion in 'Karate' started by yuen, Jul 19, 2011.

  1. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    In fairness I have an inbuilt bias against kata because I do not learn anything by rote- not books, maths or anything else, so my comments are purely from my own perspective. I love to see a good, crisp form performed, but do not consider it of value to *my* development
     
  2. Blade96

    Blade96 shotokan karateka

    oww.

    Thanks for my smack, now I can go back to analyzing and learning bunkai of heian sandan and learning how to use the moves taught to us through kata and how to use them to fight an opponent - through kata. :)
     
  3. Rebel Wado

    Rebel Wado Valued Member

    Well there are certainly many different ways and reasons to practice kata. As far as fighting goes in relation to kata, here are my thoughts.

    Kata was not a training method at first, but was used instead of fighting in competitions. Having not the ability to duel in public for many reasons, a martial artist could demonstrate their combat prowess by performance of kata.

    This means that a master could gain fame and students without having to duel everyone to prove they were the best.

    The premise was, however, that the master was an experienced fighter and already had proved themselves in fights when they were younger... so their movements in kata could clearly be seen the aspects of an experienced fighter.

    Now when you separate the fighting ability from kata, you get people training only for the performance of kata. Here is the difference...

    You do not train kata by just doing the whole kata over and over again. You break up the movements and practice the sequences in isolation and drill them with a partner. The kata as a whole is not the muscle memory, but instead the small sequences within the kata are the muscle memory.

    Having worked those isolated sequences with a partner in drills, bunkai, and in actual fighting and/or sparring is the key... not the performance of kata. This means that you learn to fight and then your kata gets better as a result.

    The opposite is what often happens these days... people learn to perform kata and perfect kata, but they don't learn how to fight. So the performance of kata isn't really tied into demonstrating the actual combat prowess of the individual.

    Just some ideas.
     
  4. lma

    lma Valued Member

    Im actually glad other people understand kata because some times I do wonder .....
     
  5. lma

    lma Valued Member

    Yea its not for every one. Learn what works for you .

    I love the quote but I didn't think you had Chavs in Canada ?
     
  6. Seventh

    Seventh Super Sexy Sushi Time

    I blame the British. And the Queen. And Christopher Columbus.
     
  7. Master Betty

    Master Betty Banned Banned

    Isn't a single top level pro fighter genuinely uses kata to practice for a fight. Says everything.
     
  8. lma

    lma Valued Member

    Bas Rutten ?
    Is one there loads more almost any KarateKa will have done some sort of kata .

    Problem is Kata teaches you to rip there head of and eat there guts . That against MMA rules thats why they use gloves like the kids and girls in my karate class....
     
  9. Hannibal

    Hannibal Cry HAVOC and let slip the Dogs of War!!! Supporter

    We don't but I am an ex-pat...mainly because of chavs actually.....
     
  10. Master Betty

    Master Betty Banned Banned

    Lol bas rutten doesnt do kata in order to learn anything for a fight.
     
  11. John Titchen

    John Titchen Still Learning Supporter

    Do they shadow box? That's standard Kata practice when you're not working with the rest of the class.
     
  12. lma

    lma Valued Member

    Ok Master betty you cant comprehend Kata but what do you do instead ?

    Kata is an integral part of Kyokushin Karate. Thats what Bas Rutten moved on to after He got his second dan in TKD in his younger years. Maybe he doesnt train kata that much any more but I bet he did alot of it at one point.

    Quite a few other mma fighters with strong Karate back grounds
     
  13. Kuma

    Kuma Lurking about

    Andy Hug did.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. monkeywrench

    monkeywrench Valued Member

    I've trained kata like you did. And I now train it under people that have a full understanding of its application. It's like night and day.

    ur doin it rong.
     
  15. Kuma

    Kuma Lurking about

    Another few that come to mind are Lyoto Machida (obviously), Semmy Schilt, Glaube Feitosa, Francisco Filho, Ewerton Texeira, Nicholas Pettas, and Katsunori Kikuno who fights for DREAM.

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2DLv0B0NxA"]Katsunori Kikuno Highlight - YouTube[/ame]
     
  16. lma

    lma Valued Member

    He looks a beast wonder what his training regime was ....
     
  17. Kuma

    Kuma Lurking about

    [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbu-cp5x0lk"]Andy Hug Training Montage_by Sportivoz - YouTube[/ame]
     
  18. lma

    lma Valued Member

    I just wanna go for a jog now .......
    The big weights minded me of the latest rocky, they'll rattle his ancestors lol.

    How well does Katsunori Kikuno hold his ground!
     
  19. Master Betty

    Master Betty Banned Banned

    dont start with the technicalities and quibbling about terms - kata and shadow boxing are two very different things.
     
  20. Master Betty

    Master Betty Banned Banned

    Lol saying they do kata because they come from a karate background is one thing. I will completely guarantee that they don't do it to learn anything... if they even do it like they say in the first place.
     

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