“I will train 365 days a year.” ??
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Ryo Kiyuna – 4 Times World Kata Champion – Ryuei-ryu – (劉衛流, Ryūei-ryū is an Okinawan style of karate. It was originally a family style of the Nakaima family of Naha).
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“As a beginner, the first kata you learn is the foundation on which all other kata will be built. If your first kata is sloppy and weak, there is no point learning a new one.”
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Doing your first kata may be easy. But doing it right, not so much. The basic kata are often the most important. Kata are much more than their ‘embusen’ or pattern. There’s a myriad of things and details that you can’t see at the beginning. The real beauty in kata is that there’s ALWAYS more to it. If you have good pattern recognition skills (and you’re paying attention), the pattern (embusen) of the first kata are relatively straightforward to memorize. But doing them may be easy. Doing them right, not so much.
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Practicing kata consistently and deliberately forms a habit. Forming a habit develops new skills. With new skills comes increased confidence in one’s abilities to recognize and make small improvements that keep a person (or a process) in top form continuously.
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On its own (solo representation), and with its application principles, a kata is a set of practices that help develop a new habit or skill. The student works through a set of practice routines and reviews with an instructor what has been done, what has been learned, and what are the next steps.
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Practicing kata as a consistent activity can help build a culture of true continuous improvement by teaching and empowering students to be better, to ask themselves ‘can I do better?’.
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Each time we think something or do something a certain way, we are more likely to think or do the same thing again. This is why learning something new often feels slow, awkward, and inefficient. Beginners should follow the kata exactly without deviation so that you can internalize the patterns.
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Practice the routines often, practice the fundamental kata exactly as specified, and repeated precisely, until it forms a habit, it then becomes a skill. Like any fundamental skill-building routine, a kata must be practiced repeatedly, and correctly, to build mastery.
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? Photo Credit: JK Fan
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With thanks to Prince Loeffler and the Shugyokan Dojo