Does one's skill flow from the kata?

[exile]

Okay, so here are the links I promised Zero. Go to

www.iainabernethy.com

You will see, at the bottom of the page, a set of links you can access. Click on `articles' and you will be rewarded with a choice of 36 really well-written, carefully researched and `lab tested' articles on many different aspects of combat-efficient karate methods. Particularly important are the articles on how to decode kata to see the actual hard-combat fighting strategies and tactics built into kata, and articles about realistic training to learn how to make these apps available for street use. In particular, make sure to download the `Basics of Bunkai' series—this is an actual e-book, in effect, containing the core of Abernethy's masterpiece (no exaggeration) Bukai-Jutsu: the Practical Application of Karate Kata. That books cost me around $30, I was glad to pay it, it was worth every penny and I hope that IA makes a million bucks selling it—but I don't see how he's ever gonna do that, because, as I say, the heart of his system for analysis of kata and implementation of the techs that emerge from his systematic method for analyzing is contained in these eight articles, free. There's no strings attached, nothing. I'm not sure of the economics of it—it makes no sense (sort of like a tire store giving you four free tires just for stopping by their shop and putting your name on their mailing list.... how can they do that??? :idunno

Next, be sure to download the `The Pinan/Heian Series as a Fighting System', another free e-book—an in-depth application of his bunkai method to Itosu's brilliant kata set. More of the same: lucid writing, wonderful insightful analysis, with very effective, no-nonsense applications that wouldn't have occurred to you but which, once you see analyzed, make you wonder how you could have possibly missed them.

There are two free e-books which may be essentially downloading these two separate article series in one go; not sure. But they're there, if you want them.

And there's more, because IA is actually part of a far-flung network of hard-core UK MAists, which includes people like the almost mythical Geoff Thompson, maybe the world's greatest expert on all-out street fighting; Peter Consterdine, and other great karateka (as well as practitioners of other MAs from a realistic combat angle)—and some of those people have written outstanding articles as well that are available, for free, at the site. The article by Mark Tankosich setting the record straight on `no first attack', the article by Steve Chriscole debunking the `fantasy that Karate is the means to inner peace and self-knowledge' (Chriscole is a MAist, MA historian, psychotherapist, and editor of a magazine Kata Unlimited which is no longer published), and Jamie Clubb's three-part series on introducing children to a realistic approach to karate which is appropriate for their age and development, are all terrific reads, but there are many others.

This is all great stuff, it costs nothing, there are no strings attached... as I say, I'm still kind of baffled at the economics of it...

 

[Sukerkin]

the article by Steve Chriscole debunking the `fantasy that Karate is the means to inner peace and self-knowledge' (Chriscole is a MAist, MA historian, psychotherapist, and editor of a magazine Kata Unlimited which is no longer published)

... and, in a splendid 'small world' moment, one of my fellow iaidoka .

 

[Jdokan]

I believe skill is developed when any material is ingrained into a person...Though I am not personally aware of situations I'll bet there have been plenty of people that have chosen both sides of the fence and have become proficient....Whether you're a follower of Bruce Lee or any of the traditional Instructors. Building muscle memory is the key... I believe anything that helps you to improve is rational....

 

[exile]

... and, in a splendid 'small world' moment, one of my fellow iaidoka .

Whoa, it is a small world... I just knew him as a karateka. Outstanding...

Do you happen to have any idea why the serial, Kata Unlimited, stopped publishing? Sounds like the sort of thing that in the UK, anyway, people would have subscribed to in droves. I'd have done, if I'd known about it...

I think part of the problem with the way people picture the role of kata is that they just don't have a sense of what they originally were, and still can be. That whole approach—the Abernethy/Burgar/Clark/Anslow/O'Neil/ad infinitem school of thought—needs to be better publicized, and I think that's happening.

It's interesting to examine how people with very hard experience—bouncers, doormen (essentially the same thing), LEOs and security ops—view kata. I don't think people in the U.S. are that familiar with Geoff Thompson, but on your side of the pond, I know, he's almost a mythical figure in brutal-combat (not just realistic, but real combat) circles. This is what he has to say about kata in his very aptly-titled book, The Pavement Arena:

It is not that the content of the karate syllabus is lacking, more that the syllabus is not fully utilised. A closer look at kata will divulge not only the manœuvres we have all come to know and love, but also grappling movements, throws, hook and uppercut punches, eye gouges, grabs, knee attacks, ankle stamps, joint strikes, head-butting and even ground fighting. Have a look at your own dojo. How much of the information has been discovered, utilized and taught therein? When I had my own karate club all these techniques and more were covered. Why? Because they encompass every eventuality in all scenarios: a necessity if one is to be at all prepared for an attack.

(my emphasis). This passage is cited in Abernethy's article (one of the very best there, though they're all excellent) `Kata: why bother?' available in that lot I gave a link to. Thompson, `credited' (if that's the right word—I actually think it is :EG with victory in something like 200+ violent altercations arising from his work as a doorman in nightclubs in Coventry, also holds five World Karate Championship titles from 1982–1986. So he knows the whole story, from the artificial constraints of ring competition to... well, the pavement arena, a much scarier place. This gives what he says in that quote from him enormous credibility, IMO...

 

[Sukerkin]

Hi Exile

Steve's due over at our 'dojo' on Saturday so I'll ask him about "Kata Unlimited" (which is 'longeese' for I don't know what it stopped ).

He has a few articles tucked away on his website so I'll stick a link up (his sites still evolving so be kindly in your thoughts if you visit (particularly if you find any of the photographs with me in them ) ).

http://www.shuhari.co.uk/

 

[seasoned]

It took me many years to truly understand the katas and what they were trying to teach me. Sure I could learn the moves of a kata and advance to my next level and someone would show me some of the bunkai but as I got older I needed more. Karate is truly for everyone young and old. When I first learned kata and tried to use the moves in sparring they were useless and that was frustrating. It was much easer to watch the Bruce Lee of old movies and learn all the fighting techniques but there was no depth for me. Now that I am old and can’t spar any more I have turned to kata and have found a treasure that I had missed the first time around. As John Rosebury would always say kata is like a book, open it and thumb through the pages.

 

[exile]

Hi Exile

Steve's due over at our 'dojo' on Saturday so I'll ask him about "Kata Unlimited" (which is 'longeese' for I don't know what it stopped ).

He has a few articles tucked away on his website so I'll stick a link up (his sites still evolving so be kindly in your thoughts if you visit (particularly if you find any of the photographs with me in them ) ).

http://www.shuhari.co.uk/

Meant to get back to you on this thread, Mark, but got tangled up in, first, my son's 10th birthday yesterday and then... oh, hell, you don't really want to know... nothing interesting, just tedious boring stuff to do... Anyway, you have SC coming to your school? Just like that? Lucky you! I'm increasingly coming to see the UK as Karate Heaven....

And thanks for the link! I'll go check it out. I feel a pang of regret for any publication called Kata Unlimited which I can no longer obtain...

It took me many years to truly understand the katas and what they were trying to teach me. Sure I could learn the moves of a kata and advance to my next level and someone would show me some of the bunkai but as I got older I needed more. Karate is truly for everyone young and old. When I first learned kata and tried to use the moves in sparring they were useless and that was frustrating. It was much easer to watch the Bruce Lee of old movies and learn all the fighting techniques but there was no depth for me. Now that I am old and can’t spar any more I have turned to kata and have found a treasure that I had missed the first time around. As John Rosebury would always say kata is like a book, open it and thumb through the pages.

Seasoned, I feel exactly the same way about kata/hyungs. It's good for the likes of us that kata seem to be making a comeback, now that people realize that they aren't decorative dance steps, but an encyclopædia of fighting techniques, if only you learn how to decode them—which an increasing number of shewd, dedicated karateka are willing to teach us to do.

 

[hrlmonkey]

going by the posts here, is it not fair to assume that its the practitioner who determines the usefuleness of kata? some argue that they are better prepared to defend themselves, by knowing kata's techniques why's and whens. i would counter argue that in defending myself outside a nightclub, kata didnt teach me how to block and choke my assailant. we can discuss it for the next 100 years, but the answers and opinions will never change. modern practitioners will accuse you of being dinosaurs and stale, traditionalists will accuse the others of having no grounding and a lack of respect.

 

[exile]

going by the posts here, is it not fair to assume that its the practitioner who determines the usefuleness of kata? some argue that they are better prepared to defend themselves, by knowing kata's techniques why's and whens. i would counter argue that in defending myself outside a nightclub, kata didnt teach me how to block and choke my assailant.

The fact is, that information is implicit in the kata. Katas are coded messages; they contain the information you can use to do many things—including block and choke, lock and throw, and so on. But you, the practitioner, either get that information out of the kata, or you don't. The information is there; if you decide to ignore it, well, that's your choice. You, and your instructor, are the ones responsible for actually doing the teaching; the information available in the kata continues to be there. No one is forcing you to pay attention to it; that's your choice entirely.

we can discuss it for the next 100 years, but the answers and opinions will never change. modern practitioners will accuse you of being dinosaurs and stale, traditionalists will accuse the others of having no grounding and a lack of respect.

The fact is, the kata can tell you how to do something, and if you learn to read them, they will. No one is forcing you to learn what they have to teach, as I say. And no one is forcing you to train the damaging oyo that arise from realistic kata bunkai in a combat-effective way. You either decide to train that way, with very close simulation of a brutal streetfight, as described for example in Iain Abernethy's Bunkai-jutsu: the Practical Application of Karate Kata, or you decide not to. If you do, you'll develop certain very effective SD skills as a result of realistically training those CQ techs. But again, the kata can't force you to do that, nor are they nagging you to. If you don't want to, once again, that's your choice.

 

[Steel Tiger]

The fact is, the kata can tell you how to do something, and if you learn to read them, they will. No one is forcing you to learn what they have to teach, as I say. And no one is forcing you to train the damaging oyo that arise from realistic kata bunkai in a combat-effective way. You either decide to train that way, with very close simulation of a brutal streetfight, as described for example in Iain Abernethy's Bunkai-jutsu: the Practical Application of Karate Kata, or you decide not to. If you do, you'll develop certain very effective SD skills as a result of realistically training those CQ techs. But again, the kata can't force you to do that, nor are they nagging you to. If you don't want to, once again, that's your choice.

This is an interesting point you raise. The question was asked, "Does one's skill flow from the kata?" There are two answers to this question which result from how you initially approach the kata/forms. If you simply go through the forms/katas everyday, you will be very skilled at doing the forms/katas. But if you take the time to examine what you are doing when going through the forms/katas then you will have, not only skill in the performance of the form, but also skill in effective techniques for self defence.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of MA practitioners around who fall into the first category but think they are in the second. These people are the ones who are clouding the issue about kata and skill in technique.

 

[exile]

This is an interesting point you raise. The question was asked, "Does one's skill flow from the kata?" There are two answers to this question which result from how you initially approach the kata/forms. If you simply go through the forms/katas everyday, you will be very skilled at doing the forms/katas. But if you take the time to examine what you are doing when going through the forms/katas then you will have, not only skill in the performance of the form, but also skill in effective techniques for self defence.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of MA practitioners around who fall into the first category but think they are in the second. These people are the ones who are clouding the issue about kata and skill in technique.

Yes, this is an absolutely crucial distinction! Look at what Bill Burgar has to say about this in his landmark book, Five Years, One Kata:

The emphasis today is on the perfomrance of kata rather than its practice. To most practitioners today the performance of and the practice of ata are the same thing. What is really meant by "practicing a kata" is "practicing the performance of a kata". In contrast, a deeper practice of a kata involves:

• the full breakdown of the kata into its constituent applications;
• the individual practice of those applications, both alone using powerful visualization techniques, and with a partner in training drills;
• puttin strings of applications into tegumi or flow-drills;
• and also practicing the individual principles that pervade all of the techniques.

... if you have bee used to practising only the performance of kata for many years (as you may well have done if you have reached nidan or above in traditional style) then you are going to find it hard to adjust to changing your practice. You will need to slow down and break up the kata so that you don't just run through it from start to finish. You must practice each movement in isolation... Remember, practice the content and not the performance.

(pp. 29, 309; my emphasis). So you see, you're in excellent company, ST!

 

[Steel Tiger]

Yes, this is an absolutely crucial distinction! Look at what Bill Burgar has to say about this in his landmark book, Five Years, One Kata:

The emphasis today is on the perfomrance of kata rather than its practice. To most practitioners today the performance of and the practice of ata are the same thing. What is really meant by "practicing a kata" is "practicing the performance of a kata". In contrast, a deeper practice of a kata involves:

• the full breakdown of the kata into its constituent applications;
• the individual practice of those applications, both alone using powerful visualization techniques, and with a partner in training drills;
• puttin strings of applications into tegumi or flow-drills;
• and also practicing the individual principles that pervade all of the techniques.

... if you have bee used to practising only the performance of kata for many years (as you may well have done if you have reached nidan or above in traditional style) then you are going to find it hard to adjust to changing your practice. You will need to slow down and break up the kata so that you don't just run through it from start to finish. You must practice each movement in isolation... Remember, practice the content and not the performance.

(pp. 29, 309; my emphasis). So you see, you're in excellent company, ST!

I like this quote. It pretty much covers everything very succinctly. Must try to get a copy of his book I think.

 

[exile]

I like this quote. It pretty much covers everything very succinctly. Must try to get a copy of his book I think.

It's a very good book. Not what I'd call an `easy read'; what he's doing really demands that you follow along with his program of analyzing the kata he spent five years studying exclusively—Gojushiho—and testing out his bunkai for it and applying his method of evaluating the various bunkai he gives. But I think you'll probably find it very congenial to your own perspective on things: your view of performance/analysis and his are clearly congruent.

They have it on Amazon.com—I think I got it from them...

 

[tellner]

Hmm, well, hmm. I've been back and forth on this one before. Every few years skill, knowledge and understanding switch places in the three-legged race and it changes again. At the moment, here's how I see it...

"Before Zen chop wood, carry water. After Zen chop wood, carry water."
Yeah, it's a Zen proverb. No, I'm not trying to impress anyone with anything woo-woo or mystifying. It's a simple straightforward fact.

If you've got a good teacher there won't be a ton of kata. One system I'm a little familiar with has 108 forms. And they aren't short like Kendo kata. They're good sized. There just aren't enough hours in your lifetime to get 108 forms worth of understanding and be able to use it. Either that or there's an awful lot of redundancy, and you're duplicating a lot of effort.

In the beginning kata is a bunch of movements. It means nothing. It's not useful for anything. You can have faith that it will be someday. If you're lucky that may even be true. It takes a long time to learn how to do the movements correctly much less string them together. Until you've done that the forms aren't really useful for anything except burning the gross movements into your brain. Maybe you can do a sequence and hit someone with it, but at that point the odds are no better than chance.

If (again, the big if) the kata are going to be useful they have to be, well, useful. They need to pattern good movement and encourage correct body mechanics, good clean lines and decent structure. If they don't you'll just ingrain bad habits. And often they don't.

After a while your body mechanics and quality of movement get properly burned in. If there's been too much curriculum this point can be delayed needlessly. In any case, kata becomes useful in a different way. This is when application starts to be important. You have it, now you need to learn to do something useful with it. So you learn "the" bunkai for the forms. It's indicative of the sad state of affairs that most bunkai are pretty lame. Many are over-complicated or rely on unrealistic attacks and very staged situations.

Even worse, many teachers say "Oh, kata is for the Art. It's Tradition. If you practice it long enough you will mysteriously become a great fighter and an Enlightened Master." In my humble experience this is usually a sign of a teacher who doesn't know an awful lot and is trying to BS his way out of admitting that he doesn't know. He's basically saying that he doesn't know what it's for either, but if you have faith a miracle will occur.

So what does a better teacher do? He uses the movements from the kata when he teaches technique and sparring and self defense. Exercises will include and extend the root movements. Or you'll do things that use the same lines as the form.

This is the time when kata is useful for pulling stuff out. A good teacher will get you to use movements from the kata in different ways. It's no longer just moving around arms and legs. It's the basis for your techniques. There's lots and lots of stuff in there. It's not just a movement. It's an armlock. It's a block. It's a strike. It's a pressure point technique. It's a floor wax. It's a dessert topping.

Further on down the road you've got more technique than you can possibly use. You've started to put it all together, internalize the system and develop some understanding. At that point the kata, as Mel Brooks might have said in Spaceballs, switches from blow to suck. The form becomes a sort of kinesthetic memory palace where you store what you know. Instead of remembering every single thing you relate a number of things to, say, a move from Seisan or the kick/punch combo in Bassai. You put what you learn and develop into the form.

Much later, and few ever get there, you've got really good intuitive and conscious understanding. The moves stop "meaning" anything. They're just movement. And you understand movement, so you can use them any damned way you please and make them work.

A lot of people spout stuff about "formless form" and the like. Not one in a thousand of those is doing anything but shooting off his mouth. To make it work you have to have gone through the above time, effort and good teaching to get there. Certainly you can teach it to yourself, but it usually takes a long time, and both teacher and student have to be the right sort of person

Does your skill flow from your form? Well, yes and no. You have to have good form to move well. If and only if and it's a huge if, the form is good and you have the right sort of teacher it can be a vital part of your development. Stuff will get extracted from them, and you will learn to use them to classify and remember all sorts of things that you come across or develop. If any one of them doesn't apply or if the way you do things in the form is divorced from the kata it will be worthless. "The way you do things" can't just mean memorizing a bunch of pre-set applications. It has to get used in many aspects of the training.

Looking back over the rant it roughly follows the progression I mentioned in this thread. What can you say? Guru Plinck has had a bit of influence on my development and outlook.

 

[seasoned]

If kata is like a book that needs to be opened as some will agree on then practical application would be the movie made from that book. I relate a paragraph in the book "The Essence of Shaolin White Crane, The Foundation of White Crane Kung Fu and The Root of Okinawan Karate".
Page 6 (For example, it is well known in China that in order to compete and survive in a battle against other martial styles, each martial style must contain four basic categories of fighting techniques. They are: hand striking, kicking, wrestling, and qin na (seizing and controlling techniques). When these techniques were exported to Japan, they splintered over time to become many styles. For example, punching and kicking became Karate, wrestling became Judo, and qin na became Jujitsu. Actually, the essence and secret of Chinese martial arts developed in Buddhist and Daoist monasteries was not completely revealed to Chinese lay society until the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912A.D.) These secrets have been revealed to western countries only in the last three decades.)
Kata is not the end all I will agree, it is just a book, And books make for arm chair karate-Ka. I submit as many of you have, we need to go to the "movie stage". All above is submited with total respect for everyone.

 

[hrlmonkey]

A lot of people spout stuff about "formless form" and the like. Not one in a thousand of those is doing anything but shooting off his mouth. To make it work you have to have gone through the above time, effort and good teaching to get there. Certainly you can teach it to yourself, but it usually takes a long time, and both teacher and student have to be the right sort of person

.

this is so disrespectful of martial artists who are non traditionalist, its just so small minded. i see traditionalists on here who feel that if it has no kata, its worthless, its not karate.

we are not all sports karate. we do not all see competition as the pinnacle of our traning. we are looking at new ways of training. we still respect the values that were passed down to us. we go through time and effort to better ourselves as martial artists. we still bow when entering and exiting a dojo. we probably do everything you do, minus the strict regime of kata. and then you disrespect us for it.
well heres old news, your preaching to your own. they will all agree with you, you know this. just because we dont all want kata, or see your point, doesnt mean that we all dislike kata or dont see its virtues.
argue against us, disown us, even vilefy us.... we are karate, we are staying and we will still be here when our systems have re-modernised. its a fact of life, grow or die.

 

[twendkata71]

I am sorry that you feel practicing kata is being stagnate and has no real value in street defense. But, that is your option and I am in the view that if your style of karate works for you then it has value. One point though, shadow boxing is still a form of kata in a manner of speaking. Peace to you and good luck in your journey.

 

[hrlmonkey]

I am sorry that you feel practicing kata is being stagnate and has no real value in street defense. But, that is your option and I am in the view that if your style of karate works for you then it has value. One point though, shadow boxing is still a form of kata in a manner of speaking. Peace to you and good luck in your journey.

thank you for the point on shadowboxing. or freeform kata as some modernists label it. much appreciated

i know many modernists that have studied kata based systems, and indeed loved them. in my teens i made purple in shotokan, my reason for switching, was that the instructor moved away. i come from a small town in the middle of the uk, and twenty years ago, there was a lot less on offer than there is today.

personally i feel that in the right hands, kata is a powerful tool. i just dont feel its the be all and end all of any system.

 

[exile]

this is so disrespectful of martial artists who are non traditionalist, its just so small minded. i see traditionalists on here who feel that if it has no kata, its worthless, its not karate.

HM, I don't think that Tellner is saying any of this. He's not talking about `traditional' vs. `non-traditional'/`modern'/whatever. You're responding to his quote, so I'm trying to see your remarks in the context of his reply that you're responding to... and I don't see much connection. What he's saying is, if I can boil it down probably way too much, is that kata have a particular use and a particular purpose that enable you to learn certain things more effectively by studying kata—especially the realistic application of the movements they contain (and as he says, a lot of the applications provided in textbooks and so on fail on the realism front); people who ignore the lessons of kata very often lose the combat-effective benefit of the information that kata contain. People who dismiss kata as a guide to actual practice, in other words, are often doing so because they haven't actively tried to pursue mastery of a street-effective form of karate, believing instead that isolated techs without a strategic connection (the connection being the main benefit of kata) will see you through a real fight.

twe are not all sports karate. we do not all see competition as the pinnacle of our traning. we are looking at new ways of training. we still respect the values that were passed down to us. we go through time and effort to better ourselves as martial artists. we still bow when entering and exiting a dojo.

Umm... kata has nothing to do with etiquette, HM. I'm not sure where this is coming from. Kata make it clear how to move to damage your attacker's throat or break his arm. That was their original purpose. What does dojo etiquette have to do with guidance in damaging your assailant badly enough that he will want to leave the fight, assuming he's still got two working knees?

we probably do everything you do, minus the strict regime of kata.

I'm losing you. `Strict regime'? What do you mean?

The first few moves of Pinan Shodan, say, teach you how to deflect a punch with one arm while moving your other arm into place to establish a fulcrum for an arm lock that will hyperextend your attacker's shoulder, allowing you to throw him to the ground and finish him off there with a hard kick to the face, or ribs, or maybe the groin. `Strict discipline?' I don't see it! You're talking as though some kind of ritual were involved. But kata has nothing to do with ritual.

and then you disrespect us for it.
well heres old news, your preaching to your own. they will all agree with you, you know this. just because we dont all want kata, or see your point, doesnt mean that we all dislike kata or dont see its virtues.

Since the prime virtue of kata is to teach you how to damage your opponent to whatever degree seems necessary—assuming you know how to read the kata, which since the time of Itosu have been deliberately disguised (as he himself told us) to conceal the application of the movements involved—I'd have thought that if you did see this virtue of kata, that you'd incorporate studying the effective uses of kata, and training those uses via maximal realism, into your training routines. The only reason for training kata applications is to make you a better fighter, so far as I can see. So I'm confused: if you see that this is a virtue of kata, then why do you not want to take advantage of that information in your own training? But if you don't, that's fine too, so far as I'm concerned. I'm concerned with my own skill development, not yours.

I think you misunderstand Tellner and others. No one is preaching to you or criticizing you for not incorporating kata application into your training. Quite honestly, it makes no difference to me what you choose to do or don't do; that's your business, and if you don't want to learn how to `read' kata to benefit from the hard techs they embody, it certainly doesn't make my life, or Tellner's, or anyone else's any harder.

argue against us, disown us, even vilefy us.... we are karate, we are staying and we will still be here when our systems have re-modernised. its a fact of life, grow or die.

I, uh... really think there's a major misunderstanding here. This last passage seems a bit overwrought to me, a lot of posturing that I honestly don't see the point of. I honestly don't care one way or the other what you choose to do or not do; I won't `argue against you' (if you choose to overlook an important source of combat information, that is, once again, your perfect right), just as I won't `argue against you' if you don't get a yearly physical checkup, or decide not to pay taxes on your income, or anything else you do that doesn't hurt someone else. `Disown you'? Well, you're not my heir or Tellner's, so that's a bit excessive... and why should I or Todd vilify you? Look, HM: suppose you wanted to learn how to solve elementary differential equations. It's a toughish subject, but plenty of people can do it. I have a dozen books on my shelf that tell me, in different ways, how to do it. They contain classifcations of different DEs by level of difficulty; they supply methods and hints for each level, they give me worked examples... all in all, if I were interested in learning this particular skill, the first thing I'd do is crack a few of these books and get going. But if I didn't, would that hurt or inconvenience anyone but me? Kata are like textbooks for effective close-quarter combat. If you think you can learn effective karate without them, that's no more skin off my nose than someone who wants to learn how to solve DEs without benefit of textbook. By all means, be my guest! Why on earth should I vilify you for failing to utilize an available resource? Neither I, nor Todd, have any stake in your success or otherwise...

 

[Sukerkin]

Meant to get back to you on this thread, Mark, but got tangled up in, first, my son's 10th birthday yesterday and then... oh, hell, you don't really want to know... nothing interesting, just tedious boring stuff to do... Anyway, you have SC coming to your school? Just like that? Lucky you! I'm increasingly coming to see the UK as Karate Heaven....

And thanks for the link! I'll go check it out. I feel a pang of regret for any publication called Kata Unlimited which I can no longer obtain...

I hope your son enjoyed himself, you only get that first decade of wonder, when everything is new, once after all :tup:.

Steve (nidan MJER) comes over to us every other week usually to work on his iai with Sensei Lovatt (whose also 6th Dan Karate).

I try not to let Sensei, Steve, Jim and Kate (karateka one and all) to get sidetracked and usually my being the only one running through iai forms does the trick .

Seasoned, I feel exactly the same way about kata/hyungs. It's good for the likes of us that kata seem to be making a comeback, now that people realize that they aren't decorative dance steps, but an encyclopædia of fighting techniques, if only you learn how to decode them—which an increasing number of shewd, dedicated karateka are willing to teach us to do.

A most excellent way of expressing it :tup: