The method by which karate is studied today, is quite different to the way karate was trained on Okinawa, through the late 19th and early 20th century.
Many years ago, my karate sensei told us they simply practiced kata and kata applications. They would partner up and go through each karate move in the kata, attacking each other so hard and fast, it was extremely dangerous.
Saying that, there are karate dojo, that still practice the ‘old way’, taking karate moves from the kata and putting them into a self defence application, with the karateka attacking and defending, as if their lives depend on the outcome.
Kata is karate! So when you first try to learn karate katas, go through the form, one karate technique at a time. At first, only worry about getting the moves in the right order and what each move is, try not to concern yourself with what each technique means. so at this stage try and understand where each step, jump, spin, angle and karate technique is and in what order.
Karateka suffer from analysis paralysis! They want to know every detail of each karate move in the kata, first understand where everything goes and in what order. In our fast paced world, people become impatient, they feel the understand the order of the kata, so believe they KNOW the kata, but this is just the begining, not the end.
Once you know where everything is and in what order, start stringing individual karate moves into sequences. Say there is a combination at the start of the kata, involving a block, punch, kick, punch. Take these four karate moves and practice them slowly, start trying to get the moves to flow, then start to speed things up, it is at this time you should start to learn the applications of each technique.
Some people practice every kata the same way, with the same timing, but every karate kata has it’s own rhythm and is unique.
So now you should have the sequences down and understand the applications of each karate move, so speed up and really go for it!
When putting all the kata sequences together, try and get them to flow, start slowly then gradually speed up, remembering the timing of each sequence.
Make your karate kata strong, but try not to move in a robotic way and on the opposite side of things, try not to make your kata a floppy soft dance! To strong or to weak, remember, karate kata should be strong but flow from move to move.
Putting reality into your kata is essential, executing each of the karate moves as if your life is on the line should be a priority.
I feel kata is the number one reason anyone should practice karate, if it is’nt, then another martial art should be the order of the day.