The Uselessness of Kata

[baronbvp]

Traditions have a way of staying around

Very true. Regardless of their application in sparring or real fighting, they remain very popular.

Apparently so does this thread! 46 pages, wow.

[bushido_man96]

Any idea who? That's a pretty stellar career path. I'll bet he hurts when wakes up in the morning, though.

Bob Sapp comes to mind.

[baronbvp]

Who did he play for, and over what time period?

[bushido_man96]

He played for the Chicago Bears for a short period of time. If you have seen the new version of the movie The Longest Yard (with Adam Sandler), he is in that movie as well.

Here is a Wiki-bio on him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Sapp They have him listed at 6'5", but I have heard that he was more like 6'8". 335 pounds if probably close, if not shy a bit.

Here is his record, listed on sherdog.com: http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=4416 I thought that he had fought more than that, but I could be wrong.

Here is a page with some Sapp videos: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bob+Sapp Enjoy!

[baronbvp]

Thanks, Bushido Man, I'll check all that out. He's one big dude. Not sure I remember him from the movie yet.

[bushido_man96]

Thanks, Bushido Man, I'll check all that out. He's one big dude. Not sure I remember him from the movie yet.

He says, "Will you teach me to football?"

[baronbvp]

Oh yeah! Scary.

[A_Train]

Any idea who? That's a pretty stellar career path. I'll bet he hurts when wakes up in the morning, though.

I believe the pro wrestler who entered K-1 was not Bob Sapp (I don't think he's been a pro wrestler, at least not in North America) but Sean O'haire. And he did quite poorly to the point of giving it up recently, I believe. On the Fight Network in Canada, I can remember two seperate times that he was the KO of the week. Not good.

Personally, I don't think the switch from WWE to MMA is a good or easy one. I think that years of 'pulling' your punches would only make the world of MMA that much more difficult, not to mention the false sense of secutiry they build up from years of winning staged matches.

[bushido_man96]

I believe the pro wrestler who entered K-1 was not Bob Sapp (I don't think he's been a pro wrestler, at least not in North America) but Sean O'haire.

You may be right. But Bob Sapp did fight K-1 for a time.

Personally, I don't think the switch from WWE to MMA is a good or easy one. I think that years of 'pulling' your punches would only make the world of MMA that much more difficult, not to mention the false sense of secutiry they build up from years of winning staged matches.

I would have to agree, to an extent. However, Shamrock made the reverse transition quite well.

[bushido_man96]

I just read an article in Black Belt Magazine, contributed by Iain Abernethey. I enjoyed the article, and it has a very straight-forward title: "Making Kata Work."

For those of you who are not familiar with Abernethey, he has essentially dedicated his time in Karate to extrapolating the fighting techniques and principles found within the katas of Karate.

In the article, he made an interesting analogy. He stated that kata is to Karate what the acorn is to the oak tree. Contained in the acorn is everything needed to become an oak tree. He essentially states that kata is the acorn; it just has to be planted and nurtured properly in order to produce the results that it is meant to.

Just thought I would throw this out there.

Whether or not you are a fan of kata training, his points are good ones for the kata proponents.