Bassai Dai

[AngelaG]

I believe (being a Brown belt) that different parts of a kata are for different scenairos (sp?) and that learning a kata will help us to deal with different situtations...

I believe that kata are a tool to introduce us to principles and to develop those principles. As you advance through the kata so you are introduced to more principles. The ultimate goal would be to have the principles ingrained, so that there is no technique log-jam, but instead an indepth understanding of how to move one's own body and manipulate another's body. Fighting is not a set-piece and to practice it as such gives one a false understanding and confidence in what one can deal with. (IMHO)

[AngelaG]

Hmmm.....interesting food for thought. Why so many Kata's "finishing move" doesn't actually "finish" an opponent when it's a block. For Shotokan, that would include most of the Heians (1, 2, 4).

Actually the bunkai we study at my dojo would have each move as a finishing move. Then again we don't use the "uke" techniques as blocks.

[ps1]

I believe (being a Brown belt) that different parts of a kata are for different scenairos (sp?) and that learning a kata will help us to deal with different situtations...

I believe that kata are a tool to introduce us to principles and to develop those principles. As you advance through the kata so you are introduced to more principles. The ultimate goal would be to have the principles ingrained, so that there is no technique log-jam, but instead an indepth understanding of how to move one's own body and manipulate another's body. Fighting is not a set-piece and to practice it as such gives one a false understanding and confidence in what one can deal with. (IMHO)

Nice post!

In short, Karate trains you to have proper responses and habits.

[Jiffy]

Hmmm.....interesting food for thought. Why so many Kata's "finishing move" doesn't actually "finish" an opponent when it's a block. For Shotokan, that would include most of the Heians (1, 2, 4).

The answer for that is very simple. Every block can also be used as an attack (in Shotokan at least). So what might apear as the kata might not be the origninal intention. Maybe look deeper into the movements.

As for Bassai Dai, yes, we emphasise the first technique as an attack.

[alsey]

i agree totally with angela here. kata is all about principles. a kata records the fighting principles of the master who created it and certain techniques are used in the kata to demonstrate those principles. being able to do every technique in a kata perfectly will not make you a good fighter. understanding the principles and how to use them in a fight will make you a good fighter. performing kata is just the first step in gaining this understanding.

i also agree that when practicing bunkai each kata movement should completely disable the opponent (or leave him extremely vulnerable). stepping around, blocking, striking, and finishing several movements later is, to be brutally frank, stupid because you can't predict an opponent's movements like that.

there are no blocks in karate because blocking is a very poor combat tactic. every kata technique imediately seizes the advantage and then disables the opponent. a 'block' just keeps you on the defensive and does nothing to improve your position. the blocks that are commonly taught in karate were adapted by master itosu so that karate could be taught to children without having to teach them dangerous techniques.

[RichardHangHong]

Practice, practice and more yep you guessed it, practice!

Bassai-Dai is a great kata for showing effective hip rotation. Make sure that whether you're in hanmi or shomen niether hip drops or raises, keep them level with each other. Aslo, as you move in stance, be sure to keep your hips level with the floor. Don't raise up and down. This is good practice for suri ashi (gliding feet). I get my students to practice this with a bar across their lower back, just under the belt, that way they can see where their hips are going.

Hope this helps.

Richard

[bushido_man96]

quote alsey: a 'block' just keeps you on the defensive and does nothing to improve your position.

When I block in sparring, I find myself able to move inside the technique as I am blocking, thus improving my position. Therefore, I feel that blocking is beneficial and can improve position if done correctly.

[alsey]

modern sparring is vastly different to self defence. i don't want to get into the grappling in karate thing again, you know my position on that, so i'll leave it at that. all i'll say is that if you use kata movements as blocks, as is often taught, you're gonna get hurt.

[bushido_man96]

modern sparring is vastly different to self defence. i don't want to get into the grappling in karate thing again, you know my position on that, so i'll leave it at that. all i'll say is that if you use kata movements as blocks, as is often taught, you're gonna get hurt.

I don't block in sparring the same way I block when I do forms, but it is still blocking, even though you don't use the whole technique. The techniques are taught to build strength and coordination. When sparring and/or fighting, you have to change things up a bit. It is important to be able to alter the blocking motion to be faster, and not telegraphic. It all has to do with levels of learning. You learn the techniques first, and then you start to learn how to alter them for application.

Take bunkai, for example. When you apply the katas to bunkai, some things change. The kata is great for teaching the techniques, and then bunkai comes along and teaches applications, which changes things a little bit.

[alsey]

in sparring, and real combat, you may have to deflect a strike if your opponent gains the advantage, although the kata teach you how to defeat someone before they strike. if the opponent does get a shot at you, the kata teach you how to deflect the strike while initiating your own attack. this attack typically involves grappling and throwing so it doesn't happen in sparring.

of course you have to deflect strikes in sparring, but these deflections are massively different to what are often taught as 'blocks' in kata. when kata movements are taught as blocks, they generally involve meeting the attack head on with a weak part of your body. this is absurd. when you deflect an attack in sparring you generally move around or inside the attack (as you said) and deflect, not block. block means to get in the way of something. getting in the way of a strike is BAD idea. you want to be out of the way, and pushing/deflecting/parrying the strike somewhere else while making your own attack.

at the end of the day, you do what works for you. but let me ask you, how many times have you charged head on into a kick while trying to stop it with the weakest bone in your arm? because this is typical of kata 'blocks' as they are commonly taught (gedan barai is the particular example i'm thinking of).