Kata can be a controversial subject in martial arts.
Some fighters never use it, others do. Popular mixed martial arts champions such as Lyoto Machida (Shodokan) and George St. Pierre (Kyokushin), both black belts in their respective styles, have used kata in their training. You can do a YouTube search and watch each professional fighter practice their kata. (Some links below.)
In some of our styles in the North Shore Martial Arts Club here in the Milwaukee area, we do practice some kata in Shorin-Ryu (Suikido), Judo/Jujitsu, and Aikido.
All performance skills, from golf to piano, have prearranged practice routines on the fundamental elements of their art. Martial arts is no different.
Almost all Asian fight styles have movements and forms. It may actually go back to Greece. The following sections are taken from The Way of Kata by Kane and Wilder.
“Alexander the Great’s pankratiasts spread their fighting form throughout the many regions that his armies conquered (e.g., Egypt, Persia, Syria, Babylonia, Media, and India). Although not widely practiced, the art of pankration still exists today. Over time diverse fighting arts took on unique characteristics of different culures, especially in Egypt, Turkey, and central Asia. The principles behind Asian martial arts are believed to have spread from Turkey to India, where they were further developed into sophisticated arts. Once codified, these principles spread through the Orient in the form of kata. These kata proliferated from China to Okinawa and then to Japan, heavily influencing the indigenous fighting arts in those regions.
“What is a Kata?
“A kata is a logical sequence of movements containing practical offensive and defensive techniques that are performed in a particular order.”
One of the issues connected with kata is lack of realism and focus. The authors Kane and Wilder quote Loren Christensen, a retired police officer with thirty years of military and civilian law enforcement experience who holds a 7th dan black belt in karate.
“As a kata judge there is nothing that annoys me more than watching a competitor go through his form as if he were thinking about what he wanted for lunch. You are in a fight for your life, madly defending against attacks from a half a dozen to ten assailants coming at you from every direction. This is not the time to be thinking about lunch.”
The Story of Chinto
Iain Abernathy, a martial arts instructor, researcher, and author wrote about kata and Chinto.
“There are many differing views on the value of kata. Kata is regarded by some as the very “soul” of the martial arts. By others, it is regarded as a complete waste of time. To my mind, both views have merit depending upon what is meant by kata and how it is approached.
“One thing I think all martial artists can agree on is that the study of kata is definitely not a prerequisite for combative effectiveness. There are many highly effective martial arts that do not include kata on their curriculum. If kata training is not critical to developing fighting skill, why do so many “traditional systems” like karate make such a big deal about it?
“To fully explore this question, we need to understand why kata were created in the first place. Someone somewhere must have firmly believed that kata served a useful purpose or it never would have come into being in the first place. Further, if kata was not useful, it certainly would not have lasted very long after its inception.
“By way of example, let’s discuss the creation of the karate kata Chinto (renamed Gankaku in Shotokan). Chinto kata is named after a Chinese martial artist and sailor of the same name. During the 1800’s, Chinto became shipwrecked on Okinawa and set up home in a cave. Finding himself stranded without resources, Chinto began to steal food and livestock from the locals at night in order to sustain himself.
“This unwelcome behavior was reported to the Okinawan king who sent Sokon Matsumura-his chief bodyguard and a legendary karate master in his own right – to deal with the situation.
“Matsumura was a very skilled fighter who normally defeated his opponents with ease. Then Matsumura confronted him, however, Chinto fought back with exceptional skill and Matsumura quickly found himself equally matched. Always keen to further enhance his formidable skills, Matsumura made a deal with Chinto; he would take care of him in exchange for instruction in Chinto’s fighting method. Upon Chinto’s return to China, Matsumura formulated a form-named after the originator of the system it contained-to ensure Chinto’s methods were recorded and passed on to future generations. Many other kata were also developed by an individual’s students in order to record what they had been taught.
“What has eventually become known as karate is in fact a mix of many different fighting systems (cross-training is nothing new). The past masters used kata as a means to record the lessons they had learnt from various individuals and fighting systems and to then pass those lessons on to others.
…
“Kata is a record of the fighting systems that combined to form karate; the original syllabus if you will. Karateka who ignore the lessons of kata inadvertently practice karate as a partial art. Without an understanding of kata bunkai [kata application], karate is a grossly inadequate and incomplete system. When modern day practitioners of any martial art choose not to bother with kata, they often do so in the name of realism. What they fail to appreciate is that by abandoning kata they have effectively abandoned the very syllabus of their original fighting system. Without kata, all that remains is a shell of the original martial art.”
Another interesting explanation of kata is a documentary on karate here. (44 minutes – really, a pretty good video.)
You have many tools to use to improve your skills as a martial artist. Kata, or forms, with its applications and understanding, can be one of them.
Keep training!
Links
GSP Kata, Kata with Kids in Japan
L Machida Kata and Highlights, Kata in Movie “Never Back Down”