Training for Team Kata

[garyznra251]

Advice please!!!! three of us are planning to enter as a team in competition at a series of national events this year. individually we're pretty good, medals at national level competitions, good knowledge of the katas etc. But we have never trained as a team before and are struggling to devise ways of training effetively as a unit, getting timing together and techniques similar.

any adive would be greatly appreciated if you have any experience in team kata (training or competing)

thanks

[karatekid1975]

There's team forms in our tournies. What we do (or I help people with it) is come up with the "pattern" (as in; are you guys going to start facing each other, or back to back and end facing each other, or just do a normal kata, ect). Use kiais for timing at first. One person will signal the next move with a kiai. When your timing gets better, drop the kiai (except in the normal places). Work on technique.

If you are doing an "open form," that's even better. You can be as creative as you want.

[Shotochick]

A couple of things I have found useful when doing team kata:

1. Do you have access to a mirrored dojo/hall/dance studio. It really helps to be able to see what everyone is doing.

2. Video - tape your katas - study them together, work out gltiches with timing and arm placement.

3. Layout - when using the traditional triangular team positioning, always take your timing lead from the person who is at the lead in the direction you are going so that you can always have a peripheral view (at the very least) and can keep together.

4. Avoid katas with jumps. Unless you are all very similar in body shape/height and are 100% certain you can time your landing together dont even consider it, as there is nothing worrse than seeing a team do Empi or Kunku-dai and here bom-bom-bom as three people land out of timing.

But hey - that is just my humble opnion you know.

[garyznra251]

thanks for the advice, would appreciate any more.

We are probably going to do Kanku-Dai, given that it is a compulsor kata for shotokan under WKF rules, so one jump has to be done. we are also probably performing empi , the alternative being kanku-sho ( 1 jump empi is probably a bit easier than two jump kanku-sho)

thanks again for the advice and keep it coming

gary

[P.A.L]

picking kusanku for primary round is two risky , if this is a tournoment under world karate federation be aware of mandatory kata choice for first round.

pick up your lead person from now and also left and right wing and don't change it anymore, you need a forth person as a backup too. team kata is mostly about timing , since you can't practice together all the time ,what most of the teams do is to measuring the time for different sections and follow the time frame while practicing alone.

[Shotochick]

I would go Empi for first round - less risky. Then Kanku-Dai.

[garyznra251]

i would love to go for empi in the first round, i much prefer it to kanku-dai and we all do a far better empi than kanku-dai as individuals and a team. However, the WKF rules require the first two rounds (generally two, sometimes one depending on size of competition) to contain only shitei(compulsory) kata. For shotokan these are Jion and Kanku-Dai. we don't really want to perform other styles kata as this is risky so unfortunately kanku dai it must be

The kata we wish to perform are

1) Jion (Shitei 1)

2) Kanku-Dai (Shitei 2)

3) Empi

4) Sochin

5) Nijushiho - for the final with full bunkai

thanks again for all the advice