Those who can, spar. Those who can't, do kata - Part VII

I’m continuing my look at some of the things I discovered along the way while a national coach and head of the National Coaches Education Committee – as well as my travels around the world – about bringing my students’ katas up to a high competitive standard. (I’ll soon be getting into the other side of the kata coin, what I’ve learned about the self defense applications hidden within them.)

Each action within a kata should be executed with as much acceleration and power as can be mustered. But then, it must all be brought to a full and abrupt stop. I tell my students not to contaminate action with inaction or inaction with action. When they attack, I want them to hold nothing back. And when they stop, I want them to freeze immediately and lock everything in place.

If they don’t come to a full and complete stop, it gives each action a soft edge, like trying to stop Jello – you may stop the plate but the Jello keeps moving, blurring the line between movement and stoppage. I want them to create a clear and distinct line between movement and non-movement and between non-movement and movement, as fine and sharp as a razor blade, or the blade of a katana. The Japanese refer to this brief but complete halt after each action as a “dynamic stoppage”.

Hanshi George Anderson put all this more succinctly: “When you move, move. And when you stop, stop.”

Stopping movement also includes stopping or diminishing it in their gis, belts, and hair. Top competitors generally wear a heavyweight gi, or starch their lighter weight ones. Softer, lightweight materials tend to continue to move a bit after the student stops, making their actions look softer, less precise. Top women’s competitors often tie their hair in a French Braid, so their hair moves as little as possible, and stops when they stop. A very long belt will tend to move more and longer than a shorter one. (And be sure they tie their belts so each side is the same length. Imprecision here indicates to a judge even before a student begins that their kata performance will likely be equally imprecise.)

When I evaluate a kata performance, I always ask myself, “If they were executing that particular technique on the street, would it be effective?” Would a block actually stop a focused kick or punch? (Would it be fast and powerful enough and executed in a manner that would make it effective?) Would a punch have sufficient power and focus to break through an opponent’s block or deflection attempt and still possess enough force and extension to penetrate their opponents’ protective layers of muscle and bone and do damage to internal organs?

I also look for extension. If you watch a top gymnast, ballet dancer, or ice skater, you will often hear the announcer note that a particularly good performance possessed good extension. This means they extended every action as far as that limb would go. This gives each technique a more aesthetically pleasing line. But, more importantly, it enables them to deal with an opponent at a further, more safe distance.

Old photo where I was attempting to get as much power
and extension as I could get out of a sidekick.

In a knifehand block or strike, for example, I want their hands and fingers made perfectly straight and maximally stretched. In every stance, their necks and backs need to also be made perfectly straight, as if sitting in a straight-back chair, with the feeling that someone was pulling their heads upwards by the hair.

Thanks again for your support and reading my humble ramblings, Jim