Technique of the Week (January 25th, 2010)

From Daniel Gobillot - Shihan,

Northampton Ueshiro Karate Dojo

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Life as a Kata

Kata, literally "form" is a Japanese word describing prearranged
choreographed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in
pairs. Kata is the single most important important aspect in karate,
(page 24, Red Book). While our individual techniques are all
important to our art they can be viewed as limited and somewhat empty
without kata to give them definition and purpose. Poorly executed
technique can easily translate to poorly performed kata. A weak or
misunderstood neko- ashi- dashi stance for instance can affect our
entire karate world from yonkyu rank and up. We must always review all
of our body movements and adjust to our current understanding and of
course skill level.
Everyday life is also filled with moments and movem ents that we
perform solo or with others. We wake up in the morning and maybe
brush our teeth. This can be done with attention and purpose or
without thought. When we relegate too much of what we do while we
live to automatic action our lives, like kata with bad technique, become
empty and bland.
Tomorrow our challenge is to select one (at least one) technique from
our vast repertoire of movement then examine, define and expand it for
use in our kata. For that hour and a half of class exploit and
exhaust that one technique. Try this at least once. Then carry it to
your personal life off the deck and use it for one of the many
activities that you perform in your daily life. Answering the phone,
getting dressed or just making eye contact.

Domo arigato gozaimasu,
Daniel Gobillot - Shihan,

Northampton Ueshiro Karate Dojo