RW

What is the purpose of Kata? What is the benefit on practicing them?

We all know karate has knee techniques, elbow techniques, etc. However, ask people and they will tell you "the only MA that uses elbows/knees is muay thai" (an incorrect statement). Thing is, karate sparring, kumite, etc does not use knees, elbows, throws, etc, some techniques that exist in Karate but that somehow appear to be relegated to a vestigial status in some katas. How was the kumite criteria developed? Is today's karate far from its original concept?

Arts like Kung Fu, Karate, Taekwondo... were they ever used? People say how they were developed in times of war, etc. MA's are a very important hobby of mine, but among the things that puzzle me is, how were they developed? I have a hard time believing that people EVER fought using zen kutsu dachi (forward stance) or those hard to accomplish kung fu positions. Were they just ARTS, as their name imply? I am sure some of the expert guys here have an insight on this...

I have a karate background and I kave always kicked with the feet (instep in mawashi geri, for instance). A friend does Muay Thai and he kicks with the shins. How good is this? I mean, it's pretty easy to break your shin if the kick is blocked right at the middle(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwK0NykA_kk). While the bones of the instep are smaller, the area itself is not as long, the impact spot is different and... in real life you use shoes, anyway. What do you guys this? I don't want to turn this into a _____ vs. Muay Thai flame war, let's just focus on kicking with the shin vs kicking with the foot. 2) I also see that when kicking with the shin the technique is different? No "snap", which I was always told it is an advantage so they don't grab your leg if you miss.

It looks like a mcdojo to me. There is this local karate club in which I am not interested at all, but something caught my eye: 1) They simple refer themselves as "karate" (no style, not shotokan, not shorin ryu, etc). 2) The belt ranking is very weird, it goes like this: White White w/ 1 black stripe White w/ 2 black stripes Purple Purple w/ 1 white stripe Yellow Orange Green Blue Brown Black (several dans) Black w/ white in the center Black w/ red in the center 3) They have some weird katas like "yosno kata 1", 2 and 3, which are basically the same, it's neko ashi dache followed by a different defense and then advance forward in zen kutsu dachi and oi tsuki. Weird...