Karate katas

An explaination of why karate katas are important to a martial arts practitioner. The advantages to the student's karate ability, timing, focus and personal improvements are also discussed.

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Karate katas

To an untrained observer, the kata appears to be a graceful dance with each movement precise and well thought out, as they should. Development of the katas seen today was actually begun a thousand or so years ago. Although the moves may have been changed or added to over the centuries, the beneficial attributes of the katas have remained the same.

If done correctly, practicing the katas will stretch and warm up the muscles, loosen the hamstrings, aide in breathing control as well as providing an excellent cardiovascular workout. Some martial arts schools have done away with the fifteen to twenty minutes "stretch time" that has traditionally been done at the beginning of each class. Instead, they are having the students perform certain katas in unison while observing and correcting the form of individual students. Instructors feel that the old-fashioned stretching and warm-up exercises are a waste of time that could be put to better purpose.

An interviewed eighth Dan (black belt) explained using the katas as a way to warm up in the following manner. "Although there is nothing wrong with the traditional stretches, they can be worked on at home on the student's own time. Class time is so short (usually about an hour), there is no need to waste it by having the students do the same exercises that are taught in a middle school gym class."

He continued by saying, "With katas, the student is doing the necessary warm ups, he or she is also learning many new things at the same time. Balance, fluidity, form, awareness and style are all improved.

Physically the stamina of the student will be increased while many use katas as a way to relieve stress."

The average length of a martial arts class is an hour. If twenty minutes is taken up by non-learning exercises, there is little time left for the student to expand his or her martial arts knowledge whereas with katas, this time is given to instruction.

Each Kata will incorporate a vast number of various steps. The actual steps or moves will include different stances, blocks, strikes, kicks, and even trapping techniques. Katas will vary in difficulty and number of moves. The novice level katas that are taught to white and yellow belt students will often be as short as twenty to twenty-five steps whereas an advanced, black belt level can involve literally hundreds of moves.

A student will be given a place or "mark" on the floor to begin the kata. This spot not only marks the beginning of the kata, it gives the student an ending placement as well.

Students will work both as individuals and in a group. A group setting will teach the student to work as a team and improve timing. An individual will learn concentration and focus with the sensei giving undivided attention and instruction.

It is believed a student must perform an individual kata two to three hundred times to actually "know" it.

In knowing it, a martial artist should be able to perform the kata with his or her eyes shut and actually end on the given mark. The person should also be able to start from any point of the kata and continue to the end. Memorization of a kata is easy, knowing it is totally different.

By repetitively practicing the required katas, the proper techniques for each movement becomes ingrained into the subconscious of the student and will be of benefit if ever the martial arts skills are required. As the body becomes accustomed to doing certain movements, it requires less thought, time, effort and energy to perform them. These movements actually become second nature.

Each style of martial art has its own katas that are required learning to advance in belt rank so at any given large tournament, literally hundreds of different katas can be seen. Not only are there different katas for different styles, there are different categories of katas.

Usually a student will be started off with open-handed katas and then advance to ones with weapons. Many tournaments also offer what are called specialty kata divisions. No specialty katas division seems to be complete without at least one martial artist performing to the 1812 Overture. Other specialties will include more than one participant in the kata.

When Ernie Reyes Jr. was a boy, he often participated at an extremely early age with his father in these specialties. One of their more famous specialties had the senior Reyes performing a kata and his five-year old son being his "shadow". This shadow would mirror every step of the kata with both Reyes' moving in perfect unison with the other. The ability of these two to move with perfect rhythm only happened through years, not just hours of practice.

Many beginning students will complain that they are wasting their time learning a kata. They feel the time would be better spent in sparring with a live opponent, learning flying sidekicks or some other flashy technique. The students that are allowed to continue their martial arts training without learning the katas are actually missing out on an excellent training, timing, stamina and awareness building tool.

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