Have you ever wondered about...

[dickclark]

Let me propose the following.

1) Kata is a device to put things in an ordered sequence, and allows these sequences to be performed in a fixed space.

2) Kata is can then be a set of techniques, sewed together.

3) The execution may not be as shown, but they are modified in order to make them fit a pattern.

OK, now think about H1. We do it as an attack from the left. It could just as well be and attack from the front. All could be an attack from the front. The left or right is just a affect caused by forcing them into a pattern.

Does this thought change how you think of the Kata and its applications?

[AngelaG]

I think this deserves a bump!

[random]

I never think of kata as being this defence against that attack, except when teaching beginners (which I try to avoid doing). The possibilities are quite endless, I could even find a throw in there.

Once a karate ka starts to forget what they might be doing and concentrate on what they are doing kata improves, reactions become natural, applications become more varied.

And we must never forget what works for one may/will not work for someone else.

[Aefibird]

random said:

I
And we must never forget what works for one may/will not work for someone else.

Too true. It's all very well saying that "this move is a... and will be used when an attacker..." but I'm a 5'2" tall woman - bit different from a strapping 6'+ bloke. What works for me might be too hard for the strapping bloke to use because of his size.

[dickclark]

One of the great mysteries of kata is that is from all appearance it is design for people of all the same size. I find this very odd. I suspect that somewhere it was there. Perhaps H1 was for short people.

[Aefibird]

My Sensei keeps trying to tell me that it's good to be short and do karate, but I'm not convinced....

I'd still rather be taller!!

[Mr. Precision]

aefibird said:

I'd still rather be taller!!

You're a girl, you can always wear heels.

[Aefibird]

mrprecision said:

aefibird said:

I'd still rather be taller!!

You're a girl, you can always wear heels.

I'm too clumsy to wear high heels - I can fall over whilst walking on the flat in a pair of trainers (that's how I broke my nose; whilst walking along a hill ridge in the Brecon Beacons).

My work colleagues all call me Mr Bump, although he's got nothing on me...

[random]

mmmmmm Aefibird in high heels... ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

I think you get the picture.

[Aefibird]

*pulls rude face at Random*

[AngelaG]

If the wind changes your face will stay like that

[Aefibird]

*pulls rude face at Angela too*

[tommarker]

I like your idea, but something else to consider:

We see in Tai Chi that the basic movements (wardoff, pull back, press, elbow) etc are tied in to the Directions (N,S,E,W,NE,NW,SE,SW, etc) and those are tied into the I Ching. (Pure Yang/Yin, Strong Yang Weak Yin, etc.)

What if the forms were created with these intents in mind (perhaps a low block to the west was to be performed with a different intention than to the east?), and they have just been altered, changed, and lost over the years in an effort to standardize and aestheticize what we do, leaving us to reverse engineer things that have been broken and lost for decades?

Now don't we all feel silly?

[AngelaG]

The problem is that there is little choice but to reverse engineer really, but with a good grasp of the important core principle some people's interpretations are better than others.

[Sionnagh]

Harking back to the original post, we practice e.g. Pinan 2 opening sequences as angling to either the left or the right in response to an attack from the front rather than treating it as an attack from the left or the right.

That doesn't really describe it very well.


Mick