Those who can, spar. Those who can’t, do kata – Part IX

I received a few questions from readers about competition kata so let me discuss briefly a few additional points I look for. The first is what we call “pre-positioning”. I see it a lot, especially among lower ranked or skilled students or competitors. It’s moving the front foot into its next ending position prior to stepping into the next stance. If in forward stance, you’ll see their front foot angle outward just before executing their next move. In fighting and sparring, we call this “telegraphing”.

Another common error is what we call a Transition Error. This is a loss of concentration between moves. It occurs when a competitor’s mind kind of goes into neutral between techniques, rather than staying focused and moving from the end of one technique directly to the starting point for the next. For example, a competitor who committed a transition error between the 2^nd and 3^rd moves of Heian Shodan might drop his lead hand (which just punched) to his waist, turn, lift his hand back up to his neck, and execute the downward block. Obviously, this is something a person would never do in a real fight. He would go directly from one technique to the ready position for the next, from the punch to his neck (starting position for the coming downward block in Heian Shodan), generally in a manner that enabled his body’s rotation to add additional speed and power into the next technique.

Also, when my students move, I want them to isolate each body part, only moving what is necessary to execute a technique, while keeping everything else perfectly still and ready. This also gives a cleaner edge to their techniques. If they execute a kick or step-punch, for exampke, they shouldn’t let their hands wobble or move from their defensive positions. (Many people’s hands fly into the air when they kick.) I don’t want their feet telling their hands what to do, and vice versa.

Hope this answers those who sent questions.

Thanks for reading. Next time, I’ll discuss an interesting and very unique kata performance I judged several years ago in the Bronx. And, I’ll soon get into what I’ve learned about bunkai, kyusho, and tuite.