Karate begins and ends with the study of Kata.

[ShoriKid]

Kata, as practiced by a great many karateka today is not sufficient to train or transmit the combative skills found without good martial arts. They are lions without teeth, swords with no edge, a gun without ammunition. While all powerful and potentially deadly things, they cannot realize their potential in their disarmed state.

Kata trained to communicate and carry forward the combative techniques and principles requires more than just dancing through the movements. It requires that they be broken down systematically and practiced with live, resisting partners. That you drill down to examine not just the particular applications found within the kata, but how those applications communicate a more widely useful principle of fighting.

If you wish to practice only kata as the only aspect of karate, and do so as done in most dojo that is your right. However what you are left with is a hollowed out form that won't do much for your defensive skills.

Basics/Kihon are the alphabet that you build the language of martial arts with. Combinations/drills are the words built with that alphabet. Kata are just short stories that we copy down using that alphabet and the words. The stories teach us about structure and use of our words, they're examples. We still aren't writing our own stories yet. Until we learn the lessons of other writers, have built up our vocabulary of words, we aren't telling our own stories. We aren't complete martial artist, IMO, until we reach that point where we're telling our own stories.

[Ascalon]

I think kata (or other patterns) are the heart of martial arts, and I feel that the MAs that do not use some sort of kata/pattern as the fundamental learning mechanism are much the poorer for it.

I don't think that means that kata are the be all and end all of karate (or any other MA). Kata teach you technique, discipline and mental strength but they do not teach you adaptability, responsiveness or an understanding of your opponent - all of which are integral skills of a martial artist.

One of the best things about karate compared to more 'purely functional' MAs is its holistic approach. If you take away any aspect of it you are left with a poorer discipline.

[pers]

I often compare Kata with poetry. Both are a rich source of meaning and open to a wide variety of compelling interpretations. Both are examples of artistic expression that have lessons to teach about the self, the world and about others. It seems to me that the study of Kata is fundamental to the art. Without Kata, one loses much of the depth and substance of Karate.

Abandoning dedicated Kihon practice, one loses nothing. This is because the performance of Kata achieves the same results. When one performs a kata, one works the basics.

Abandoning rule-based sport-style kumite, one loses nothing. This is because kumite reinforces unhelpful behaviour and ignores 99% of the core techniques and applications found in bunkai. I've always argued that if you have the opportunity to bounce around on the balls of your feet and the space to move freely around your opponent then you can probably run away, which is usually a more effective self-defence strategy than going on the attack.

In conclusion, then, it is my contention that karate begins and ends with Kata. Within Kata you can find everything you need to become a great Karateka and a better person. Opinions?

I totaly agree with you on the role of kata but not quite so sure about your take on kumite .

To me kata is like a short movie and I am the actor playing it , kata is a fight scene beween me and imaginary opponents , how good I can play the part to convince myself and those watching is relative to my competancy both in body and mind .

Regarding your comment on bouncing around on the ball of the feet ,it depends on how one has been shown the most efficient way to be in and out of the reach of the opponent ,avoid and deliver tehnique(s) .

I think kumite has great value in learning and practicing distancing ,timing ,improving spirit against an opponent ,stationary or not stationary depending on the type of kumite being practiced .

Each to its own have their great values , you can tkae the Oi zuki in kihon kata to your kumite with the same principals ...even in jiyu kumite ,you are moving on the ball of your feet ,going forwards and backwards or to the side ,monitoring your opponent's movements and waiting for the right time and opening to deliver your punch , and then when you find that opening you go in exatcly like the Oi zuki in kihon or heian shodan .

My personal warm up before the class is doing katas in a slow mode ,just to get my body going , this way I get my mind going too , if I am doing hian shodan which I normaly do among other katas I concentrate on my movement ,like the initiaition part of my Oi zuki ,despite doing it slow I try to practice the dynamitism of my technique ,try to act like I am compressed spring ready to bounce out .

I also usualy start my warm up with Hangetsu for the breathing and the kime practice ,then I do bits and pieces of other katas .... I spend the 15-20 minutes before the start of class doing this ...

If I had to pick one to keep for the rest of my life between kihon ,kata and kumite then it would be kata .