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Mastering Kata |
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Mastering kata first requires understanding its abstract nature and why it became such an ambiguous practice. It is simply impossible to resolve its ambiguity with the same level of thinking which created it. Rule-bound ippon kumite [一本組手] practices against implausible attack scenarios [i.e. reverse-punches, etc.] do not represent functional application practices and do little to bring one closer to understanding kata. By 1985, twenty years of training in traditional martial arts [TMA] had left me rather frustrated by its rule-bound practices, inflexible rituals and cultural ambiguity. It wasn’t that I disliked TMA or wanted to leave it but I could no longer accept its modern interpretation of ritualized practices [i.e. kata, hyung, xing – classical choreographed routines/forms/patterns]. Consequently, I began to search for a teacher, a style, or even an organization that could teach me the original and more functional combative application practices in a rational, coherent and systematized manner. Specifically, I was looking for someone who could - #1.Use
realistic acts of physical violence as a contextual premise from which
to improve my skills rather than continue to depend upon the
rule-bound reverse punch scenarios, etc. #2.
Teach prescribed, yet practical/functional, defensive templates
through which the original habitual acts of physical violence could be
recreated and effectively negotiated. #3.
Reveal how such prescribed templates [i.e. the mnemonic rituals which
make up the classically choreographed routines] not only culminated
the lessons already imparted but, when linked together, clearly
offered something greater than the sum total of their individual
parts. While there was certainly no shortage of excellent practitioners everywhere I looked, I found no trace of such teachings anywhere in Japan or Okinawa! Dissatisfied, I began to cross train. Cross training opened many new doors of opportunity while providing valuable insights about both training and life that I had never before realized. Based upon this experience I was compelled to make my own deductions, which gradually resulted in the establishment of the HAPV-theory [Habitual Acts of Physical Violence] and two-person drill concepts. Such findings ultimately lead me to discover lost practices and the essence of what the ancient masters taught, and ultimately pioneer the development of Koryu Uchinadi Kenpo-jutsu.” More here |
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