Comments on: Should you create a Kata?

By: Andy

Andy — Mon, 18 May 2009 06:21:58 +0000

I’ve also dropped the Pinan from my curriculum. I still practice them, but don’t teach them unless a student asks. I’m trying to keep everything as close to the original Kajukenbo/Karazenpo material as I can from what I’ve researched.
I’m not creating any Kata, but I am changing techniques in the forms so they’ll work at a higher percentage rate when done at full speed. After going out to the The Pit and seeing Master Hackleman’s streamlined curriculum, I was a little bummed with our overloaded SKK one. I now teach: 8 & 10 Point Blocking Systems, 1-6 Kata & Hansuki, SKK Combos 1-26 (original and modified), 10 Pit Kickboxing Combos, and 36 Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Combatives techniques (I’ll be testing for my Blue Belt under Rener Gracie in July). I keep everyone on a rotating curriculum so we’re all doing the same thing and classes go way smoother now.

Who knows? Maybe I will make a new form; tell everyone I trained in a far away land with unverifiable masters; and then promote myself to 10th Dan. Yeah…that sounds like a plan! Oh wait…it’s already been done. : )

Good training to you all and thanks to Matt for such a cool site!!!

Andy in VA

By: Bryan

Bryan — Wed, 13 May 2009 22:49:54 +0000

This is a great article. There are two great points in it.

Some time ago, I made it a requirement that brown belts must create a kata for their black belt test. I took it from various schools that do something similar. I hoped that they would be invested in the art to create something themselves. The art becomes are part of them. It also demonstrates their understanding of what they have learned. These little 20 move forms are not added to the curriculum. Rather they are like recitals with original songs. The creativity is astounding. So far I am pleased.

The second great point is trimming the fat from the SKK curriculum. I stopped teaching the pinans (and cat kata) a while ago. Nothing seemed to change quality wise. Yet, I wonder what I gave up in the process. I noticed students having a difficult time maintaining half-moon stances and turns or timing their blocks and steps.

It’s an important item to discuss. What makes you SKK? And if you change too much, do you stop being SKK?

SKK in the late 50s and 60s was a lot different than it is now. When GM Pesare learned the art, it was in a state of flux and modification. He continued that trend. Actually, the trend continues as we all peal back the onion skins of application and find new toys.

By: David C

David C — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:33:02 +0000

I create new kata every time I fight. However mostly they suck so I never practice them again :)

IMHO SKK is already BLOATED. The pinan kata alone have hundreds of applications, should those be learned? if not then why are we doing these forms? I mean, applications beyond the basics “turn block punch”.

If I ran the SKK world I would scrap the pinans too and substitute a number of sets that focus on specific basics. We have the combos we don’t need more combos hidden inside the forms. the overt interpretation of the pinans movements is often lame. LOL

By: Feral

Feral — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 07:57:49 +0000

I believe that there are many very important movements in 3, 4, and, 5 pinan. Could you explain why you don’t like theses kata when you get the chance Jesse?
Thanks

By: Jesse

Jesse — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 01:47:50 +0000

I def. like this topic because it is true to my heart. I have created a Kata and plan to create more in the hope of helping my students. I also agree with Matt in the fact that we should not just keep piling things on top. Sometimes you have to weed the garden to make the crops grow better. I have eliminated 3,4,and 5 pinan for more reasons then I wish to write at this time.
Jesse

By: Justin Terrien

Justin Terrien — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 15:23:55 +0000

Thanks Matt. I think that, in my attempts atleast, the process is more important then the kata. The process of formulating a new kata gave me insight on application as well as flow through my existing forms. It also made me question what I was doing and why, which I believe to be the most important questions on gaining higher understandings.

By: matt

matt — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 16:03:02 +0000

Thanks for that really thoughtful comment. You raise a good point in regard to your ‘reinventing the wheel’ comment, as I feel many ‘new’ forms are just ‘new’ and not ‘better’. However, if you do find a new way that is better, then by all means let the car replace the stagecoach.

Also – with your starting and discarding various attempts at forms creation, I think you show that the process is at least as important as ending up with a kata. You learned valuable things about your existing material.

By: Justin Terrien

Justin Terrien — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 20:00:19 +0000

Creating your own kata is a requirement in some arts to acheive black belt status (epak for example). Not that every form ever made up made it into the system, but a few did (kicking set 1 was a “thesis” form).

Personally, on more then one occasion, I have started, stopped, and started again formulating various new and exciting kata, mostly when I was bored or frustrated with the material I already had. Then I would go back and examine my masterpiece and say “oh well this part of my form is already taught in that kata and oops we learn that at yellow belt in this technique”. Then go back and reformulate to come up with something noone has done before only to realize that reinventing the weel is useless, but what it did give me was something much more useful.
Until I tried to logically organize and formulate a new kata I gave little thought to how well the kata I already had were organized and formulated. It also sparked a new interest in exploring my current material.

So to answer the question, yes I think every martial artist out there should create there own kata. Then take a good honest look at what you have come up with and ask the opinion of a martial artist you know who will give you their honest opinion. Don’t create a kata as Matt put it “to teach your 7th dan students to keep them busy after you promote yourself to 10th dan in your own style”, but do it to explore what you know or THINK you know.
Sometimes finding out you don’t know as much as you thought you did is a lot more useful then crowning yourself grand poobah.