What makes a good Kata

What makes a good Kata

                What makes a good Kata? Kata, for those that are not sure are the cornerstone of demonstrating or presenting Karate understanding. Kata should be a way of showing others your ability, yes…but more so your understanding of your personal application of Karate. Watching someone do Kata you should get a good idea of how they would be to face in Kumite and also how and why they train in Karate.

                A good Karate has many components to it, and we develop these as we move up in rank and experience in Karate. Things like rhythm, timing, breathing, expansion and relaxation, power, proper form and techniques, Following the Embusen, efficient and proper movement as well as showing spirit and creating a feeling of a real fight.

                Okay, when I review someone’s Kata the first things I look for obviously is good basics. Do they use the right basics and are they effective enough for their level. If they are doing good basics and properly then it’s a pass. No front stances that kind of look side-stance-ish or weak back stances with feet facing the wrong way ext. Do they punch the right level or even on target. This is first off. I am a stickler for stance to, if the toes should be in(together) on the stance and theirs is not…it’s a fail! If they need to be in a solid side stance and they take up Shiko dachi….Fail!  By Fail I mean no points for that movement.  If a Kata has 21 moves (Like Heian Shodan) and 20 of the stances are good and one is bad…not to worry, but if 10 are bad…yah, you have an issue.

                Are they performing the upper body movement’s right. Do they look the right way; are they using the body right? Let’s say they are doing a rising block and the body is square…Fail. Or they punch but they don’t use the hip or they forget Hikite….Fail! you need to have good Kihon waza in your Kata or you won’t make it to the next one.

                Once that is down I look at spirit….do they make it look like a real fight, or at the least make it look like they are able to use something of the Kata in a real fight! I hate the grandstanding sporty crap so if it looks to flashy when the correct way is not flashy…it’s a fail. Kiai all you want, if it’s a screech from the throat and the whole thing looks silly, then it’s a no. Kata is part of a traditional art of fighting, not a sporty “earn points and medals” kind of thing. Yes, sport and competition has its place, don’t get me wrong….but the day I approve a Kata that is just flashy because it is supposed to look like it will garner more points is the day I hand in my black belt and start playing chess!

                One must create the feel of a real fight. Not in an overly dramatic way but in a way that you know the person is battling an opponent. I have seen tournament competitors…you know the screamers that will just yell and be way to dramatic…don’t go that way. You need to show solid Kihon and also show that you would use it in a fight the same way. Down blocking with power and hip dynamics, solid stance, staring into the imaginary eyes of an attacker!

                How do we learn to do this though, Well it’s a process! I remember learning Kata both in a group, one on one and by myself out of books. Each time the same process was done and it has not changed ever for me. I know some people learn differently but I am sure you will get through the four steps of learning the Kata like I did. Picture me in a club learning a new Kata from Sensei Dingman, in a group or on one of those days when I got one on one training, or outside doing Kata in a park or my back yard and my favorite…doing Kata in my basement when I was a kid. I went through the four steps and often only make it through the first on my own. It takes a long time to progress through the levels of learning and often you will do this with only a few of the Kata.

 

                Level One: The Dance! This level is when you learn the steps and the moves, but you don’t really “Know” the Kata. Its like when you learn how to dance, its not really ingrained in you. You have not memorized it and you can do the movements…but most you are just mimicking. I was never a great mimic because of my dyslexia, instead I had the “Show me….let me do it…correct me…repeat” kind of learning focus and it worked for me, and it’s also how I teach. A lot of how I teach has to do with how I learn, but I also know others learn differently.

                The Level of Dancing is simply that. You learn the movements and try to memorize them like a dance routine. The moves often mean little to you other than as a kind of brief understanding of what the Kata actually looks like. You may understand Embusen is important and you try to stick to it, but most of the moves are rehearsed and you have just the most basic understanding that you are in a fight when doing this.

                This is also the “Sport Karate” Demonstration level for some. You memorize the moves, you get the basic concepts wired in and then you polish it like a trophy! Your Kata means little but you work on the performance art aspect of it and often its impressive, but you take NOTHING from it, except how to screech and that basic movements are run together in a specific order.

 

                Level Two of learning is the “Bunkai awareness” level of Kata learning is not just being told the application but realizing the application of the Kata and exploration of the Bunkai and Oyo of the Kata. Its more of a level in which you figure out you are fighting and you start to picture the moves being applied as you do them. My favorite move for this is the Tsukami Uke in Bassai Dai. Most students who are doing this have NO idea what they are doing and they show the technique in a variety of ways. Some do the move reletivly well and “Fake it” past examinations ext, but others come up with the strangest hand movements I have ever Seen. One of the students I teach (Note many do this but I am just going to talk about one) does a “Goose neck” version of this or “duck hands” the hands look as though the hands are dropping down on something.  This shows me that he has no idea what the heck he is doing here and that he is still very much in the first phase of this Kata.

                The second phase of training sometimes takes years to get to and sometimes you never really make it to this phase, you end up kind of dancing through the moves and you never really learn what it is you are doing. Some people figure out little things but they never really make that leap to seeing the person attacking them and then the moves being applied to save their own lives.

                The neat thing is when you have a student who sees the applications in one Kata and then starts chaining the realizations together and finally figuring out what it is that they are looking at in all the Kata, its like a circuit of light bulbs that goes on and you see them progressing backwards through Kata and seeing what they missed. I once taught a class on Jion and I don’t know what it was that I said but a student came up to me and said “I caught what you said about the Stepping in Age Uke to Gyaku zuki and how the hips have to be used ‘this way’, Damn if I did not see that in Heian Shodan as well and many of the other Kata”.  It was a true light bulb movement. The applications of body dynamics to affect Kihon Waza is universal, you just need to see that.

                Sometimes its as simple as having partners do the movements on each other and other times its as detailed as working one on one with someone and not just applying the move but having them apply it on you. The moment you start to realize that this is not just about dance and you are actually doing movements that you apply in a real situation…you are at level two…and this is a darn hard level to actually get to.

                One final thing, when you get to this moment and leap to level two you need to realize you have to have mastered the movements, memorized the moves and then you can do them as if you are in a real fight. You now don’t count in your head, think ahead six steps to figure out what direction you are turning…you are doing the Kata and applying the moves to a real partner…well real in your head.

 

                If Kata learning was an onion the next level would be a very fine distinction point from level two, but a very important one. In Japanese it’s called Tatakai no Toreningu. It’s “FIGHT TRAINING”!  You cannot use a Kata to learn to fight without learning first the movements (level one), then the applications (level two) and working on making those to levels as solid as possible. Once you know the “Dance moves” and what you are doing with them now it’s time to apply them in a mental combat situation. The Kata now takes on a life of its own and you do it and see the opponent and in the place of just applying a series of moves you are now actually battling your opponents. This level is a short step from level two, but a very dramatic one.

                When I teach people or test them and I see that “eye of the tiger” kind of moment when the student starts the Kata and you know it’s not a performance, it’s a battle…you know they “Got it” and they are at level three. This level can be faked, but there are some tell-tale signs that the person is faking it to make a display. The outward emotion is far overdone and dramatic for one. The real purpose of this level is to make the fight real to the person doing the Kata. The Effort is real and the idea of an attacker moving in and executing an attack becomes fairly real to the person doing the Kata.

                For most students this never happens however. The instructor is almost always to blame as they push sport or they don’t have the right ideas themselves on how to feel a Kata transition from level one to level three smoothly, they can’t bring a student to this level as most of the time they have never been their themselves. This is also the highest that most students ever will attain in the mastery of a Kata. It’s also kind of funny because if you don’t maintain the practice of that Kata you lose it and slip back to level two or even one. However this level is a very high level of training and one that most students should aim for.

 

                The last level is what I call Ido Meiso, or “moving meditation” it’s going beyond all of the other levels and doing the Kata without thinking, not because you are fighting an opponent or learning an application, it’s hard to describe and I have only felt it a few times in my life. You move through the Kata as if you are an observer and not a participant. The body takes over and does what it needs to do to complete each technique, Time seems to slow to a crawl and you get wrapped up in the Kata, it has no end, no beginning and the middle part will last forever! You are kind of stuck watching each movement and it seems to last a longer time than it actually does.

                Ido Meiso Kata practice is not done like Tai Chi or anything, it is full speed and with complete movements, but for some reason you are wrapped up in the Kata completely. I once experienced this on one of my Sunday work outs down town. I went in and warmed up with the Heians and stretched. I began working on Kanku Dai and ran through the drills I do for the Kata, I do drills for any Kata I am about to practice to get ready for the form of the Kata. I began the Kata and it seemed like it took me all day to get through that Kata….when it took me about two minutes. I was not exhausted physically but it felt like I had been doing the Kata for hours. You know it’s not real and yet you seem to have been lost in the Kata to the point that you don’t realize that time is NOT flying buy, but your ability to govern the amount of time you are doing the Kata has flown out the window.

                I have felt it several times since but that first time was kind of trippy, you just get to that point, and I don’t think any instructor can help you do that. It’s a matter of practice and repeating study, going and letting your mind sink into the moment. At that moment I was convinced my body was Kanku Dai, I was able to not just use the moves in a fight or apply them on a partner, it was a living breathing thing and I was just part of it. I ended practice and while I felt like I had lost time I also felt relaxed and totally prepared to use my Karate if I needed to.

 

                So, as a student or instructor how does one put this together and move from phase one to four? Well I have bad news and good news. First off there is no book, video or even instructor who can walk you to the last phase, it’s just repetition and training. Now the good news….kind of like Dominoes if you have the right motivation and instruction you will roll from phase one to two smoothly and then three is just around the corner and again, a good instructor will guide you along the way. Again, the bad news is this does not take place overnight and the further bad news…it isn’t easy! The student will do 99% of the work and the instructor really just guides once you pass the first phase.

                To get better at Kata you need to practice….to be great you need even more practice!

Efficiency is king in Karate

Efficiency is king in Karate

                I was writing a speech for a karate event and something in the speech struck me. As I write I often just let the speech or article kind of flow out and then I edit it down. I was writing about my instructor and some of the things he imparted to me in private training and in talking with him and one of the things that he would always say was “efficiency is king in Karate”.  It’s a simple statement…but it’s a powerful statement and has a powerful influence on the Karate he teaches and the Karate I teach.

                When a student starts Karate often the body control they have is not great. They punch in a nonlinear way when wanting to do a straight punch, and rounder motions are way to direct and linear. They basically are doing Karate in a non-efficient manner.  But as they proceed in Karate and train at home and at the dojo they get rid of the extra movements, refine the ones they do need and create a very strong base for great Karate, but it all boils down to being more efficient at using techniques.

 

                So, when I was thinking of Efficiency and watching the white belts move in class the first thing that I noted was that efficiency is simplicity. By this I basically mean that when you are trying to be efficient you need to really be as simple in your movements as possible. Flailing arms and fancy movements are not efficient, if you control your upper body properly and your core then you will tend to be much more efficient than if you relax and move to relaxed.

                Simplicity does not always make efficiency but the more simple one makes a movement the more effectively they can perform it with practice.  By far a simple Oi- zuki jodan will end a fight much more effectively than a Mawashi Geri Jodan Urkaen jodan to Gyaku zuki.  Simplicity makes short and efficient work if don’t correctly.

 

                When I teach I often tell the story that compares Karate to art working with a slab of stone opposed to working with clay! When one works with Clay they start with a small amount and mold it, then add to that and remold it, then more clay and further molding till you have an 8 foot David or what have you to look at. It is beautiful but it takes a lot of molding, a exercise in reworking things and going back to nothing to reshape something.  It also means adding skills or movements that are not natural and forcing the body to accept them as natural. This type of martial art is hard on the body and often cannot be done for very long.

                The other type of work is to start off with a natural for or a 9 foot slab and cut away the useless movements (Stone) and polish the rough edges out. Take, carefully, away the big inefficient movements and  Polish out the almost complete edges and surfaces with creating a masterpiece by getting rid of the useless parts.  This means eliminating the useless movements, getting rid of the extra parts and focusing on perfecting your techniques.

 

                I was teaching the other day and one of the seniors was doing the Ippon Kumite that I was teaching and I noticed that he had a hard time catching people. I teach a rather linear style of Kumite with a focus on tsukkomi or rushing in and he was adding extra movements to the stepping in. A slight pulling back of the lead leg used to create momentum and pull him into the movement. This addition also meant he was not using his core properly or his back leg to drive at all. It slowed him down and gave anyone he was sparring with a subconscious “tell” as to when he was attacking.

                It took showing him that efficiency in movement means cutting out tells, going from A to B directly and trying to get rid of paced timing or thinking like movements A,B,C should be done 1-2-3 not 1-2 or even as one long movement with no in between time.  Lack of speed can also be perceptively lowered by removing the between count pauses.  The extra step that the student was making slowed him down as well by causing him to shift away from the attack prior to launching the actual attacking motion.

                Another student was doing Jun zuki/Oi zuki by moving her hand first across her chest then snapping the hand out to complete the punching movement. While her legs and body were traveling in straight lines her arm first crossed the center line and then extended out to the attack, thus traveling again through center line to end with the completion of the punch.  This both slowed the movement and also caused a definitive lack of power at the end of her punch.  Because the punch was traveling a horizontal line as across the body as well as a straight line from dorsal to frontal areas of the body it lacked the penetration and focus that a proper punch would make and potentially could end up as a hammer strike over a punching motion.

                Watching a orange belt move in Heian shodan I saw that they were “swaying” their hips with the step of the movements. It was especially obvious when the student was performing the three Age uke and three Jun zuki/Oi zuki punches.  They seemed to let their hips move towards the support foot (front foot) as they moved and then reset to the center as they completed the stance. This sway both slowed them down and also made movements much more complicated than was necessary, they also aligned their punching as they swayed with their hips, the result was the same kind of punching that the previous student was doing…more of a hammer strike at the end of the movement. To avoid this one needs to narrow the stance and suggest that the student not think so much moving with the hips as much as simply scissoring the legs. Get rid of the sway and keep the important idea of closing the legs tight at the midpoint before exploding out into the next stance.

Efficiency in movement is often achieved by different means. Removed pauses, taking away extra movements or simply streamlining the moves that you currently perform are all ways to improve the efficiency in movement.

 

Have you ever watched a black belt kick, then have them kick next to a white or yellow belt!  The particular thing that you need to watch is the upper body and the knee of the kicking foot.  A good front kick is simple. Chamber, kick, recoil, place the foot down…..no upper body!  A black belt will snap the knee up with the foot as tight to the back of the thigh/butt as possible, use their hips to snap out the kick by rotating the pelvis forwards, then snap it back sharp while not dropping the leg. And then place the foot back on the floor. Upper body is straight and arms relaxed or tight at the sides.

A junior belt however looks MUCH different! The knee does not come up, often the toes are pointed and the lower leg is far away from the thigh/butt. They snap the leg out and the arms flail around like a bird during takeoff and before the leg can recoil its dropped like a stone!  Not only does this put the knee in great jeopardy when it comes to damage from impact with the floor when the foot strikes it uncontrolled but it also could damage the muscles of the lower back that have to counter the movement created by the arms and a lose control of trunk muscles.

In general the extra movements that students make when moving or performing keri waza or tzuki waza hamper speed but often they can lead to injury of themselves or sparring partners or even those that are training near them.

                 I once had a student training at the Sgt. Park JKA who flailed when they kicked and the student once smacked a partner standing next to them and caused an eye injury.  As an instructor there are many reasons to remove extra body movements but you have to be careful to not stiffen up the student to much as well. When they get to the level of kicking and punching while moving, especially from jui gamae you will need to have some flexibility and fluidity in movement of the upper body so you are not to tense and again hampering movement.

 

                One point about being to tense and using smaller movements, this can also work against efficiency.  Efficiency in movement is achieved when you move the parts of the body that need moving and avoid moving those that don’t need to move. The body parts that are not being moved or used to move should be lightly held by the body, not squeezed or contracted in.  This creates a smaller technique and slows you down as well. Also, it is much harder to work with proper distance (Ma-ai) when you are to tense as your distance will vary far to much to be judged.

                It is far better to start off your movement training as a white belt using longer stances, longer distances and movements and then contract them down to a normal distance as you move to brown belt or even purple belt. The longer the movements and the more relaxed the movements in the beginning with just enough control and body tension to keep from flailing or over extending movements the better.

                Some people are more naturally tense when they move. Generally they have much lower levels of overall flexibility and cannot stretch out well or if they have good “apparent” flexibility the muscles themselves are naturally tenser than others, This means that they will lack in the ability to totally relax and contract muscles, thus slowing them down.  With all people it is best to use bigger movements but with as much direct use of efficiency as possible.

 

                So, what do you get rid of and how. Well the first thing you get rid of is fancy moves, the next are moves that actually slow you down or make you move in any way other than a direct line between A and B. Shotokan Karate is about creating straight lines for linear movements and accurate and tight angles or crating a proper degree of rotation for movements that are circular.  The movements are controlled and accurate, efficient and practiced so that even a slower person can get to a target first if the inefficiencies of the attacker are taken advantage of.

                Some of the tools one can use for removing these extra moves and inefficiencies by working with partners and or in front of a mirror, under the watchful eye of a trained instructor.  If you notice that you are not able to catch a partner at least once out of ten attacks then you are probably suffering from inefficient movements. Practice trying to tag your partner with Jun zuki chudan. If they can block you 10 out of 10 attacks you probably need to work on efficiency of movement.  Get infront of a mirror and watch from the side and back as to how you are moving.  Have a senior pin point any extra movements and try to get rid of them. Relax and try it a few times while focusing on your whole body movements.

 

                The idea behind Karate and most Japanese martial arts is to create maximum results with minimum efforts.  This is best shown in the Jun zuki techniques.  You launch your body at a target and if you are correct in your attack, techniques and movement skills then then the power generated at the end of the fist will be maximized…and if you add extra movements in your techniques or you are to tight in your movements, use shortened techniques…you lose power generation and the impact will be much less.

 

                Lack of efficiency and effective form is often due to mental blocks or hurdles that students have. They think that it is necessary to draw their punching arm back before stepping in for Oi zuki to generate power or they fail to see and or understand how important recoil is in Keage movements that require maximum snap to create speed and power.

                Mental tricks often help students, especially younger students, understand the dynamics of movement and how to effectively and efficiently move.  When teaching Oi zuki an instructor I trained with once said that its just the art of straightening the arm. You have to picture water, lots of it…pressurized, flowing down a hose. The arm will naturally straighten. You have to also get rid of the extra movements, the elbow flaring out the rounding shoulders and the strange snap or whip like movement that the upper body of some people makes. It’s all about making it more direct, easier and more powerful.

 

                Often I watch students performing a movement and I note the extra movements and the over emphasis on power. When you focus so much on generating power and not enough on techniques it’s a waste of your energy. What ends up happening inevitably is that you bleed off extra power and have to add more just to make the techniques better. If you have the ability to put 100 pounds of force into a target, but poor technique bleeds off 30 pounds of force you end up with a strike that only lands with 70 pounds of force because of poor techniques. Bleed off of energy occurs when you don’t apply it on a straight line at the perfect distance from the source or the start. So a Gyaku zuki that does not travel a straight line from hip to target will lose about ¼ of the force that can be exerted into a target. However, good form will bring that down to a loss of about 10 pounds of force, leaving 90% of the original force.

                Students who bleed off power also tend to use to much body or over exert themselves to create more power and they end up getting tired from using too much power. If it takes 70 pounds of power to knock someone out the person with good form and techniques will do so with less effort! If the person who has good form generates 80 pounds of force, with the bleeding off of energy they will still have the 70 pounds at the point of impact. Someone with poor form will have to generate 120-140 or more of force to maintain the end pounds of force required to knock someone out. This idea can be applied to any techniques and any situation.

 

                So, what do you do to increase the power and efficiency of a technique. Well the simple answer is to practice; the longer answer is to practice correctly.  The devil is in the details as it were. If you don’t focus on the whole chain of motion from the way your body relates and interacts with the ground to the way your legs translate energy, your hips rotate, the proper rotation of the upper body with the hips to the snapping of the arm, the trajectory of all those things, the focus of the body and the different planes that the body rotates through…like I said the devil is in the details.

                Its often better to have someone familiar with efficiency in techniques to view your form and to help you improve your skills over just doing repetitions. Work on the form with a mirror if you can as well and take notes in class, monitor your progress and keep an open mind when you hear your instructor telling you how to improve your form. There are plenty of tricks and details that are often forgotten in a movement and these details can make or break a person’s success in generating efficient power.

 

                So, what is the secret of learning or developing efficiency…..practice. And not just practice, but proper practice of correct movements. This means having the right mentality and starting off at a good club with an instructor who knows this is important. You need to work on effective form and efficiency early on to build your techniques and form and it is very important to start this process early on.

                I have seen far to many sport Karate people who trade in efficiency and proper form for flashy point getting techniques and they fail to see that they have left training in traditional Karate all to score a few points and win a trophy. Now, not all sport Karate is not efficient, but the goals are very much different. You have to realize that each movement you make could mean your life is on the line. You have to focus on better power, stronger form and really work on developing a solid base for you to grow off of.

 

                To develop true Budo Karate you must remember that Efficiency is KING in Karate, you may have to deal with more than one person at a time and you also don’t want to play with your opponents. Remember what Dingman Sensei said….Efficiency is King in Karate!