TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTS, THE TRADITIONAL MARTIAL ARTIST AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF KATA COMPARES TO CROSS
TRAINING IN THE FIGHTING ARTS.
WOW! THIS IS A HOT TOPIC AND ONE THAT IS NOT EASILY ANSWERED AND THIS ARTICLE IS JUST MY OPINION AND AND
ONLY THAT AN OPINION.
I HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN CONTACT SPORTS ALL OF MY LIFE, FROM BOXING, KICKBOXING, KARATE TO THE GRAPPLING
ARTS SAMBO, BJJ, AND MMA.
I CAN TELL YOU THAT FOR MYSELF I LOVED TO COMPETE IN THE RING AND IT DIDN'T MATTER IF IT WAS POINT FIGHTING
OR FULL CONTACT. I WASN'T THAT INVOLVED IN LOOKING INSIDE THE KATAS TO FIND THE BUNKAI. I LEARNED THE KATAS AT FIRST BECAUSE
THAT WAS WHAT I NEEDED TO GAIN RANK IN KARATE. THE MORE I COMPETED IN SPORT TOURNAMNTS THE MORE I STARTED PUTTING INTO MY
KATA AND THE MORE I LEARNED FROM THE KATA ITSELF. AFTER ALL THESE YEARS I STILL PRACTICE MY KATA DAILY AS WELL AS TEACH THEM
TO MY STUDENTS ON A DAILY BASIS.
WHAT I GET OUT OF THE KATA NOW DIFFERS GREATLY FROM WHAT I GOT OUT OF THE KATA IN THE PAST. KATA AT THIS
POINT IS A WAY TO SEPERATE ISHINRYU FROM THE MANY OTHER STYLES OF KARATE IN THE WORLD. AS I GET OLDER IT HELPS ME TO STAY
ACTIVE AS WELL AS RETAINING MY FLEXABILITY AND HAND AND EYE CORDINATION. ALSO FROM MY SMALL CIRCLE TRAINING HAVE
FOUND THAT MANY OF THE SMALL CIRCLE TECHNIQUES ARE PERFORMED IN A SIMILAR MANNER IN OUR KATAS.
TUITE IN THE KATAS, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I'VE TRAINED IN BUT VERY LITTLE FOR THE AMOUNT OF TIME I'VE BEEN
INVOLVED IN KARATE. MASTERING THIS IN THE MANNER OF GEORGE DILLMAN OR RICK MONEYMAKER TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND PATIENCE. ANOTHER
THING WITH TUITE IS THAT ALL THOUGH I CAN TELL YOU THAT IT WORKS, FIRST HAND, I DON'T KNOW HOW EFFECTIVE IT IS IN AN ACTUAL
SELF DEFENSE SITUATION. I STILL REMEMBER BILL WALLACE TELLING ME KATAS NEVER TAUGHT HIM HOW TO FIGHT AND THAT HE WOULD KICK
SOMEONE IN THE HEAD BEFORE THEY GOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO HIM TO APPLY PRESSURE POINT TECHNIQUES.
NOW TO MY OPINION ON KATA IN A REAL LIFE FIGHTING SITUATION. MAYBE THEY HAVE SOME BENEFIT BUT TO BE HONEST
I JUST DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY ARE. IN MY DAY'S AS A COMPETITOR I WOULD SEE MANY GREAT KATA COMPETITORS BUT RARELY DID YOU SEE
A TRUELY GREAT KATA PERSON, BE A TRUELY GREAT FIGHTER AND THE SAME IS SAID IF YOU REVERSE MY ANSWER. I HAVE ALTHOUGH SEEN
MANY AND I GUESS I
CAN INCLUDE MYSELF, THAT WAS DECENT AT BOTH.
WITH THE EMERGENCE OF THE UFC AND OTHER MMA AND NHB TYPE EVENTS MANY OF THE TRADITIONAL KARATE KA HAVE BEGAN
SPENDING MORE OF THEIR TIME CROSS TRAINING IN THE FIGHTING ARTS AND LESS TIME WORKING ON THEIR KATA. WHY? YOU MAY ASK, WELL
AGAIN I BELIEVE THAT TODAY WE HAVE SO MUCH INFO OUT THERE AS WELL AS SO MANY MARTIAL ARTIST'S THAT ARE WILLING TO SHARE THEIR
KNOWLEDGE.
I KNOW THIS WILL DIFFER FROM SCHOOL TO SCHOOL AS WELL AS THE PEOPLE THAT YOU TRAIN WITH, BUT MOST OF THE
MARTIAL ARTIST'S THAT I TRAIN WITH ARE FIGHTERS, WHETHER IT BE SPORT KARATE, FULL CONTACT KARATE, GRAPPLING OR MMA, THEY TRAIN
TO FIGHT. IN TRAINING TO FIGHT EITHER PRO OR AMATURE THE PRACTICE OF KATA SEEMS TO HAVE VERY LITTLE IF ANY BENEFIT. TODAY
WE HAVE SO MANY DIFFERENT MEANS OF TRAINING TO BECOME A FIGHTER THAN THE GREAT MASTER'S OF THE PAST HAD WHEN THEY DEVELOPED
THE KATAS.
DOES THIS MEAN THAT THERE IS NO PLACE IN TODAY'S MARTIAL ARTS WORLD FOR KATA TRAINING, NO. KATA WILL
ALWAYS BE APART OF MY ROUTINE BUT THE EFFECTIVENESS OF MY KATAS IN AN ACTUAL SELF DEFENSE SITUATION IN MY OPINION WOULD BE
LITTLE IF ANY.
I THINK MOST OF US HAVE SEEN THE MASTERS ON YOU TUBE DEFENDING AGAINST AN MMA FIGHTER BY DOING KATA. WE
ALREADY KNOW THE RESULTS OF THAT SO I DON'T NEED TO ADDRESS IT IN THIS ARTICLE.
I HAVE SOME GOOD FRIENDS THAT I RESPECT HIGHLY THAT HAVE SAID IN THE PAST THAT IF YOU TRAIN IN THE MANNER
THAT I DO AND MY STUDENTS DO THEN YOU'RE JUST A FIGHT CLUB. MY ANSWER TO THAT IS THAT FOR ME IF IT HADN'T OF BEEN FOR THAT
FIGHT CLUB I WOULD'VE NEVER REMAINED IN THE MARTIAL ARTS AS MANY YEARS AS I HAVE.
Gregg McMahan
SHICHI-DAN ISSHINRYU
