Musashi once said that to be effective in combat you had to see the big issues and also see the small issues. This is paraphrased of course but the general idea here is that you have to be able to intuitively identify everything that the opponent is doing from his general kamae (posture) to where his feet are.
The difficulty here is that at some point the amount of data being observed and the processes seen in action simply becomes overwhelming. Where is his right foot and which direction is it pointed (indicating where he can step). What about his left foot. Where is he looking (high, low, your eyes, your chest). What is his combative kamae. How do you position your kamae in reply. Is his sword blade properly angled. The list of what to look at and for is simply endless. How to handle it?
Kata is designed to teach combative scenarios. Sword takes a kamae. Stick (or sword, or empty hand) takes a kamae based on the attackers' actions and appearance. The attack comes, the defense is met, end of action. Wash, rinse, repeat.
By repeating a properly thought out and structured kata (generally based not on fantasy but on records of historically correct combative actions .... such as the Chudan section of SMR Jojutsu) both participants are able to repetitively see what a correct posture and attack should look like and by observing this, develop an intuitive understanding of everything involved (the "large" issues); and from that develop combatively effective responses. At that point becoming aware of the "small" issues becomes easy because they are fewer in number and easy to see; the "large" issues already being well known and internalized.
An analogy would be that of a professionally serious pianist who gets up every morning and plays their scales, groupings of notes, and has a sequence of graded exercises they are working through. Not one of those is useful by itself and they are largely artificial (sometimes painfully so), but the net effect it has is to make it so there is range, good timing/cadence, understanding of transitions and speed changes, and accuracy. This is how you make your music rock solid and reliable -- and professional musicians swear by it. The difference between a 9th grade high school band and a symphony is millimeters and milliseconds.
An old Judo Sensei many years ago (and once upon a time) said that it was his opinion that all Judo kata came from randori; it being his thought that kata was not necessary, only randori. Most observers who were there disputed that opinion (not to him directly since he was know for his strong opinions) but the Japanese proved that direction of the information flow to be incorrect (but somewhat on point) which is where the kata came from; repetitive practice of combat sequences of attack, defense, counter-attack, counter-defense that were observed, analyzed, and then made into formal kata for practice and eventual understanding of randori.
So, practice kata .... correctly .... a lot ..... more than a lot .... and do it right. Be like Musashi.
L. F. Wilkinson Kancho
The Aikibudon
Houston, TX
December 6, 2023
Another excellent post. Thanks.
Posted by: Rick Matz | December 07, 2023 at 09:58 AM