OPINION: Kata is Karate

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How often have we been led to believe that true karate prowess comes strictly from kata practice? There are a select few who teach and believe and assume that the practice of kata alone makes them proficient in apply said kata skills in violence be it sport or self-defense or combative as in military, etc. Is this true?

Experts tells us that, as you can imagine, kata is and are and still is the core of karate and they also tell us that its current practice and teachings don't live up to that concept of karate kata...or any kata for that matter. You probably already know that the reason this is told to us is because, long ago in a time far in the past, kata was how they transmitted, learned and then applied said skills and although that is true, according to the experts, the methods and such behind, the foundation of kata teachings, is what makes the kata work. 

In our modern times, due to the lack of proper in-depth teachings and understandings of kata in the beginning of our exposure to it overseas, on Okinawa, in the fifties and beyond the kata taught was pretty much the educational versions implemented earlier that century, early 1900's. It was school-youth oriented watered-down versions with a specific social agenda influenced by the conflicts of the times. 

Even today, there are still those who feel that simply repetitively practicing the original kata, form and patterns, is the whole complete way of karate. In truth, it is true and yet it is not true because the intent of karate practices makes that true as in kata for sport tournament while not true to achieve appropriate, efficient and valid methodologies for self-defense/protection applications. 

I have found over the last forty years as many professionals and experts tell us is that many who adhere to the belief that kata, as it is practiced, is the end all of karate abilities and applications and fail to transition into the actual necessary practices necessary to truly and efficiently handle violence. I believe this, as you can already probably perceive at this point, is just the excuse used to avoid those necessary skills because of, in one particular case I am aware of, a fear of failing and looking bad because this one case involves a person whose skills never transcended the novice level of kata practice to enter into the world of violence of social reality. 

I was informed by expert witnesses this one individual, as an example for this article, tried to do the then "kumite" to horribly fail and then to continue fell back on the old historical story of kata is karate and karate is kata then assuming that kata, paired kata-like drills and what is now understood as self-defense drills of set basics to basics drills that are known, static and easy to learn type of defense kata-like teaching tools. Everything is laid out in a set pattern and form that is easy to learn and that fails to go beyond and into the next level to learn how to apply skills in a chaotic adrenal stress-conditioned violent encounter. 

The good news is, if you can transcend the kata obstacle of kata is karate and karate is kata belief, you probably already worked out that this form of teaching is a novice only basic teaching model, you then move into the more chaotic hard learning of aggression and violence self-protection called self-defense. 

In short kata tools, although necessary and foundational to karate fundamentally, are only the key to opening the potential of karate as a self-protection skill and that it requires us to leave our patterned comfortable safe-place in the dojo and leap into the deep end of the pool. 

I will say in closing that I believe wholeheartedly in kata as a tool and skill because that has traditionally been the model and means of transmission in every social reality since man first stepped out of the ocean and onto dry land as a species (symbolically speaking). It is NOT enough to carry the day, as assumed historically speaking, and although the first step is not the additional steps we must climb to achieve self-protective safety and security. 

Kata is a tool to get us there and holds great importance to the life and evolution of karate and yet it is not the only true complete and comprehensive tool to get is there...but, it can be once with attribute and implement the skills and tools necessary to make the kata - Whole, Complete and Comprehensive.

There is a concerted effort of a few to bring kata and karate back into the wholehearted wholeness it was meant to be and was lost in the last several decades and that is a very, very good thing.

Now, go practice your kata for kata is karate!

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