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Styles: Western Boxing, Tai Chi, Animal Form Kung Fu, and Wing Chun
Posts: 4,507
Home Country:
Precision, precision, precision, and don't cheat the stances. Do that and you'll learn what you should from your kata. Don't do it and you are just waving your hands in the air.
Precision, precision, precision, and don't cheat the stances. Do that and you'll learn what you should from your kata. Don't do it and you are just waving your hands in the air.
Precision, precision, precision, and don't cheat the stances. Do that and you'll learn what you should from your kata. Don't do it and you are just waving your hands in the air.
That or dancing in your jammies. I use and teach that kata is for the workout to build up the muscles you will need in a self defense situation. If you skimp on the stances, then you are cheating yourself. Go through the motions slow...Over and over again. Look for hidden techniques rather than the obvious ones. Every kata should have at least one hidden technique.
I know this might make me sound stupid for asking but... What do you mean by hidden technique?
Just as it sounds. Techniques that aren't 'in your face' obvious. For instance, in our green senior form (Wan Hyo), the first movement from ready stance is to prep for a right knife hand strike to an opponent on your left's temple. It looks like you are just reaching out to your left with your left hand, but, in fact, you are executing a grab to pull your opponent into the strike.
There are tons of these 'not so obvious' techniques in kata/forms/patterns.
Oh yeah, my advice to you is to be consistant with your daily practice of kata. Do your form at least five times per day. Do it slowly, checking for good stances and proper techniques, at least three times, and then do it with power and snap at least twice.
__________________ "An eye for an eye only blinds the world." - Ghandi
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein
"Without deviation from the norm progress is not possible." - Frank Zappa
Just as it sounds. Techniques that aren't 'in your face' obvious. For instance, in our green senior form (Wan Hyo), the first movement from ready stance is to prep for a right knife hand strike to an opponent on your left's temple. It looks like you are just reaching out to your left with your left hand, but, in fact, you are executing a grab to pull your opponent into the strike.
There are tons of these 'not so obvious' techniques in kata/forms/patterns.
Oh yeah, my advice to you is to be consistant with your daily practice of kata. Do your form at least five times per day. Do it slowly, checking for good stances and proper techniques, at least three times, and then do it with power and snap at least twice.
Just as it sounds. Techniques that aren't 'in your face' obvious. For instance, in our green senior form (Wan Hyo), the first movement from ready stance is to prep for a right knife hand strike to an opponent on your left's temple. It looks like you are just reaching out to your left with your left hand, but, in fact, you are executing a grab to pull your opponent into the strike.
There are tons of these 'not so obvious' techniques in kata/forms/patterns.
Oh yeah, my advice to you is to be consistant with your daily practice of kata. Do your form at least five times per day. Do it slowly, checking for good stances and proper techniques, at least three times, and then do it with power and snap at least twice.
I absolutely agree.. there are so many movements and alternatives. this is why Katas are soooo important.. we also encourage our students to find alternatives within the forms
how to train a kata is a very wide and vague question, as there are many parts to a kata; stances, technique, hip rotation,landing your technique at the same time you make your step, timing etc.
if you need work on your stances, do the whole kata with just stances, no technique. this not only helps you focus on your stances and transitions, it also tests out how well you know your kata. you should also aim to finish within 1-2 ft radius of your starting position (generally for most katas).
going slow is alo very important. think about each technique rather than just doing it. if you only go through the motions, it will show when you try and do it faster. your form will deteriorate and it will look sloppy. practice slow, but with power. this will help you figure out where your power should be coming from (the ground, your core and your hip) and how you should be applying it to your technique. slowly speed up your pace and you should have a solid kata.
mirror work or filming is one of the best tricks in the game. its a bit more difficult with a mirror, but it helps. film yourself and watch it back and you should be able to see all your mistakes. also make a conscious effort to correct your mistakes, if not you will keep repeating them.
finally, do your kata at your normal pace, full power. if you know your kata well enough, you will know when to relax, breathe and explode into your techniques. this makes your techniques more dynamic and stronger. this aspect can only be acheived by practice as you need to find the timing on your own and become more familiar with the kata.
Styles: Western Boxing, Tai Chi, Animal Form Kung Fu, and Wing Chun
Posts: 4,507
Home Country:
Quote:
Originally Posted by punisher
how to train a kata is a very wide and vague question, as there are many parts to a kata; stances, technique, hip rotation,landing your technique at the same time you make your step, timing etc.
if you need work on your stances, do the whole kata with just stances, no technique. this not only helps you focus on your stances and transitions, it also tests out how well you know your kata. you should also aim to finish within 1-2 ft radius of your starting position (generally for most katas).
going slow is alo very important. think about each technique rather than just doing it. if you only go through the motions, it will show when you try and do it faster. your form will deteriorate and it will look sloppy. practice slow, but with power. this will help you figure out where your power should be coming from (the ground, your core and your hip) and how you should be applying it to your technique. slowly speed up your pace and you should have a solid kata.
mirror work or filming is one of the best tricks in the game. its a bit more difficult with a mirror, but it helps. film yourself and watch it back and you should be able to see all your mistakes. also make a conscious effort to correct your mistakes, if not you will keep repeating them.
finally, do your kata at your normal pace, full power. if you know your kata well enough, you will know when to relax, breathe and explode into your techniques. this makes your techniques more dynamic and stronger. this aspect can only be acheived by practice as you need to find the timing on your own and become more familiar with the kata.
My personal opinion here, and take it as such. These are all good tips if you are learning kata for kata's sake or to show kata in tournaments. All this is near useless when fighting. I can watch a kata/ form and literally see dozens of applications for each move. However, because I never practice those techniques, only see them in form, means it is highly unlikley I will be able to use them in a real situation.
i respect your opinion WC and i do agree with you for the most part. i guess i read the original post wrong, but i thought it was asking for tips on learning/studying kata
Studying a Kata
I use and teach that kata is for the workout to build up the muscles you will need in a self defense situation. If you skimp on the stances, then you are cheating yourself. Go through the motions slow...Over and over again. Look for hidden techniques rather than the obvious ones. Every kata should have at least one hidden technique. 
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