Kata: the Fundamental Element of Martial Arts

[47MartialMan]

But if you look at it, any other training exercies could be consider as kata/hsings

[G95champ]

Thanks for the compliments and other posts lol.

 

I have been away from KF for sometime. Not by choice lol just tied down with other things. I really enjoy the site and look forward to meeting this new group of posters.

 

Kata is the key....

[kulgan]

I am a third dan studying with Master Johnson's Karate in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

 

I couldn't agree more with the comments about kata / hyung / forms / patterns. For me the triangle of kata, kion and kumite has bunkai at its centre. I believe that combat interpretation of the forms is the key to effective martial arts. In particular, I've had a lot of fun with locks and grappling interpretations of kata - highly recommended!

 

The other less obvious aspect of kata is expression. I like to think that the "art" portion of a Martial Art has as much emphasis as the "martial" portion. I tried hard to think of what art is (!!!), and I came to the conclusion that it is self-expression in a creative way.

 

I don't see how you could have more fun: combat training and self-expression all in one!

 

Happy Training!

 

Nick.

[G95champ]

thanks for the coments

[Adonis]

Kata can be fun if you like that sort of thing. If you learned good concepts training and exposed to some applications from kata as well to what diffrent things one movement. ie out ward block can be several types of things on diffrent parts of the body. then yes kata is great.

It however isn't a great subsitute for partner or bag/pad training because you don't get equivilent benefits. They are all seperate training tools. So that remark holds no weight to it.

some one who doesn't do forms and is a good fighter is still a martial artist. One of the defintions of ART defined in websters dictionary is "skill aquired through obeservation, study, and experience" there for those who are fighters ie.(boxers, kick boxers, mma, or other fighting styles) can be classfied as martial arts. So that holds no weight to it either. Its just the persons opinion.

[Menjo]

wow great article, I dont have any arguments agaisnt it. well said

[ItalianMuayThai]

good article, wow i never realized that. And your right most people that hate it (such as myself) are non-karate stylist. Excellent read man!!!!!

[Adonis]

accept I like to point out a flaw in the article as saying kata is the heart of a martial art when some arts don't even have kata with in them.

[MizuRyu]

For me, kata is one of the greatest gifts in an art. It gives you the ability to put some "art" into the martial art, practice your technique by yourself, and train when you can't make it to class. Last year when I went up North for 3 weeks, I woke up at 8am every morning and did forms on the beach, then ran a few miles. Without kata/forms, martial arts wouldn't really be the same for me.

[atalaya]

i agree with you: kata is fantastic. when i was much younger than i am now, i used to think it was a boring waste of time and just a way of practicing when no one else was around. how wrong i was! if properly conducted, kata can help you tone muscles, reduce thinking/response time, refine mental discipline, heighten self awareness, and challenge problem solving/analytical functions of the brain.

we should consider that there is a "soft" and "hard" aspect to everything- a punch has a strong (finish) and weak (transition) phase. a body has both bones and organs. a kata may be used for soft or hard purposes. (ie, sanchin kata!!!)