Wow! Near perfect kata (video)

[Aodhan]

Her hard work and skill is duly noted here. But for fighting application, it's not really martial in nature.

I see your point and it does make sense. I understand that it does not exactly fall under the word "martial." I am also not a fan of flashy kicks and stunts. They can promote good physical health and stamina but that's it.

Flips, cartwheels, things of that nature I agree.

However, to do the 540 kicks, 720 kicks, etc. you HAVE to be able to do the basic underlying kicks, and do them WELL.

540 - First you have to be able to do a good crescent kick. Then a good butterfly (Sometimes called tornado) kick. THEN you can progress to a 540.

As long as we're taking out all the XMA stuff, lets take out butterfly kicks (Jump spin outer crescent is what we call a butterfly). Are you ever going to use it in a fight?

We have XMA in our school, and at first, I was not really for it either. However, after attempting to learn to do some of the basic stuff (Still working on a 540), I've had to go back and really sharpen my basic kicking skill to even do the BASICS contained in the XMA system. Sure, there is a lot of stuff that isn't "traditional", but it promotes excellent basic technique. There are exceptions to every rule, but as a generality, you will NEVER be able to do a good "flash" kick if you can't do the underlying technique well.

Aodhan

[daizyblackbelt]

i am a pracitioner of traditional okinawan karate (shudokan) and do not believe that XMA and its ilk are effective.

that being said, i have always had a fair amount of admiration for the people who practice XMA. it is fascinating to watch and i would be very interested in having the chance to learn how to do some of what they do. unfortunately the only opportunity i had was ruined becuase the instructor turned out to be the single most arrogant person i have ever met.

the video that spawned this post is extremely impressive, the woman is an incredible athlete, yet the question as to her skill as a martial artist remains unanswered. i am young and fit (at 19) and would most likely kill myself trying to do half of what she did. i agree with what others have said, that it is not necessarily appropriate to call that a "kata" done by a martial artist, but open form divisions tend to showcase things like this.

[Midkiff]

Obviously she learned that kata because it was flashy and she knew she could use it in a tournament. She probably didn't think of the application of the kata, and that was her mistake. there is no point in learning a kata if you don't take the time to learn and understand all of the applications. Also i did not see very much power in her techniques. I learned that during kata every move must be crisp precise and executed exactly as if were to used in battle. This whole XMA thing is really just gymnastics with kicks.

[Anbu Alex]

Effectiveness vs. Flashiness

Kyokushin vs. Drunken Kung Fu

XMA is all flash. There is nothing effective about doing a windmill to knock out your opponent. And I will say the same about wushu as well.

BTW Too bad Sandra Hess isn't pretty in the face, if she was she'd have a wonderful career in Holywood. The next female Van Damne?

ive seen and my friends laugh at this clip alot (i love the ax kick to the throught) frist off the Karate guys we just better i had nothing to do with the style in the streets i used wushu/ Kung fu alot its effective belive me its just that those guys werent that good and it looked more like they just picked kungfu guys out of nowhere for a tv show now saying that i never taken karate (sad i know) but is that even a kata that she was doing cause i never seen a karateka do that cause she had capoeria and wushu kicks in it

[patusai]

Her gymnastics skills are very good. Very flashy.