Choosing kata for black belt

[boyo1991]

Bassai Dai

[bushido_man96]

Without knowing much about the individual kata, I would choose the one that has the biggest variety of techniques and is considered the hardest to perform. After all, you are meant to be showcasing your skill. Make sure you go with one you feel comfortable with.

Good Luck

Good advise. Pick the one that you feel best reflects your ability, and also presents a challenge for you. You want to be your best at testing, so make sure you have the form you want to do down to memory.

Good luck to you!

[Norris197]

Thanks for all your replies. I think I will still go for Enpi as I will have to do Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai and all the previous katas aswell anyway.

Plus, we only get the choice of either Enpi, Jion, Jitte ot Ji'in, and out of them the only one I know off by heart is Enpi. JUst got to master the end jump, as i'm having difficulties with that .

[DancingSteve]

Wait Wait...how many katas are you doing? You said you'll have to do the others as well? Or do you mean they will PICK from those one for you to do.

When I got my shodan ..they picked from basic katas. I think I did Heian Godan or something like that.

As far as the jump goes.

If you need more jumping power. Do plyometric exercises. Jump up and bring your knees to your chest 10 times. Rest..do it again. Basically do it until you can't do it anymore.

This will build up jumping power.

As far as nailing the stance when you come down. Slam your feet into the ground as hard as you can without breaking your ankles. That is how I nail jumps. If you can get up in the air. Then bring the knife hand and the feet down so you absolutely NAIL the landing. They should hear it on a gym floor throughout the entire gym. When I did it, afterwards my heels would tingle. I don't recommend giving yourself bone spurs but thats the way to really stick the landing.

And plus....its derned impressive.

[Norris197]

Thanks for your advice DancingSteve, i'll try that.

As for the katas, yes we have to do all of our previous katas. The entire grading lasts between 5-6 hours.

1-2hrs Basics, 1-2hrs Kumite and then the remainder is Katas. Just when you're about to pass out . And we only get a 15minute break throughout the whole thing.

[DancingSteve]

I used to work for a guy teaching kids self defense and he would put his students through a 1-2 hour cluster of a test that tested them emotionally and physically. I honestly thought it was kind of ridiculous.

My shodan test took about 30 minutes. Basics..kata of your choice...kata of their choice..kumite...and then the dreaded pencil test. Control test punching at the point of a pencil, while its moving wildly around with a stern Japanese man screaming at you, Faster! Faster!

Anyways. Good luck.

[Norris197]

Yeah, that's the only difference. We don't have to do a written test.

[ninjanurse]

I

My shodan test took about 30 minutes. Basics..kata of your choice...kata of their choice..kumite...and then the dreaded pencil test. Control test punching at the point of a pencil, while its moving wildly around with a stern Japanese man screaming at you, Faster! Faster!

Ah, this brings back memories!!!!

[ps1]

As far as the jump goes.

If you need more jumping power. Do plyometric exercises. Jump up and bring your knees to your chest 10 times. Rest..do it again. Basically do it until you can't do it anymore.

This will build up jumping power.

Not to vary too much off the thread. Please be careful when giving advice on conditioning exercises. Plyometrics should NEVER be done to exhaustion. They should be carefully balanced for a certain number of footfalls based on the height of the fall and weight of the person performing them. You can really tear up the ligaments and strain the tendons in your knees if you do them improperly or too often. Plyometrics are a great way to develop power but I would suggest investing in a good book about them before attempting them on a regular basis.

[Feathers of Doom]

the concept of picking a kata for a bb test is strange to me. in my school we were required to perform every kata we knew for that part of the test. how does BB testing work in other schools?