(Approx 2 minute 20 second read)

For most people, kata is a solo performance, mostly there to pass a grade. For a practitioner with limited experience, this is an important stage of practice. If you can’t perform the movements efficiently without an opponent, you’ll have no chance of making them work against an aggressive one.
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The initial stage is often where kata practice begins and ends in many dojo, judged solely on its visual appearance. If the kata looks good, then that’s all that’s needed in many cases.
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Of course, there’s more to it.
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Away from competitive karate, kata should also be judged against its practical use: if a practitioner can apply the techniques successfully, then their kata works for them, regardless of appearance. However, I’m not saying poor solo performance is acceptable. I’m simply emphasizing that function matters as much as appearance.
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Bunkai (and Oyo) is just as important as the solo representation, applying the principles and techniques with partners.
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It’s worth noting an important distinction: the difference between realistic bunkai and the long-range, choreographed ‘karateka-vs-karateka’ attacks and defenses often seen. Kata weren’t created for fighting other karateka; they were intended to record realistic techniques for use in civilian defense.
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In real situations, a typical karate stance followed by an ‘oi-zuki’ from six feet away does not reflect reality. Kata applications should be simple and close-range, where wild punches, grabs, pulls, and pushes occur.
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A mnemonic and a culmination of two-person drills, kata records its creator’s combative system. But it wouldn’t be practical to include every technique from that system. If it did, kata would become ridiculously long. Instead, techniques are recorded in a way that succinctly expresses the system’s key principles.
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For kata to become a true fighting system, you have to look beyond the surface. This is one of modern karate’s biggest failings: kata is rarely studied sufficiently or in depth.
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Of course, no one definitively knows what the creators of kata had in mind when they put them together, but there are hints for us to examine.
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Once the solo representation and some of the drills have been practiced sufficiently in a non-pressured environment, it’s time to move on.
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The only way to ensure you can apply these techniques in a live situation is to practice them in live situations.
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By “live situation,” I mean engaging in any-range, “anything-goes” (within safety) pressured sparring. This is not the usual competition-based sparring where you raise your guard and square off.
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I don’t like the term ‘sparring’ in this way, but most people recognize it as engagement practice.
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No amount of solo practice or pre-arranged drills with a compliant partner will give you the skills you need under real pressure.
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Of course, you have to build up to this stage – you can’t start with aggression and full-on pressure. You must go through levels where you feel comfortable before engaging freely.
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Live sparring and solo kata often look radically different. Kata in combat adapts to circumstances. Similarly, techniques in a live fight may look different from those in solo form but are guided by the same principles.
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While the solo representation is important, it’s only the initial stage. Only when you move beyond this level and embrace subsequent stages does the pragmatic nature of kata truly emerge.
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In my opinion, kata is not for show or demonstration; it should be practical and realistic, not theatrical.
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Written by Adam Carter – inspired by Iain Abernethy