Kata as calisthenics

OneKickWonder · Purple Belt

There's a regular ongoing debate about the value of Kata in the modern day, when we don't need to condense the essence of a system into a sort of dance to preserve it anymore. We have video recording and most people can read and write now.

Funakoshi makes a solid point in his book kara te do kyohan. He notes that kata enables the student to practice karate anywhere, even if no equipment or training partners are available.

Any thoughts?

Personally, I think kata / forms / hyung have great value. Not necessarily directly combat related. But physically they offer balance and coordination as well as general conditioning fitness training. They also offer a good opportunity to practice coordinating the breath through a full range of movements. Some find them effective as a form of meditation.

I also think there is a misuse of them in the typical class. At the beginning of class, there's a range of warmup exercises and stretching. Then at some point later in the class, kata / forms are trained as important in their own right. I think we miss a trick here. I personally think a more efficient use of training time, given that we can do stretching and cardio etc outside of class, would be to use kata as the warmup stage. They can be performed at a steady pace to develop strength and balance, or with vigour for cardio. Why not start 'tai chi style', gradually step it up, then 30 minutes in you're not only warmed up and stretched off, you've also had 30 minutes of actual practice under guidance that you wouldn't get at home.

LLLEARNER · Brown Belt

I like that idea!
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shortyafter · Orange Belt

I like that idea, too. I think there's more to a kata than meets the eye, a lot of which you touched on. Also, I think a lot of it is mental, a form of meditation as you said. The best kata I have ever performed have been in a state of total relaxation, let-go, and no-mind. The same has been true of my fights. I think it was Funakoshi who said, "kata is not to be confused with combat, but it can teach you many things that will help you in combat".

sensei8 · KF Sensei

Kata is vital; after all, it's part of the three K's: Kihon, Kata, and Kumite. Kata as calisthenics is a great calorie burner, if one executes them with seriousness.

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LLLEARNER · Brown Belt

Some of the worst muscle soreness I have had comes from super slow kata.
_________________
"Those who know don't talk. Those who talk don't know." ~ Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching

"Walk a single path, becoming neither cocky with victory nor broken with defeat, without forgetting caution when all is quiet or becoming frightened when danger threatens." ~ Jigaro Kano

G95champ · Black Belt

We often warm up with kata on a count as a group. We espically do this on days we are going to focus more on basics, self defense or sparring.

Likewise I also use it as a cool down exercise on those days.
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(General George S. Patton Jr.) "It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory."

scohen0300 · Blue Belt

I like this idea as well! What I also think is interesting is the never ending use of pushups in class. Without performing the opposite motion, such as pull-ups or some kind of rowing exercise, you’re far more likely to create a muscular imbalance.

I think kata can build just as much strength and endurance but without that risk! Also more time for your art-specific training.
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G95champ · Black Belt

I have never asked students to do push ups or set ups or run. IMO they pay me to teach karate and I'll teach muscle development through martial exercises. I've always had a problem with paying to learn to do jumping jacks lol
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(General George S. Patton Jr.) "It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory."

JR 137 · Black Belt

Kata is the true art in karate IMO. Looking at other types of art such as paintings and music, a great piece of art will have many interpretations; it’s not shallow and overly simplistic.

Kata is the same way. You could take 10 highly accomplished karateka and ask their opinions on what the kata means and how it should be performed, and you’ll get no less than 10 different answers. More like 50 different answers

Kata isn’t some sacred thing that can only be used in one way, and doing anything else with it will desecrate it. It can be used as a warmup, cardio session, a choreographed dance of sorts, an agility exercise, a tool to teach the basics, a catalog of self defense techniques, and so on.

Doing kata in any one of those ways doesn’t disqualify you from doing it in other ways too. I’ve heard people say “we don’t do kata for competition points; we do it for it’s true purpose of self defense.” That’s great and all, but why couldn’t you do both? Is their some sort of rule saying you can’t make it look pretty for one purpose AND use it for self defense? I’m not talking about changing the movements, I’m talking about sharpening up the movements. I don’t see how any purpose of doing a kata invalidates any other reason for doing it.

Using it as a warmup is a great idea. We’ve done this many times in a roundabout way - doing our routine stretching at the start of class, then going right into kata before we really get going. That’s not the extent of our kata training focus, but it’s one way we use it. Personally, I think it would be better if that order was reversed - do a few kata, then stretch. Or do one, stretch, do another, stretch some more, etc.

Bulltahr · Brown Belt

Done plenty of kata one move, one press up. Was one of Seishi's favorite "warm ups"................
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