Stripping away..

[ps1]

If one was to only train/practice just one kata for their entire life, it wouldn't be a wasted life.

I very much agree with this. There's enough information in just one kata to allow for a ton of training.

I would probably chose Kanku dai, Bassai Dai, or Unsu. I could also base an entire curriculum around those exclusively.

[brickshooter]

I was under the impression that once upon a time, there was only one kata with hundreds of movements. Then someone came along and broke them apart for easier learning.

[deckerdude]

Some trivia for you all.....based on Scientific fact: ''The human brain has the capacity for 3 lifetimes, we only use a mere fraction of it by the time we are in our 80's'' So go ahead, learn as many Kata as you like, you will never learn them all based on that fact! Our brains are like sponges until we get to mid, then late age, when it deteriorates with age and slow use. But if we keep it active in learning new things, if we keep it 'topped up' with new information, ideas and applications, then there is no reason NOT to learn all the Karate Kata that is out there, surely!?!

[bushido_man96]

The problem with learning so many kata, and if you train to use kata as responses to attacks, then when you do get attacked, you are likely to take longer to cycle through what response you should use in response.

If you don't train responses this way, then I suppose you could learn all the forms you want to without having to worry too much about it.

[Jissen]

It's not uncommon for people to know 30 kata, but keep 3 or 4 as "their" kata. The ones they study deeply.

[shadowspawn]

It's not uncommon for people to know 30 kata, but keep 3 or 4 as "their" kata. The ones they study deeply.

Pretty much this. I wouldn't "drop" any kata if I had a choice. I'd keep them all in the back of my mind and devote my study time to 4 or 5 kata.

[sensei8]

If one was to only train/practice just one kata for their entire life, it wouldn't be a wasted life.

I very much agree with this. There's enough information in just one kata to allow for a ton of training.

I would probably chose Kanku dai, Bassai Dai, or Unsu. I could also base an entire curriculum around those exclusively.

Solid post!!

[sensei8]

The problem with learning so many kata, and if you train to use kata as responses to attacks, then when you do get attacked, you are likely to take longer to cycle through what response you should use in response.

If you don't train responses this way, then I suppose you could learn all the forms you want to without having to worry too much about it.

Solid post!!

[Ueshirokarate]

I'm not advocating that people not learn as many kata as they want. What I am asking is do we need to keep collecting. And, if we are to be proponents of kata practice with an eye toward functional karate, don't we need to understand what kata are meant to accomplish? Nagamine Shoshin thought you could spend a year on the most basic kata, three to ten years on any of those of "black belt" level. With that in mind, doesn't it make some sense to practice fewer forms, not more?

For myself I'd rather be a pond of great depth, than an ocean a thousand miles wide and one inch deep. I want those I'm teaching to have a chance at depth too. I don't claim to know the answers, have the key to wisdom or anything like that. But, if I'm going to believe in what I'm teaching, and I think you have to believe in what you're teaching, I need to be trying to show and share some of the depth I'm finding. If not, I feel like I'm teaching superficial punching and kicking. That's what drives me to strip away to a core so I can more easily get to the heart of karate.

Or, I could just be rambling on and waxing a bit poetic about punching people in the mouth.

There are only eighteen forms in the classic Matsubayashi Ryu system (we also have Ueshiro's Fukyugata Sandan and Wax's Oyo Tan Ren). Fact is that with new students joining all the time, you really practice the Fukyugatas so much more than any other ones. This is ok as they work your muscles for your other forms. You go through the Pinans and higher and you are repeating many of the same movements you do in the Fukyugatas. Yes, there slight differences in hand and body positioning, but fundamentally you are swinging your arms and legs in the same manner, so in a way you are training higher katas when you do the basic ones. I believe Nagamine knew this and that is why his system is as it is.

What I think is important, is to always do kata as if you are actually fighting someone, whether half speed or all out. I think it is also important to take several techniques out of kata and fully understand how to use them and practice their use in sequence with other techniques (somewhat like yakusoko kumite) At the end of the day, it is a martial art and should be trained to use in a real fight.