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Kata
Japanese name
Kanji 1. 型
2. 形
Hiragana かた
showTranscriptions
Contents
1Background
2Japanese martial arts
o 2.1Karate
o 2.2Judo
3Non-Japanese martial arts
4Outside martial arts
5See also
6References
Background[edit]
Kata originally were teaching and training methods by which successful combat
techniques were preserved and passed on. Practising kata allowed a company of
persons to engage in a struggle using a systematic approaches, rather by practising
in a repetitive manner the learner develops the ability to execute those techniques
and movements in a natural, reflex-like manner. Systematic practice does not mean
permanently rigid. The goal is to internalize the movements and techniques of a kata
so they can be executed and adapted under different circumstances, without thought
or hesitation. A novice's actions will look uneven and difficult, while a master's
appear simple and smooth.[1]
Kata is a loanword in English, from the 1950s in reference to the judo kata due
to Jigoro Kano, and from the 1970s also of karate kata; but the word has come to be
used as a generic term for "forms" in martial arts in general, or even figuratively
applied to other fields.[2]
Karate[edit]
Main article: Karate kata
The most popular image associated with kata is that of a karate practitioner
performing a series of punches and kicks in the air. The kata are executed as a
specified series of approximately 20 to 70 moves, generally with stepping and
turning, while attempting to maintain perfect form. There are perhaps 100 kata
across the various forms of karate, each with many minor variations. The number of
moves in a kata may be referred to in the name of the kata, e.g., Gojū Shiho, which
means "54 steps." The number of moves may also have links with Buddhist
spirituality. The number 108 is significant in Buddhism & Hinduism, and kata with 54,
36, or 27 moves (divisors of 108) are common. The practitioner is generally
counselled to visualize the enemy attacks, and his responses, as actually occurring,
and karateka are often told to "read" a kata, to explain the imagined events. Kata can
contain techniques beyond the superficially obvious ones. The study of the meaning
of the movements is referred to as the bunkai, meaning analysis, of the kata.[6]
One explanation of the use of kata is as a reference guide for a set of moves. Not to
be used following that "set" pattern but to keep the movements "filed". After learning
these kata, this