Alot of us on this forum are or have been instructors before and others have just been training for a decent amount of time. In that time im sure that you all would have found differant methods for teaching kata to students and also for learning them yourselves. I know the normal way is to just keep doing the kata over and over untill it has become ingrained in the subconcious so that you can perform the kata whenever, but surely there must be better ways than this. I would be intrigued to here how others learn, teach and practice kata????

I am talking both at the basic fundamental side of the performance of the kata as well as the more in depth study of it.

I've definately changed since reading about it rather than just performing it as per specifications. Floor plan is obviously the start, but now visualising whats going on is a great help also. Might come back to this one later

Me, I learn kata by copying someone and asking questions at the parts I'm not sure of. It takes me 3 or 4 times of being shown the pattern to get most of it, a few more times to get me over the parts where I get stuck. Then on the way home from a class I will run through it in my head and when I get home go through it a few more times. If I've forgotten bits I'll work the bits I remember and refer to video files for clues on what I've forgotten. Then the next day I'll run through it again while making breakfast. By this time usually it's firmly enough implanted in my head to survive until the evening.

I practice all the time, in limited space I'll abbreviate stances etc and subvocalise the movements.

If I am teaching someone I will take them through the whole pattern first then start back at the beginning and go through a sequence at a time. Adding explanation of application can help immensely too.


Mick

I prefer to learn the pattern first, get the direction and turns. Once I know the floor plan, I work on the details in the stance, then the arms/hands. I also talk myself through the kata, it helps me remember the pattern and the details. I try and find out as much as I can about the kata and it’s bunkai to visualise what is happening. Then it’s just keep going over and over, till I win a medal at competition.

Before tournaments I practice bits in front of a mirror and I set up a video to record myself. Always good for a laugh.

In teaching I find that some people like to learn 2 or 3 moves get them right, and then add 2 more moves. Others like doing it the way I learn. There is no single method to teach kata. It’s been my experience that kids learn the kata as a single unit, and have some difficulty in working on just some parts. Generally speaking, kids pick up the pattern much faster then adults, but then have difficulties with the details.

For us lower belt guys we're just happy learning the pattern!
Isnt that the idea??

IMO if you're happy just learning the pattern then that's fine. But those who feel kata is a waste of time perhaps need something more...?


Mick

Saw an interesting video about saifa and its applications last night.

Im no sensei but often help out in class.
The way i teach kata is just go through the whole thing making sure everyone can see the all moves, then through again explaining the bunkai to it and the tempo on how the moves should be done, then through again in seperate chunks of the kata, making sure always to ask the students if they have any questions. Then i go through it a few more times by themselves making sure there is sumone at the front that they can follow and i just go around and adjust stances, strikes, etc.

Learning kata i watch it being preformed over and over till its stuck in my head, then just practice and practice in front of my sensei, so he can adjust and teach about all the moves, and at home. I'd really love to have sum higher belts at my dojo i train at tho... im sick of being the "role model" I want a role model! mmmah...

It's interesting how different versions present the same applications...


Mick

*wonders the best way to put in a shameless plug for the aforementioned video apart from mentioning there's a page on his website*

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ssPageName=WD1V

That good enough?

Not happy about it, just cant get any of these concepts yet

What concepts are they then?


Mick

I like to learn the entire form first then go back and slowly iron out the creases. This is the preferred teaching method of the club also.

As we are learning the form (since all students are at their own level in the form) we are taught one or two different applications every now and then. The difficult part in this is that they are so well hidden so other martial artists can't figure out the "secrets". It makes it hard for us to figure them out ourselves to begin with.

In my experience once you begin learning about body mechanics and techniques of restraint and escape some applications become quickly apparent. Others are more hidden but in general they're hidden in plain sight and once they've been demonstrated you wonder why you never saw it before


Mick

Kata has so much depth to it that it's a lifetime's task to explore the bunkai, which is where most of the fun is. Obviously you have to learn the pattern and the techniques first. One way I've used before and found worked well with a new kata was to make my own step by step notes.

If you can get a hold of a video of the kata you want to learn, sit down with a pad and your finger on the pause and rewind buttons and go through it move by move, making notes in your own words. It takes about an hour or so, but what you end up with is a walkthrough of the kata that you understand, will jog your memory of the video and that anyone can read out for you to follow, regardless of whether they even do karate or not. You can even put it down on audio tape to practice to.

You can get walktrough notes on some websites, but they tend to be a little too technical. I for one get lost when someone says "turn south east with an oi tzuki gedan barai". Much easier put something like "back foot moves through into sanchin, turn 90 degrees right, resting hand(right) does downward block". Hearing it as you think of it in your own words helps it sink in.

Doing it this way I learned empi, sanseru and sepai in about 3 hours each (including making notes). Sure, I then had to go and work on them to get them good and learn the bunkai, but at least you have a framework to build on.