How Do You Think Kata Promotes Fighting Skill

[granmasterchen]

yet it still happened none the less. Many of the japanese karate forms originated from chinese martial artists hundreds of years ago, and the korean forms were greatly influenced by many of the japanese forms. I'm not saying every style has many forms, just saying that many kata have hidden techniques and teachings in them

[shotokanwarrior]

one thing that has opened my eyes a little is for example, The okinawins were for the most part short and I wonder what the first impression of this big tall American Gi must have been.

Take the upper rising block, we are taught it is to block an attack to the face, but in some kata we do this block moving foreward which can indicate a slightly shorter person doing an upward forearm strike to the throat.

[elbows_and_knees]

yet it still happened none the less. Many of the japanese karate forms originated from chinese martial artists hundreds of years ago, and the korean forms were greatly influenced by many of the japanese forms. I'm not saying every style has many forms, just saying that many kata have hidden techniques and teachings in them

sure it happened, but not because they decided to make multiple forms and hide techniques in them. people began learning multiple styles and started teaching the forms they's learned from various styles and instructors. It eventually also became a form of preservation - look at longfist for example. it's got forms from styles that would be extinct had someone not saved a couple of forms.

[elbows_and_knees]

one thing that has opened my eyes a little is for example, The okinawins were for the most part short and I wonder what the first impression of this big tall American Gi must have been.

Take the upper rising block, we are taught it is to block an attack to the face, but in some kata we do this block moving foreward which can indicate a slightly shorter person doing an upward forearm strike to the throat.

perfect example. is that technique intentionally hidden, or do you think that it may not have been shown to a taller person because he couldn't use it anyway? Once you understand the principle behind a technique, you can find a lot of different applications if you look for them. I don't think that means that they were intentionally hidden though.

Out of curiosity, does anyone have any verifiable documented evidence stating that techniques were intentionally hidden for various reasons?

[granmasterchen]

i have a book that focuses solely on katas and breaking them down and finding the "hidden" techniques.....but it is eluding me right now....it's somewhere here in my library of martial arts books...i will get back to you and let you know the name and author once i find it for you.

[knarfster]

I vote for drilling moves into your head and making them automatic. However, that won't happen if you think of the katas as "dances". I am constantly reminding my son to picture his opponent when he is practicing kata.

[shotokanwarrior]

I feel that in order to fully grasp the principal of a kata technique you must consider that okinawa karate for the most part came from chinese boxing. There were a lot of science behind a kata technique, they just did not throw it together. Pressure point attacks that may be hidden in kata were based on asian science, and when has chinese medicine and western medicine ever agreed?

[elbows_and_knees]

I feel that in order to fully grasp the principal of a kata technique you must consider that okinawa karate for the most part came from chinese boxing. There were a lot of science behind a kata technique, they just did not throw it together. Pressure point attacks that may be hidden in kata were based on asian science, and when has chinese medicine and western medicine ever agreed?

I wouldn't say that had much to do with it at all. as I was stating earlier, back in the day, most styles either had no forms - like shuai chiao - or had few forms - like taiji. having multiple forms issomething that happened over time for various reasons. Also, jujutsu has no verifiable link to china and they use pressure point attacks - so I wouldn't only say chinese medicince. you are correct about the big difference between eastern and western medicine though. The forms weren't thrown together and that's it - like I said, they are a series of technique drills. They catalog the system, make it easier to teach, demonstrate proper footwork patterns, give the practitioner a means of solo training, etc. But I don't think they intentionally hid anything in the kata. They may have intentionally not shown people applications, leaving them ignorant, but that's not the same thing.

[shotokanwarrior]

if I intentionally show you a bow and arrow and say this is how to shoot people but I keep my gun out of sight from you, thats hidding. Same thing to me.