(This is a TMA issue which primarily concerns Karate and Taekwondo).
I have been doing Karate for 6 years and teaching for almost half a year. I have also done some Taekwondo and similar Korean arts. One common theme between all of these arts is that beginner students learn a very simple kata/form when they first start. In Shotokan this is the Taikyoku kata and in Taekwondo this is either Taegeuk 1 or Chon Ji. These forms are very basic patterns involving stepping and performing either a low block or a punch in a very basic sequence.
The idea behind this is that they are very basic patterns to help the student become acquainted with the art. However, in my experience,
these forms are confusing and boring, and the 270-degree spin takes months for some trainees to get right.
The spin in question: (0:46)
I have seen students quit Karate/Taekwondo before progressing beyond white belt. I do not want to make any wild assumptions here but I guarantee that at least a few of them quit because of this damn kata. The basic pattern is uninteresting with limited practical application, and the footwork is, again, near-impossible for some people to get right. The footwork itself is also impractical, as nobody in their right mind would walk like that during a physical altercation. And the mundane, limited nature of these forms, in my opinion, does not encourage the mindset that one would have during a physical altercation in the same way a more complex kata would. This confusion and mundaneness is especially bad for younger practitioners who a.) have less cognitive ability and b.) have a lower attention span for boring, rudimentary things. And from what I have seen, many of these same students love watching high-level competitors perform kata like Unsu, Gankaku, Empi, etc. and sometimes excitedly ask the instructor if they can learn them. But I have never seen a student who enjoys doing Taikyoku. In other words,
these students are interested in Karate, just not Taikyoku or anything to do with it.
Some would argue that before doing more complex kata, a student must have a solid foundation in basics. This is very true, but at the same time, aren't there more interesting kata that can be used to teach one basic techniques? Tekki Shodan and Hangetsu immediately come to mind (and, to my knowledge, both Naihanchi and Seisan
were starting katas at one point due to their simplicity). Yes, their hand techniques are more complicated, but their footwork is far simpler and are overall more interesting and applicable katas.
My second argument against the "basics before advanced stuff" argument: some styles do teach rather sophisticated patterns to beginners. ATA Taekwondo's first form, Songahm 1, comes to mind:
Above, you see a form that has simpler footwork and more interesting techniques/combos yet is still basic enough for a beginner. Even Wushu and other Chinese arts have rather elegant patterns to teach basic techniques:
Why are these basic forms so interesting but Karate has to stick with a mundane step-block-step-punch routine?
In a nutshell, I think Taikyoku, Taegeuk 1, and Chon Ji are uninteresting, impractical kata that do not encourage a fighting mindset and do little more than confuse new Karateka. I think they feel weird to practice, have little to no relation to any following kata (except maybe Meikyo?), look quite silly, and make Karate look silly to laymen. I personally believe that nothing will be lost if, instead of teaching Taikyoku, new students were taught something like Tekki Shodan, i.e. a kata that is simple, teaches them proper lower body mechanics, gives them some practical self-defense ideas to build off of, feels more natural, and looks a lot better. I think the trend of teaching new students block-punch-block-punch-block-punch-punch-punch-weirdspin-block-punch-etc is counterintuitive.
I would like to hear what more experienced martial artists have to say about this.
