How Do You Think Kata Promotes Fighting Skill

[Meguro]

It makes you take a position (pro-kata). Should enough arguments ensue, whereby you had to physically defend your opinion, your fighting skills will have improved without having practiced any kata.

[Kara]

LOL

I'm not going to comment on the question, it is alot to get into. Just ask your Sensei.

[Whitefeather]

one word, BUNKAI!

ANOTHER WORD, APPLICATION!!!!!

Seriously, though, if practiced as they were meant to be practiced, meaning with the practical uses of all of the movements in mind, katas help your fighting skills by simply adding to your library of self defense techniques. There is an excellent book on this subject, "Five Years, One Kata," I believe the author is Bill Burgar. This fellow spent five years on one kata and extracted an insane amount of self defense and fighting techniques from the kata.

Dave

[hurricane]

I think that it hammers techniques into your head, but in what other way

do you think it improves fighting skill?

We sometimes do ippon kumite or semi-free and have to use only defense techniques from a certain kata. This is the application part that others have already written about. I would like to add that it makes you really think about what you are doing in kata. After we do this, we do the kata again and it is a whole different story! Suddenly, you are able to see imaginary opponents. It makes you think about your technique more. I mean technique not only in context of kata but also what you can actually DO with it. This is why I think it does improve your fighting skills. Because you analyize your technique.

[Tequila_Flower]

When China invaded Japan way back when, the monks were allowed to continue their Kata training even though all other forms of martial arts were banned....what does this say about Kata??? Even though it does not necessarily look dangerous...it can be used as offence or defence.....

Food for thought!

As the saying goes, do not judge a book by its cover.

TF

[Jussi Häkkinen]

When China invaded Japan way back when, the monks were allowed to continue their Kata training even though all other forms of martial arts were banned....what does this say about Kata??? Even though it does not necessarily look dangerous...it can be used as offence or defence.....

When did China invade Japan?

I have heard about Japan invading Okinawa in 1609 and reinforcing the ban of weapons - originally set by Okinawan king Sho Shin who reigned in 1477-1526 - (which was before and after 1609 a limited ban), but I've never heard the story about China invading Japan and allowing monks to continue training...when did this happen?

[Tequila_Flower]

I have it a little backwards...sorry--long time since history lessons. I must have heard it wrong or just misunderstood. The point does still stand..see quote.

"These skills were developed into Karate, “the empty handed way”, and used by the Okinawans in defence against the Japanese who had invaded the small island chain. The Japanese had banned all metal utensils, knives, metal farm tools, pots and pans. The Okinawans practised the martial arts in complete secrecy and finally gained freedom from the Japanese."

this quote is from https://www.newmarket.com

[marie curie]

Besides muscle memory and pounding techniques into one's head, I really become more confident in my technique as I do them over and over and over and over and over.... so I'm more likely to actually do them in competition.

[HAPKIDO-KID]

one word, BUNKAI!

ANOTHER WORD, APPLICATION!!!!!

Do they not mean the same thing!

[Jussi Häkkinen]

"These skills were developed into Karate, “the empty handed way”, and used by the Okinawans in defence against the Japanese who had invaded the small island chain. The Japanese had banned all metal utensils, knives, metal farm tools, pots and pans. The Okinawans practised the martial arts in complete secrecy and finally gained freedom from the Japanese."

this quote is from https://www.newmarket.com

This is a bit exaggerated.

Okinawans didn't really fight against the Japanese (invasion took 2 weeks, mainly due to logistics) and was relatively peaceful. There's no evidence about underground movement against Japanese after the invasion. The weapon ban has been exaggerated as well - there are reports about Okinawans taking their family swords (yes, swords) to mainland Japan for maintaining purposes (polishing). Karate and Okinawan kobudo do not have many applications that would be meant to be used against the armed opponent - at least armed in a military way, as the Satsuma-clan was.

Training martial arts in secrecy didn't happen, either. The teachers and students of martial arts were relatively well known (we know the names of masters of 1700's now, so they weren't secret) and the travels to China are well recorded. Training was for nobles and officers, so the story about peasants training martial arts doesn't hold water, either (typically, family styles were taught for oldest son of a noble family only - a great example about this was Choki Motobu who didn't learn the style, Motobu Udunti, of his family and had to go to the different teachers to learn martial arts).

And well, Okinawans did not gain the freedom from the Japanese invaders. Okinawa did stay invaded and still is - it's a part of Japan, although there is a large US airbase in Kadena.