Choosing Kata

[Xepher]

Hello all! Entering my fourth tournament now , I got my yellow belt and I have learned all of Heian Nidan. But I was just wondering considering some of you are black belts. If you were judging a lower belt kata division , what would you rather see? A well done Heian Shodan , or a average heian Nidan? Basically a Well Done simple kata , or an average higher kata?

[ps1]

I would want to see a well performed kata. Once you get Nidan down well, start to use it. Until you perform it as good or better than Shodan, stay with shodan.

Nidan will eventually get you more points because it has kicking elements and more hip dynamics. However, when those elements are performed poorly, the kata just looks horrible.

[obiwansbane]

i used shodan up to green and still pulled off firsts... nuff said

[bushido_man96]

I would want to see a well performed kata. Once you get Nidan down well, start to use it. Until you perform it as good or better than Shodan, stay with shodan.

Nidan will eventually get you more points because it has kicking elements and more hip dynamics. However, when those elements are performed poorly, the kata just looks horrible.

I agree with this advise here. A poor kata is a poor kata, no matter what skill level it is.

[Chuilli, Kyo Sah Nim]

yes nicely said everyone. but another thing to keep in mind is, at some of these tournaments, you will have judges of all different styles and origins, so a sloppy move is a sloppy move and if that move is not in there system they are just going to see it as sloppy, but people in your system will know what it was suppose to be and they will see some semblance of a technique. and lastly, i have learned that the longer you have practiced a kata the less likely you are to freeze up. GOOD LUCK!

in tang soo,

k.chuilli

[marie curie]

Good thought Chuilli.

Always know your audience. In general, yes, for a kata system as well known as yours going with the sure thing is better, but I once took 1st or 2nd, I can't remember, on a kata that I made up the last 3 moves to on the go It was a flourish-y form, and so I just made them match and look good No one knew the better, so if you end up learning some really complex out there forms, then they may be more enjoyable to perform down the road even if they aren't as perfect as some of the older ones.

[lordtariel]

Yeah, you have to remember that some judges might not know what kata you're doing(although Heian is pretty common) so it comes down to execution of technique as a primary focus for high scores. I completely jumped into a second kata during a tournament and still wound up taking second place because they didn't know the difference.

[bushido_man96]

I completely jumped into a second kata during a tournament and still wound up taking second place because they didn't know the difference.

This is also a matter of not showing that you know that you goofed up. Sometimes, the judges will be so intent on judging the technique that they get lost to the form. They may not catch it, as long as you don't stop in the middle, slap yourself on the forehead, and yell out "DOH!"

[DancingSteve]

Plain and Simple. Any tournament anywhere. Do your BEST kata first.

If you want to do Nidan for the difficulty level, then practice it until its as good as Shodan.

[bushido_man96]

Plain and Simple. Any tournament anywhere. Do your BEST kata first.

If you want to do Nidan for the difficulty level, then practice it until its as good as Shodan.

Well, that doesn't always go for any tournament. At the TKD tournaments that I compete at, we are expected to do the form for our rank. We don't get to choose which form we get to do. That way, everyone is judged on the same form, or the one below the rank we do.