Kata?

[carl]

A kata is like a song where you know all the words by heart...you don't have to repeat them after anybody else, and you can do it at your own pace (for the most part). You can't change the words, but there is a little room for interpretation on how loudly you say a phrase or how much emphasis you put on a verse.

Only in a kata, instead of singing, you're doing martial arts moves...moves that somebody else arranged in a sequence. You must do them in that sequence. It's a very mental thing, because it's completely useless if you don't visualize your opponent. That "little room for interpretation" will depend on the sort of flavor or genre of your style. Depending on the style, kata (or hyung or poomse or form, also dependent on the style) can be loud or quiet, fast or slow, intense or calm, realistic or artistic. Some styles would have you use kata to memorize important techniques so that you can apply them in a real situation. Others use them to focus the mind, body, train muscles, breathing, etc.

I hope that helps!

I love this explanation monkygirl. Can I use it?

To Cmon:

If you have ever heard somebody refer to kata as "forms", they are not to far off the mark.

Kata, loosely translated is "formal exercise." Although it also means shoulders.

I also agree with vinrex's explanation.

Some think that kata are a waste of time. I would agree with that if one weren't taught the applications. While one can't be expected to know all of them, one should at least be taught most of them if they are known.

Jeet Kun Do isn't a Japanese martial art and so wouldn't have kata per se. I believe it's an offshoot style of Kungfu, and so would have what the Chinese call Quan (kata). That is if Bruce Lee incorporated them into his art.

I hope this helps.

Carl

[Shorin Ryuu]

Kata, loosely translated is "formal exercise." Although it also means shoulders.

Not exactly. Kata uses this character: 形.　The "form" in "forms" really does lend itself more to the meaning of "form" or "shape" rather than "formal". Kata can also mean shoulder, but it uses and entirely different character, so you can't really say that it could also mean shoulder.

For example, "Doll" in Japanese is "ningyou" or 人形. The first character means "person" and the second character is "shape", using the same character as "kata". This leads me to believe "forms" are literally talking about the form or shape (position, biomechanics) the body takes when doing them.

I also feel that students shouldn't just be taught all the bunkai right away. It's okay for them to be taught some of the more basic bunkai as they learn it. Of course, the more advanced they become, they can be taught more advanced bunkai from the very beginning when they learn new kata (tailoring it to the individual of course). But I think that simply dumping all the knowledge on someone about a kata gives them too much of a crutch that will hamper their development later on. At the very least, students should try and find out bunkai of their own and test it with other students. If they still have trouble, they can ask instructors (I know I have) who will more than likely clarify things if needed. But I think the learning process is just as important as what is learned. If you can't reason out bunkai for yourself, then you have a problem with the way you think and reason about your karate (kata). Just because you aren't necessarily taught the applications doesn't mean you can't get anything out of it. Of course, if you weren't taught to appreciate the applications of kata in general, then there probably is a problem. But the actual teaching of individual bunkai for every kata, while helpful, is not always necessary in every case. In those oft-quoted old days, teachers didn't necessarily break down the applications of every movement. They might do so for their more dedicated students, but really all this emphasis on bunkai being blatanly stated feels to me to be more of a recent innovation. Not that it is a bad thing, and not that it wasn't done in limited terms back then. But unless you force someone to learn by holding back some knowledge, they'll never learn; they will only copy.

[Killer Miller]

Kata is a series if techniques/movements, which were originally in a dance form when martial arts was outlawed for practise, against one or more immaginary oponents.

And yes, you can learn a great deal from kata and is a vital part of training development. It's all part of the big pie circle of training.

- Killer -

[KarateChick2009]

i think a Kata is a eries of moves......

Duh.........

[Oahngoji]

A kata is a set of fixed moves of which trains your basic skills and lets you know how to react when you are in combat. Kata is actually the art of karate.

[Zanejin]

Kata is something that's vital to increasing one's knowledge and understanding of combat.

Firstly, kata improves your mind's reaction speed by combining all kinds of moves together (they're confusing at first). Secondly, by practicing kata you will be able to know what to do when your opponent does something.

[Sandan]

Kata is the bible of Karate, all that is Karate can be found in Kata

[Killer Miller]

What, didn't like my answer. A simple basic question was asked, and a simple basic answer was given...

- Killer -

i think a Kata is a eries of moves......

Duh.........

[Sauzin]

I really like Shorin-ryuu's response. That pretty much nails the down and dirty of kata. You could mention the meditative aspects as well, but as a whole it trains your body in breath and motion to move in and through positions of combative biomechanical superiority. How this movement is applied can vary but the idea is that they work not because of their application (block, punch, etc) but because of their inherent biomechanics. Thus the movement of a "blocking" motion can become a strike, a throw, a grapple, a disarm, a knock out, a counter, or simply a transition to a position that allows for any of the prior, even if an appropriate target does not present itself at that particular moment. This is why kata flows and is not merely a collection of techniques but rather of refined movement through superior positions that can be applied to whatever situation you might encounter in a fight.

[Freddy]

I think the answers are kind of repeating themselves. I like monkeygirls explanation the most