Remembering Katas

[guacho]

I am having a problem remembering my Katas. I have been studying Karate since April of this year. In our class Kata's are numbered. Is thier any technique that will help me remember Kata's

[Kaos666]

I am having a problem remembering my Katas. I have been studying Karate since April of this year. In our class Kata's are numbered. Is thier any technique that will help me remember Kata's

 

ur still quite novice, so don't sweat it... a few more months of intense training and kata will be embedded in the depth of your brain. All kata are just movements in the end, so practice makes perfect! BUT make sure you do them right, cus it may be hard to fix them later if you memorize the wrong way. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!

 

I myself still forget parts of some kata... even the very first one!! Also i get kata's confused... most embarassing is be doing Bassai dai and finishing it as heian godan... god i felt like such a dork!

[Beer-monster]

I am having a problem remembering my Katas. I have been studying Karate since April of this year. In our class Kata's are numbered. Is thier any technique that will help me remember Kata's

 

ur still quite novice, so don't sweat it... a few more months of intense training and kata will be embedded in the depth of your brain. All kata are just movements in the end, so practice makes perfect! BUT make sure you do them right, cus it may be hard to fix them later if you memorize the wrong way. PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT!

 

I myself still forget parts of some kata... even the very first one!! Also i get kata's confused... most embarassing is be doing Bassai dai and finishing it as heian godan... god i felt like such a dork!

Just movements?????

[Shorin Ryuu]

I wouldn't say they are just movements...if they are, then I don't think you are doing it correctly.

 

In the beginning, try to stick with a very simple interpretation of what you are doing (kick, punch, block etc.). Once you've memorized the basic pattern and have a decent feel for it, go for a more advanced interpretation of what the movements mean.

 

Remember, practice doesn't make perfect....practice makes habit. Perfect practice makes perfect!

 

With that in mind, repetition of kata while you are concentrating on what you are doing is the best way. It is one thing to simply "go through the motions" and another to actually do the kata. That being said, make sure you don't tense up as you concentrate! RELAX and it should be fine.

 

Good luck.

[manuelito]

practice. practice. practice.

 

it also may help to visualize an opponent.

[Kaos666]

I wouldn't say they are just movements...if they are, then I don't think you are doing it correctly.

 

In the beginning, try to stick with a very simple interpretation of what you are doing (kick, punch, block etc.). Once you've memorized the basic pattern and have a decent feel for it, go for a more advanced interpretation of what the movements mean.

 

Remember, practice doesn't make perfect....practice makes habit. Perfect practice makes perfect!

 

With that in mind, repetition of kata while you are concentrating on what you are doing is the best way. It is one thing to simply "go through the motions" and another to actually do the kata. That being said, make sure you don't tense up as you concentrate! RELAX and it should be fine.

 

Good luck.

 

i understand what you are saying... in my mind, kata are indeed movements, with purpose and greater design, but still movements. Later on, i've only reached that stage, kata as a whole become single techniques for focus, concentration and relaxation, combined with improvement of physical body...

 

to begin to understand kata, you need to break it down into basic movements. To try and grasp it all right away may be quite impossible.

 

also, once the basic movements are remmembered then you have to apply knowledge and feeling to the kata... movement with design and determination is what you should have. It also helped me to think of kata as a dance, where your invisible opponents are your partnersh

[aefibird]

Try breaking your kata down into easy-to-remember parts, such as groups of 3 or 4 movements. Practice one group, then practice the second group. then try joining them together.

 

Also, write it down! Even if you don't know the names of each move, then write what you think it is, eg "turn to the left and block with a downwards block in front stance".

 

The best advice is practice, practice, practice. Oh, and when you're tired of practicing then practice some more. It really is the best way to remember kata. A few minutes a day will really help your karate training.

 

Finally, don't get too worked up about not remembering kata. it took me ages to really learn my first kata properly. Then one day it suddenly 'clicked' and I could do it no probs. If you've only been training since April then you're pretty much an absolute beginner still. Your instructor won't be looking for perfection from you - just that you're trying your hardest and wanting to improve.

 

 

Also i get kata's confused... most embarassing is be doing Bassai dai and finishing it as heian godan... god i felt like such a dork!

 

Ah, glad it's not just me that has done that... My instructor is used to me having "brain f arts" (as he calls them) in the middle of kata.

[Kaos666]

Ah, glad it's not just me that has done that... My instructor is used to me having "brain f arts" (as he calls them) in the middle of kata.

 

lol... i was doing it so often my sensei started grading me on how i well i join the katas togehter as a joke, and then gave me the name of my new super long and super stupid kata... can't remmebr it now, i might post it when i ask him about it

[AngelaG]

Do you learn applications with your kata? If so it may be worthwhile picking the best application you like for each move and visualising that.

 

I was training kata with my mates last night and we realised that our early kata are starting to look quite good. As the moves become second nature we can constantly tweak them and play with timing, hip twists, placement, rhythm, power etc. The new kata still look very precise and technically perfect but (as my friend put it) not 'sexy'. There is nothing dynamic about it. this is because we are still having to concentrate slightly on what move is next and what goes where that we cannot relax and just have fun with it.

 

For the moment don't worry about playing with the kata, that will come later. Just concentrate on the bare moves, once you have those ingrained deep into your memory THEN you can play about with it.

 

Once you have the moves try the kata fast and whippy with no power, and again this time slow and very, very tense. Then work on combining the two, whippy right up until the last moment then tense right at the end.

 

So eventually, it'll all come naturally and your kata will start to look powerful yet dynamic.

[ramymensa]

After some time off all katas look alike and you start messing them. Under pressure, you're most likely to do it, too. The solution .. a partial one .. rehearse them a lot, understand their mechanism and practice some more. We all have "brain farts" eventually, we're humans not robots (unfortunatelly )