Kata Advice for Newbie

[Spirit At Choice]

My first kata tournament! I will do Pinan/Heian One, since that is the most advanced form I know and I need to work it anyway. I did some reading around and learned some things that no one has mentioned to me in class. Like, that you should end up exactly where you began...

1) What else do judges look for?

2) When I am doing the center line of the "I" if I want to advance at a faster pace, do I have to hit the stance *perfectly* with toes inward slightly, or can I save myself the effort of pivoting my foot from inward facing to outward facing as I advance? I notice other (white belt) students don't keep their feet parallel to eachother when advancing quickly, but is that just laziness? (Did I explain that alright?)

3) Also, how can I make my stances longer? I'm always getting told my stances are too short. My problem is I am tall, and I can easily stretch into a long low stance-- ONCE-- but my thighs are weak, and an entire kata in long low stances could land me on my butt before I even finish! Any hints on how to tone up my thighs in four weeks' time. Even a little extra tone will improve my stances.

[JWLuiza]

Practice....

To get deeper and longer, progressively increase the distance. I'm 6'7" and my stances get my head deeper than some 6' folk. It looks good when a tall person can do that.

Perfection and speed is key. Don't sacrifice for speed, figure out where the balance point is.

Good luck.

[karatekid1975]

I am judging (and have) at the next tourny. What I look for is TECHNIQUE! I'm a technique geek. I look for good stances, kicks, blocks, ect. I thought that would be my main focus. BUT with others advice to ME (since I wanna be forms champ), presentation (sp?) is important, too. Be confident, and mean what you do. Look where you go next (look at the direction you go before you do the technique). Act like you own the ring, basically. Go in there, and let'em know its YOUR ring (talk and kiai loud, too).

Anyways, I'm rambling. I'm half asleep. Look at this thread for advice (one I started about a similar thing) http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=24761

[aefibird]

1) What else do judges look for?

Spirit, technique, determination, assertiveness (although, acting like you're the greatest thing since sliced bread isn't a good idea...just be confident in your ability and the fact that you CAN do it!)

2) When I am doing the center line of the "I" if I want to advance at a faster pace, do I have to hit the stance *perfectly* with toes inward slightly, or can I save myself the effort of pivoting my foot from inward facing to outward facing as I advance? I notice other (white belt) students don't keep their feet parallel to eachother when advancing quickly, but is that just laziness? (Did I explain that alright?)

I know what you mean.

Yes, keeping your feet parallel in Heian 1 is important. The feet should point forwards in front stance, like they do when you're just walking. Having your back foot turned out in front stance is a bad habit to get into. Don't worry if it makes you go a bit slower - slower but with correct stance/correct techniques is far better than speed but poor technique and poor stances.

3) Also, how can I make my stances longer? I'm always getting told my stances are too short. My problem is I am tall, and I can easily stretch into a long low stance-- ONCE-- but my thighs are weak, and an entire kata in long low stances could land me on my butt before I even finish! Any hints on how to tone up my thighs in four weeks' time. Even a little extra tone will improve my stances.

Lots and lots of practice and lots and lots of stretching!

Practice standing in DEEP stances every day. That way, when you come to perform your kata and your stances are a little higher than what you've been practicing standing in, it will feel natural and you will be able to move quickly. If you train in really really low, deep stances then your movements will be quicker in higher stances.

Try stretching every day and work on your leg muscles. Cycling and jogging can help, as can swimming. Make sure that you do some stretching every day as flexibility is hard earned but easily lost. Having good flexibility will help you in your stances.

Finally, good luck with the competition! Try not to worry too much about it, just go and do your best and HAVE FUN!

Let us know how you get on.

[solar_kid]

1) What else do judges look for?

I don't know about judges at tournaments, but in practice, I recommend considering the following aspects of your kata performance, assuming your Heian #1 is generally similar to the one I am familiar with (although these items apply to all kata)

1. Spirit! See karatekid1975's post. This is most important. Think as if you are actually fighting. If you make a mistake, just keep going as if you had made no mistake at all!

2. Stance and balance - particularly when you make your 270 degree turns, make sure you're as balanced as you can be, and have good posture -- don't lean forward or to the side. Also, make sure you have a good back stance when the form requires it. Your back stance should be the same length as your front stance, if you can. (This will also help with ending up in the same place.)

3. "Looking" direction - before you turn, turn your head and look in the direction you're about to move, so that you can see where you're going.

4. Rhythm - try to keep a consistent pace throughout the form. Our heian #1 has no slow movements, so the pace is fairly uniform from technique to technique, except we pause a bit less before the third rising block, and before the last stepping punch. In particular, make sure you keep your pace during the knife hand blocks - they should not be any slower, and arguably, depending on how your school teaches this form, might each come just a bit faster.

5. Focus your technique - concentrate on contracting your core muscles to produce a good sharp stop as you execute each technique. Don't wobble after executing the technique.

Although you should end up where you started or very close, I would suspect that is less important than good fundamental movements. And don't stress over it, nobody will have it perfect.

I hope that helps, and good luck!

[jakmak52]

When judging kata/forms, I can't possibly judge by style/discipline, I'm specialied in TKD and Shotokan, but I also judge all the other styles as well, so I have to judge generally on presentation, cleanliness, tempo, stance, power, purpose of kata (bunkai), feet positioning, angles, and execution in GENERAL. It's not easy.

[Spirit At Choice]

I'm having a blast training for the tournament! My thighs are killing me, but my back stance is looking better and better. Jakmak mentioned bunkai... how do judges assess your comprehension of bunkai? Do they ask you questions, or do they expect to "see the invisible opponent" during your performance?

Solar_kid, those are helpful points. Thank you very much; I'll keep them all in mind. I am not very fast, and I still wobble, and my knife hand blocks are not crisp (my hands bounce around when I try to stop them)

I keep sneaking in to the upper rank classes and watching them do their katas. This is very exciting.

There is also a weapons division. I'm thinking of learning a weapons kata so I can perform in that division too. Just for fun, though. There's no way I can achieve a competitive kata in onoy four weeks.

[marie curie]

A thought- if you look for them, you may be able to find some katas online or download some from somewhere.

http://www.spek.co.uk/karate/jkaKata.php

http://www.cam.ac.uk/societies/cukc/katapage/index.html

[pineapple]

I tell kata competitors that the judges have another sense besides sight, they have hearing. Make sure that your breathing is heard when it's supposed to and kiai loud. When the kata has a slow movement, go very slow and when the kata has a fast movement, go very fast. Nothing is more boring than a quiet kata with a monotonous rhythm.

[Karate Dad]

marie curie, those are some good links for traditional katas.

thanks.