by Art Rabesa » Fri Nov 25, 2016 3:24 pm
Let's have a look at kata in general. It plays a very major role in our traditional training. This fact will be agreed on by the majority of us. Those that do not agree with this can discard this post. Teaching and performing kata is accomplished in the traditional manner. Making each movement clean and clear. Moving into each stance smoothly and performing the block, or blocks, strong. The strike, or strikes, that follow will be clean and crisp. On and on throughout the kata. This is the traditional way the kata is performed and taught. You want the kata to look good. When viewed, it should be clean and clear. OKAY ----that's the traditional way kata is done. We all know this and teach it this way. That will never change. I teach kata this way, and hopefully perform it this way as well. So where does the "ANALYZE" part come in? It comes in at every movement. You're not trying to create something that isn't there. Those that do that make me crazy. At each stop there occurs an action. If this action is looked at closely, you'll find what's really taking place. I will not go through each kata movement to make my point here. I'll pull certain movements out of the kata and work them. Pay particular attention to stances containing multiple blocks and strikes. Here we have what could occur. Meaning that we could use this block and counter --or this block and counter---etc. There is no block following each strike in the real world. In kata there is. Because this might happen in this set up, and you should be able to do it this way. While training at Uechi Sensei's dojo many years ago, I was told that a movement can be done"this way or it can be done this way". In the kata, this is brought out at almost every movement.We slide into the deep stance(horse) and do a wauke(circular) block, followed by an elbow strike - followed by a back punch - and finishing with a one knuckle punch (shoken). You can do this strike--or this strike--or this strike. We step into a sanchin stance and do a wauke - followed by a hammer strike - followed with another wauke- followed by a palm heel - followed by another wauke- and finishing with a finger thrust. Here we see a block following each strike. Once again----we can do this -or this-or this. It is teaching various movements at each station of the kata. This is also brought out when moving from stance to stance. There is more than one way to travel into that next stance. What is done with the placement of the foot, or the path the leg takes, can be different. I have students that do this differently than me. It feels easier, or comfortable, doing their way. I have no problem with this as long as the movement is clean and stable. To analyze the kata is to bring more understanding. A fuller awareness of the movement. This, I believe, makes for a fuller practitioner of the style. So you're not simply waving your arms around when doing the kata. You really know what each movement contains, and your kata shows it. KATA -----REALLY IMPORTANT. ---------Happy Trails ------Art
Art Rabesa