# Historical references on the practice of kata



## Shuri-te (Mar 1, 2003)

Fellow posters,

Can anyone recommend some historical references regarding the teaching and practice of kata in years past. I am familiar with some sources that I will share. I would appreciate any others. 

Funakoshi writes in the *Karate Do Kyohan* the following:



> In the past, it was expected that about three years were required to learn a single kata, and it was usual for even an expert of considerable skill would only know three, or at the most five kata. Thus, in short, it was felt that a superficial understanding of many kata was of little use. The aim of training reflected the precept expressed by the words "Although the doorway is small, go deeply inward." I, too, studied for ten years to really learn the three Tekki forms.



Even the great masters did not have large numbers of kata. Choki Motobu's emphasis on Naihanchi is well documented. On the web site http://www.isshinryu.com/naihanchi.htm Norbert Donnelly has written:



> Yasutsume Itosu and Choki Motobu were known to appreciate and practice this kata regularly. Motobu was quoted as saying, The only kata that was necessary for one to be a good fighter was Naihanchi. It was claimed that Motobu would practice Naihanchi 500 times each day.



And Kyan's learning of kata may be a reflection of how kata was taught at the time (sparingly) From Bishop's *Okinawan Karate* we learn that from each of six masters he learned only one kata, and from Matsumura apparently only 5, yet at the time of Matsumura's death, he was in his late twenties and one of his top students. This includes Kusanku from Chatan Yara, Passai from Kokan Oyadomari, Wanshu from Maeda PECHIN, Chinto from Kosaku Matsumoru, Tokumine (Bo) from Tokumine PECHIN, and Anaku from an unnamed Taiwanese traveler.  

Nagamine writes in *Tales of Okinawa's Great Masters*:



> In fact, so diligently did Kyan practice kata that by the time he turned thirty years old, he was well known in and around Shuri and Naha by the Okinawan name of Chan MiGwe (Small Eye Kyan)



Joe Swift has written on http://www.fightingarts.com/reading/article.php?id=221



> Yabu Kentsu often admonished his students that one must practice the kata 10,000 times in order to make it one's own. Even Funakoshi recalled in his autobiography that he spent a total of ten years learning and practicing the three Naihanchi kata while studying under Itosu (Funakoshi, 1956).



Finally, the 3rd of Itosu's 10 Lessons of Tote (as translated by Yuriko McCarthy in Nagamine's text) states:


> Karate cannot be adequately learned in a short period of time. Like a sluggish bell, regardless of how slowly it moves it will eventually cover a thousand miles. So too, for one who resolves to study diligently two or three hours every day, after three or four years of unremitting effort, one's body will undergo a great transformation, revealing the very essence of karate.



Can anyone share other historical references regarding the practice and teaching of kata?

Thanks.


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## chufeng (Mar 1, 2003)

Why would a Shihan (Master, by your interpretation) need this information?

Maybe RyuShiKan is gone...but your deceptions will NOT go unannounced...this "master" lied and cheated on the forum with the intent to put one RyuShiKan in his place...e-mail traffic has been posted...administrators are checking into it...

Best bet...don't answer and ignore future posts by this guy...

Yo...Mike...you made this bed, NOW you can sleep in it...

Hugs and Kisses...chufeng


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## Shuri-te (Mar 1, 2003)

Chufeng,

Although I have some historical sources, I am seeking out information on others. I am on a lifelong journey in this art. My quest for knowledge does not have some termination point associated with some rank I may achieve. 

Each is entitled to his own opinion. I have not yet been exposed to a belief that one should stop trying to learn more about the historical underpinnings of one's art once one achieves some specified rank?


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## arnisador (Mar 1, 2003)

There are several other threads discussing the interpersonal matter. Please keep this one for martial content.

-Arnisador
-MT Admin-


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