Kata 4 Fitness: April 2018

Why Kata?

Kata aren't real fights. They don't have real opponents and it isn't sparing or fighting. They are just ancient patterns that don't do anything to help you defend yourself. WRONG!

Kata are ancient patterns, but they are far more than that. They teach proper stance and movement. They teach precision and repetition gives muscle memory. Doing them properly several times is also a cardio workout. After doing the first five basic kata in a row I will break a sweat. After a few more I am warmed up and ready to train. The very first kata that most styles teach will contain a front stance, at least one block and one punch. Why? Because that front stance will be used throughout the martial artist life. Get it right in the beginning and it will be a solid foundation later. Even the most complex kata incorporate the most basic of techniques. Front stances, horse stances, cat stances, down blocks, head blocks, punches, knife hand strike, and many more are found in both the colored belt kata and the black belt kata. By the time one tests for a black belt all those "basic" techniques should be mastered and they are shown through kata. This is where your instructors will see very clearly if you have an understanding of the stances, blocks, and strikes and can execute them with precision.

Let's analyze our lunge punch for a moment. This is our power punch, our take out their teeth punch, the fight ender. We use our first two knuckles to make contact and have a straight wrist to form a straight line down our arm to our shoulder. We have twisted our hips to continue that line from the shoulder through our back and down our leg to the foot that we twisted into position as we struck. And, what stance are we in? Front stance! Where did we learn that stance? We learned it in our white belt kata and perfected it through repetition.

Kata have many benefits to the martial artist and only one of which is the preservation of an ancient knowledge that we can pass down to the next generations. All of which make us better. Your reasons for doing kata may be different than mine, but everyone who does kata regularly come to understand their importance.