Designing your own Katas

[Guest]

There are trounaments like that. At the last tournament I attended there was a creative kata division. I didn't participate, but many did and there's no harm in it.

[delta1]

Most American Kenpo schools require you to create your own Thesis form at every level but yellow. I've done several, and they are an excelent training tool. You really have to understand and think about what you are doing. I'm useing the same method with my FSTKD, though it isn't required. I take the move that I want to work on from forms and one steps, rework them and put them in my own created form. I also get creative with the names: "Thesis Form 1, Thesis Form 2, ..."

[Coco]

When i make katas i try to make them as complex as possible, and just being in 7th kyu dosnt help lol, i just copy moves that black/brown belts do and it looks awsome.

[Ironberg]

They don't call us martial artists for nothing

[ducky]

we are required to make a kata to gain black belt status.

[TheDevilAside]

I used to design my own kata before I ever did a martial art (yeah, needless to say, they sucked)... but since I've started one, that completely escaped my mind!

[Rich_2k3]

I good idea would be to do animal forms, like the 5 shaolin animals (Tiger, crane, leopard, snake and dragon). Normal katas are set of moves that have practical meaning, ie. defences agaisnt an imaginary opponent, however animal forms are geared more towards expressing a certain animals movements through martial arts. I've recently been working on Kangaroo kata ....no seriously

[aefibird]

They don't call us martial artists for nothing

 

Actually, that was a point that a sensei said to me only this afternoon. I've been on an open karate course today and the instructor (a top AMA karateka in England) got us to split up into small groups and concentrate on the artistic side of our martial art. Karate is an art form and he wanted us (it was only dan grades) to express that with our own group-created kata. As well as being artistic, the conbination of movements in it had to be logical and useable and not just chucked together for show. I've never created my own kata before and it was really interesting, although darned difficult too!!

 

As an aside, my group named our kata "Wotizzit", because at one point the instructor wandered round to look at what we were all doing and came past my group and said to us "What is it you're doing, 'cos it certainly doesn't look like karate..." He chose to come and walk past my group when we were all doubled up with laughter because of what one of the other group memebers had just said. Why is it that instructors are garuanteed to be watching you whenever you're doing something wrong, but they're always looking the other way whenever you get something right???

[Rich_2k3]

Yeah, I hate kicking with my back leg in right stance (left leg). When doing drills I throw some great kicks with my right and then my sensei says change stance and than walks past me doing spinning hook kicks on my left, he gives me some advice and i'm like "but my right's really good!".

Edited April 12, 2004 by Rich_2k3

[aefibird]

*sigh* I fully understand. Considering my instructer only ever seems to be watching when I get something wrong it's a wonder I made it past white belt...

 

Actually, he does see the 'good stuff' too, it just feels like he's always watching when I mess up but never when I have one of my very rare moments of brilliance...