Kata vs. Kumite – A SKA Newsgroup Discussion

A Discussion from SKA Newsgroup

From: Kam-Wing Pang [mailto:kwpang@p2h.com.sg]
Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 11:59 AM
To: ska_sg@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [ska_sg] Kata vs Kumite

c810912 (what is your real name?),

Here are my personal views on your posting:

1. “Why techiniques in katas are seldom seen when pratising kumite?”

Depends on what kind of kumite you see. I think you are talking about the free sparring you see in the dojo or at competitions. These are more in line with sports karate which are confined within many rules. These rules are written for safety of the participants and a relatively easy way for officials to judge who wins. Other than the basic punches, blocks and sweeps, you will see that alot of techniques in kata which are not used e.g. eye gouge, knee break, wrist locks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, neck breaks, grappling, vital point disruptions etc. As Chris says, these other ones we don’t practise in sports karate, because eventually you find there will be no competitors, only injured or dead bodies.

2. “Does the bunkai in katas only applicable during upgrading exam?”

A resounding No. Bunkai is self defense. Self Defense is applicable when you or your friends/relatives are in danger. Bunkai should be practised with this in mind. That you must try and train so that it can be as close to the real thing without maiming and killing your partner. Maiming and killing your partner would be a bad move. One thing is that no-one would ever want to partner with you again.

Exams are only a small part of Karate. It shows an improvement that can be “measured”. Have a read of the article I posted up at the SKA website title “What Does a Black Belt Really Mean?”. (http://ska.org.sg)

3. “How can we efficiently perform these techniques during kumite session or in the real world?”

Without hurting your partner badly or going into a bar full of gang members to try out your skills, the problem of how to practise bunkai for real can be solved by practising it slowly at first and to understand the level that you and your partner will go to, in terms of reality combat training. Understand the techniques and how they should be performed, understand the consequences of these techniques and practise, practise, practise. Having a good partner goes a long way to training for something that you may be able to use in the real world.

4. “I have seen many kung fu movies and I am guessing that they are using almost every single techniques in their martial arts’ katas. Why not karate too?”

As you say it’s a movie. But in a real fight, you want to take the person down as quickly as possible. The effective technique that you use to disable the opponent will depend upon the environment, the opponent and what you have trained hard on. If you practise bunkai dillengently and understand the concepts, there is no reason why you could not use them in the real world.

Remember, in most fights, it may only last a few seconds. Using the most effective technique is the key.

Karate and Kung Fu are no different when practising forms (kata), it is the analysis and application (oyo/bunkai) that differentiates the true martial artists from the sports oriented or “pseudo” martial artist.

5. “Shouldn’t there be a fusion between kata and kumite?”

I hope the above has answered this one for you.

Some final points:

* Sports Karate has it’s place in Karate-do as a medium for people to test themselves in a rules environment and to understand what it takes to compete. It is also a good medium for promoting the art, an excuse for a big get together and for encouraging contact with other stylists. But for a serious martial artists, one should always keep in mind that sports karate is only one part of the equation. They must understand that sports karate is just as it says, sports. Know the boundary and draw the line.

* It all boils down to what you want out of Karate. Some people like the sports side and compete. That’s fine. There are numerous reasons for training in Karate, suffice to say that they are all valid in their own way. The only exception to this is when someone comes up to me and say that they do Sports Karate and it’s the only real karate that should be done. Now that I would not agree with.

* For me, I have competed for many years. I wouldn’t say I was any good as I am not. But I find that Sports Karate was fun, but for me now, the interest lies beyond Sports and more on the “traditional” side of Karate. The karate that hurts, kills, maim, and breaks bones. Now for me, that’s more interesting…

My 0.01 cents,

Cheers!

Kam