When I was in Hawaii over the holidays I had the good fortune to meet with Mr. Charles Goodin over lunch. During the course of our conversation he said something to me which left an indelible impression,
“Kata is useless for 99% of Karateka.”
On the surface this sounds like sacrilege and seemingly contradicts the century old tradition of Kata being the heart of Karatedo. Indeed, Kata has always been the focus of study and the primary means of passing down technique in Karatedo dojo throughout Okinawa, Japan, and the world. Just look at the importance of Kata in the early writings on Karatedo by Funakoshi, Mabuni, Toyama, and Miyagi to name but a few.
I must admit that this sound bite alone was deliberately misleading, but it probably got your attention. It was misleading because Charles went on to explain that kata is “useless” for Karateka because in most dojo it is taught incorrectly. I completely agree. I say incorrectly because Kata is taught as little more than a formal exercise or a method of calisthenics. It’s viewed as something that has to be “checked off” as part of a regular Karatedo class. To complicate matters, Kata is also taught far too early and too frequently to students who aren’t ready for it.
So when and how should a student learn Kata? Oddly enough this was partially explained by Chotoku Kyan in an interview found in the monumental book Kempo Gaisetsu in a section entitled “Things to bear in mind for practice”.
練習の順序は先ず唐手の如何なるものかを教え、次に練習の心得、夫れより姿勢及び進退身轉し、拳骨、猿臂の突き方、足の蹴り方並びに其のはづし方を練習せしめ、次に形を教え、形略に習熟したる後試合に移るものとす。
Practice should take place as follows: Explain what karate is about; Explain the training attitude; Learn each and every posture as well as how to advance, retreat, and pivot; Practice how to strike with the fist and elbow; How to kick with the foot along with how to release [a grab]; Next teach kata; After becoming familiar with kata, he can move on to matches.
So we can see that in Kyan’s opinion Kata is the last thing that should be taught to a student before she progresses to a match – where techniques can be exchanged freely. Prior to that the student is steeling her mind and learning the fundamentals including postures, footwork, striking and kicking, as well as releases. Notice Kyan doesn’t mention anything about blocking. (Although oddly enough I’ve seen translations around the web of this same section include a sentence on learning “blocks”. I have no idea where that came from.) At any rate, this description should sound familiar. No? It should because if we look at Kyan’s explanation honestly we can see that it is inline with how other physical activities, including modern combative sports, are taught.
This explains the “when” part of kata being taught, but what about the “how” part? How kata is taught is a complex topic, but IMHO Kata needs to be taught in exact detail with the proper body mechanics. This is very important because it is going to reinforce what the student should already have learned. Contrary to what some people may think, Kata can’t be learned at a seminar in a few hours or even in a group at the dojo. Nope. Kata requires hours of one-to-one time with a good teacher over several years! But hell, if you want to go to a seminar and slap down your hard-earned cash to try and learn a Kata in a few hours, all the power to you.
This process of learning kata near the end of a student’s training is not the end; it doesn’t stop there. This process is circular. Once a Kata is learned then the student begins to refine and reinterpret it with the paradigm of the style which leads (hopefully) to greater insight on her part.
気張る!
A most enjoyable post today, thanks.
Thank you.
Hi Mario,
Amen to that! Unfortunatly karate (and kata in particular)has become little more than a memory test for many. An ever-growing collection of techniques and kata to be regurgitated upon demand come grading time.
When I began training, I often heard the term “karate student” being used in relation to those who were trying to learn, you can still hear it being used today. But I’m not sure if this was ever the correct discription, as it implyed that people are actualy studying what they do. I don’t see a lot of personal study going on in the karate world, just “masters” and “followers”.
Great Post!
Mike
Maybe some karateka should have an annual kata examine to make sure they can at least remember them. But seriously, Kata is just one component of proper training – it’s necessary but not sufficient in itself to produce quality Karateka. But ignoring it or doing it poorly introduces gaps and errors into technique which are hard to correct later.
This past weekend I asked a visitor to the dojo if he knew shisochin kata? “Yes!” So I asked him to do it. As he got himself ready he smiled an embaressed smile, “I haven’t done it in a while.” That became obvious very quickly.
The duality of thought that exists in karate now is shocking to me. So many are doing one thing, when in reality they are doing something else all together.
It’s an important issue for me, and something I stress in the dojo all the time; make sure you are “doing” whatever it is you “think” you are doing.
While I don’t hold the view that kata is everything in karate, without it, I think it would be a great deal more difficult to understand the nature of karate, as an art, and a means of self-protection.
Mike
You’ve hit on something important. There seems to be a disconnect as you say; like cognitive dissonance. Karateka say kata is important but have no real understanding of its value. Consequently we have a grab-bag of questionable activities and motives: students who can’t remember kata, teachers who sell kata via the Internet or hour long seminars, students and teachers who abandon kata all together, the list goes on and on….
IMO-The problem with Kata is that most schools stress on it >take Muay thai or kick boxing no kata and yet very effective no hidden secrets straight to the point Kata should be something taught but not stressed on ! I think application is the true process
arts like Judo & BJJ get straight to the point Judo leaves Kata for belt ranking for shodan and above BJJ no Kata you can teach Karate and still hold tradition without boring the hell out of your students by spending class after class of kata these days students want to get to the meat and potatoes of self-defense and kata is a task most can careless about.
Hello Tony and thank you for your comment. I’m a very conservative minded Karateka. Some would say staunch traditionalist, but I am in agreement that Kata is just one aspect of training that should be taught as part of overall training in Karatedo. You’re right, just teach it and don’t stress too much over it so much. As Mike sensei is apt to quote his teacher, Miyazato sensei, I’ll do the same, “JUST DO IT!”