Karate with Music

[emattson]

Throughout my years working out in Uechi-Ryu classes, our sensei never play music. At first, I felt it artless, so plain. But they turn out to have a good reason for quiet. An exceptional kata has a continuous flow, without breaks nor pauses. When in a fight, the defender must strike the thug without any pause, be relentless until the threat is gone. Any pause may give the thug a chance to recover and strike back devastatingly. Music may tempt one practicing to break up a kata into breaks following the beats. I seen that done obviously by one Kung Fu academy while playing dance music during their demonstration. This happened while I was at the Chinese summer festival.

Obviously, it doesn't happen all the time. Another academy demonstrated their kata with good flow while playing music. Maybe they are more skilled.

[richardaik]

Throughout my years working out in Uechi-Ryu classes, our sensei never play music. At first, I felt it artless, so plain. But they turn out to have a good reason for quiet. An exceptional kata has a continuous flow, without breaks nor pauses. When in a fight, the defender must strike the thug without any pause, be relentless until the threat is gone. Any pause may give the thug a chance to recover and strike back devastatingly. Music may tempt one practicing to break up a kata into breaks following the beats. I seen that done obviously by one Kung Fu academy while playing dance music during their demonstration. This happened while I was at the Chinese summer festival.

Obviously, it doesn't happen all the time. Another academy demonstrated their kata with good flow while playing music. Maybe they are more skilled.

I tend to listen to Blues and slow tempo songs while doing my kata practice. It calms the nerves and mind down tremendously. It creates a sense of serenity like doing tai chi, being present in current space and mindful of everything. For normal practice, I like this better to feel the katas.
Fast tempo music with fast tempos are ok if I wanna go super fast just for fun.

Such as life, where there's ups and downs like ocean waves. So is kata, there's hard and soft, slow and fast, high and low, left and right, back and front. Everything is ever flowing and transitions.

[emattson]

Often heard music played during tai chi practices to good affect. Tai chi started as martial arts, but I prefer the style used as an exercise to improve balance, focus, and flexibility, as well as reduced stress and depression. I wonder if the traditional modern western dance can be used to the same effect? They have numerous health benefits.
https://www.prudential.co.th/corp/prude ... f-dancing/

Salsa, hip-hop and Zumba are especially good for improving cardiovascular health,
https://www.thenationshealth.org/content/54/5/16

By no means am I saying one style is better than another. You may feel more connected to tai chi while I feel more excited for the Jumpstyle dance.