Ok I am the point of utter frustration with kata... I am not a karate expert and never ever will be... so bear with me while I gather my thoughts on this...

I haven't trained with GKR for 10 months yet I can remember the kata's I learnt from that... yet I have been training in another style for just over a year, and have managed to learn one kata in that time...

Why is that? Am I just dumb?

Or

Is kata more difficult in some styles more than others?

No Mel, you are far from dumb.
Lately I've been questioning why I learned Bassai Dai so much easier than Seiunchin. I think that children learn so much easier and quicker because they have less to compare to. You on the other hand have quite a few kata under your 'inexperianced' belt. So maybe you spend some learning time drifting off into a subliminal comparison sorta' thing...
Thats what I believe I do. Half way through doing Empi or whatever I drift into 'thats abit like Saifa' mode. Instead of just absorbing the infomation.

Frankly (whoever Frank is) I recon that when you take awhile to learn something, even if its frustraiting, it means more to you when you get it right. All the mind boggling and frustraition and feeling like throwing the towel in has paid off.
Last night whist going through loads of kata, Sensei said 'Anyone who doesnt know Seiunchin, step out'. Normaly I stay stood up but I dont quite know the last move yet so I stepped out.
I watched and was discusted by a blue belts performance. I knew it Far better than he.
So maybe, Mel, you know it better than you think. We are our own worst critics.

Enjoy the ride.

If you had done kata for ... 30 minutes a month with GKR, how long would it have taken to get the hang of saifa? Or bassai?

Who be you askin' Noom?

Personally I do bits of kata every day. On your timescale thing, probably be still on step two of saifa

I should have said I was addressing Mel, shouldn't I? Sorry.
Mel - If you ... etc...

I must admit, I really struggle with Kata.
I did GKR seriously for 2 years (4-6 classes a month on average) and got to know 3 and a half different kata fairly well (The half is Bassai Dai. We don`t talk about that)

THEN I stop doing karate and do Yang Style Tai-Chi instead, struggle with the form I was learning whilst all the time thinking "This bit reminds me of kata so-and-so"

Maybe Mel, it`s not the kata but the person. We all learn things at different rates, and if something was easy would it be worth doing?
Personally I`d love everything to be quick and easy, but they don`t let you get away with those type of thoughts, at least - not for very long!

Yeah true, when I was with GKR I used to like to work on kata consistently when I was learning a new one, until I got the hang of the floor plan, and then I could work on perfecting the techniques myself in my own time.

Thanks for the feedback guys. I am just a bit of a perfectionist and control freak and get frustrated when I can't do, or am not good at something. Its good now though, cos I am working with a boss who embraces my nerdiness and my "organisational" skills, or should we say perfectionism, and is just as anal as I am.

Good comments all -
[2c]
having been in the exact same position heres my perspective.

The version of Bassai Dai you were learning is close enough to be familiar yet different enough to cause confusion. I went through the same thing. I tried to use the version I knew simply as a guide to what sequence came next, then once I had the pattern down I tried my damdest to forget I ever knew any other version. Now I couldnt do that other version to save myself.

Stop practicing the GKR version - it will only make things harder. Forget that you ever knew it. Forget the basics, forget the kata and start again. You've got the same bad habits I did when I switched (eg - Age uke straight up past your nose and head rather than outwards ), and the same things are holding us both back - conflicts in styles. Its hard to 'unlearn' and it's definately slowed down my progress. We just have to train harder and correctly to improve.

[/2c]

Time for De-programming

Having convinced myself I have a good enough grasp of the pattern for Kanku Dai and Kururunfa, I always sat out when the RM went past those, but watched intently and wondered why Shisochin and Kanku Sho haven't sunk in yet.

So anyway, I just looked up the floor patterns on the web, and re-wrote them based on what I had been watching for the last I-don't-know-how-long. Suddenly they are in my brain and I can follow the pattern with a small degree of confidence.

I think the memory experts say that the act of writing it down helps make some connections in the brain, so take time to make the mental steps before doing the physical ones.

Gosh that sounds so stupid ...

Hmph. Matt said what I was going to - I'm not finding it easier, but I'm obsessed enough that I do practice every day. I think part of it is also not starting as a white belt, maybe? Your brain still expects you to know too much.
And then Warrick said more that I was going to - I have a book of kata patterns and various drills that I fill in when I get home from a class... and I am greatly assisted by my little stickman friend even if people do mock me for using him.

*points* Mock, mock........

Actually, very good idea! I`m sure alot of people do the same thing.

Perhaps your frustration is getting in the way of learning the kata. It's like when you try and remember something.. the more you try and remember the less you are likely to recall it. And if you put someone else on the spot they tend to forget as well. And then 2am in the morning *BAM* out it pops, because you are relaxed (and by then the knowledge is totally useless ).

Hahahaha That happens to me all the time