Top tips to improve your karate kata

How to improve your kata

Introduction

“Think of everyday life as karate training.” Gichin Funakoshi

Kata is a Japanese system of individual training including highly practical combat techniques and motions that have been developed and refined for centuries.

To a non-trained eye, kata techniques may look like dance moves. Nonetheless, they are based on the fundamentals of Karate, including footwork, punching, kicking, blocking, holding, and throwing.

Although it sounds cliche, mastering kata is far from simple. It requires a lot of repetition, training, and practice. In the words of Gichin Funakoshi, “since karate is a martial art, you must practice with the utmost seriousness from the very beginning.”

What is the importance of practicing kata in karate?

As a primary tool for training in Chinese and Japanese martial arts, kata has always been an integral part of the arts. It not only enhances your physical strength as a martial artist but also increases your inner awareness of how to master particular techniques.

Here are some of the reasons why training kata is important.[1]

Develops proper body mechanics

With Kata, you can refine your technique and improve your body mechanics. Practicing Katas helps you improve your speed, precision, and explosiveness. It is also a great way to develop proper footwork and balance as it keeps your center of gravity in the right spot.

Builds muscle memory

In Kata, you train your muscle-brain reactions to become “automatic,” which means you don’t have to think as you block a punch, just react.

Develops mindfulness

There is no doubt that Kata is an amazing tool that helps to bring one into the present moment. You cannot execute a form correctly unless you are fully present here and now.

Through the practice of kata, you can learn how to concentrate your mind, pay attention to the present moment, and be aware of what you are doing both inside and outside of yourself.

Develops proper breathing

An important aspect of kata is proper breathing. The strength, snap, and explosiveness of kata will be diminished without proper breathing. During kata, you need to breathe deeply and synchronize the breath with your footwork and hand movements.

How to Improve your Kata: Tips & Tricks [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]

Performing a kata properly requires understanding and practicing many factors. Here are some tips to help you improve your kata execution. These tips are not in any particular order and if you have any other tips, please let us know in the comments section below.

1. Relax: Relaxation is a crucial component of Karate training. There is a false belief that muscle tension equals power. The opposite is true. Relaxation can enable you to generate more power and strike with more speed. Start each movement or technique with firm but relaxed hands, tense up when you impact or block, and relax right after.
2. Technique: It is first necessary to focus on getting the order of the kata correctly. Then, gradually, work on the details of all the karate moves. As Gichin Funakoshi, the founder of Shotokan Karate has rightly said, “A student well versed in even one technique will naturally see corresponding points in other techniques. An upper-level punch, a lower punch, a front punch, and a reverse punch are all essentially the same. Looking over thirty-odd kata, he should be able to see that they are essentially variations on just a handful.”
3. Practice over and over again: After mastering the basics of kata and getting into advanced techniques, it is hard to practice the basics over and over again. However, don’t forget to practice the basic ones as well. It is important to repeat the basic kata techniques as often as possible. By mastering them, it will make a significant difference to your advanced kata and overall karate skill. “Whatever luck I had, I made. I was never a natural athlete, but I paid my dues in sweat and concentration and took the time necessary to learn Karate and become World Champion.” — Chuck Norris, American martial artist, and actor
4. The best way to learn kata is to break it up into small steps: There are usually 30 to 60 moves in a kata. If you practice kata as a whole, you may be overwhelmed. To avoid this, it is crucial to break it down into groups of three to five movements and practice each set until you master it. Having mastered each “block of movements” you can then combine them all and practice kata in its entirety.
5. Practice Kata like Dance Moves: Study each move carefully and how it connects to the next or previous one. Is it a defensive reaction? Are you attacking? As you become familiar with katas' overall ebb and flow, it’s easier to remember the movements like you would a top song or dance steps.
6. Do the kata mirrored: Research shows that practicing katas on the ‘opposite’ side improves your ‘regular’ side, too, by engaging the neural pathways associated with the movement pattern (a phenomenon known as the contralateral training effect). So, flip it over!
7. Do the kata in reverse: Start at your last move and work your way backward. Try it with full force and speed. Doing this is similar to doing the kata mirrored, but a little bit more difficult.
8. Slow down: It is human nature to take the path of least resistance. In other words, you will often “cheat” by reusing momentum from fast techniques to get through difficult parts of kata. If you’re rushing, you won’t be able to perform all moves correctly. Every kata has its own timing, stops, and breathing moments. You need to respect its rhythm. Take your time.
9. Training at home remarkably helps improve your skills: If you really want to get your kata to the next level, you must start training at home EVERY DAY. The best reason to practice karate at home is that you can do it differently when you train at home than you would at the dojo. With the convenience of working at home, you can focus on specific punches or kicks, work on your body conditioning, or even work on anything that you feel needs improvement. Do you wish to improve your kata skills? Train daily, train at home.
10. Record yourself: If possible, you should record your practice sessions. To avoid practicing and improving a wrong technique only to have to change it later, your technique must be corrected and improved right when you are training. Therefore, you may be able to detect any technical errors in your kata by filming yourself doing it.
11. Consider having someone experienced to guide you: Even if you film yourself or practice before a mirror, it’s sometimes difficult to identify the finer technical aspects you need to work on or to pinpoint the flawed techniques. Therefore, having an experienced observer watching you perform kata is necessary. It’s easier for someone else to see our flaws than for ourselves, so don’t be afraid of reaching out for assistance.
12. Watch Professionals: Videos of professional players performing the techniques in tournaments provide excellent resources for serious kata competitors. Such videos will inspire and provide insight into how techniques are performed at quick speeds.
13. Try the Kata blindfolded — This will give you a better idea of your sense of direction. Without your sense of sight, can you still perform your kata in the correct direction?
14. Practice the kata through its Bunkai: If you are a student of Karate, you are likely already familiar with Bunkai. Bunkai is vital to refine any Kata and take it to the next level. It is the translation of a Kata sequence in a real-life situation. Through Bunkai, you will learn the meaning of each movement in Kata, so when you execute it, you will know what the move intends to accomplish, and how to execute it correctly. When learning a Kata, never ignore its Bunkai.
15. Focus on Kihon Sessions: The majority of the Kata punches, kicks, blocks, and strikes, are practiced through Kihon sessions. A Kihon session consists of practicing a technique forty times until it becomes your second nature. The key to mastering any technique is constant and repeated practice, no matter how difficult or complex it is. The best way to improve your Kata is to start from the basics. Concentrate on your Kihon sessions and give it your all. And you will see how much better your Kata will become.
16. Focus on Your Breathing: Stress and negative thoughts can make you lose focus as well as affect your breathing. You need to maintain a calm, rhythmic breathing pattern at all times when performing Katas. Take a deep breath when needed as huffing and puffing will not give you an advantage in the long run.
17. Focus on your Rythm and Timing: In karate, each Kata has its own rhythm and mastering it is the key to performing that Kata correctly, especially in competition. Learn and focus on when you should stop and breathe during sequences and when you should not. If you don’t understand the timing and rhythm of a Kata, you won’t be able to perform it correctly. Timing is an important part of Kata, otherwise, it is just a succession of random, meaningless moves.
18. Perform kata in front of an audience: There is typically a great deal of pressure involved with performing kata in front of an audience. Performance anxiety, or stress, is interpreted by your body as a physical danger situation (cortisol levels rise, palms start sweating, muscles tense, adrenaline is released, etc.). The practice of kata in front of an audience naturally improves your performance during a competition.
19. Do the Kata in water: Stand in the water up to your shoulders. The resistance provided by the water allows for a good workout without putting additional stress on the joints. It is also beneficial for physical rehabilitation because it relieves joint stress.
20. Draw Lines on the Floor: This tip is especially helpful for beginners and will be useful in refining your stances (dachi). In Kata, we begin at one point, and we must finish the Kata by returning to the very same point, if not, then we have made a mistake. It is important to align the feet in certain Karate stances, such as Kokutsu-dachi. In other cases, such as Zenkutsu-dachi, the feet should not be aligned. For an advanced student, aligning his feet correctly may be simple, but it is more challenging for a beginner. Drawing lines on the floor will be very helpful in this regard.

Conclusion

Most people believe that the most challenging aspect of practicing Kata is memorizing its moves and stances. In fact, the learning process goes far beyond memorization. You must practice your Kata sequences repeatedly to refine them and improve your performance.

Training plays a major role in your kata performance. However, focus and mindset are the two most important factors that affect your performance.

Having read this article, it should be evident that there are numerous ways you can improve and refine your kata. Considering all those factors, you should take the practice of kata seriously. Each punch, kick, block, and step should be thrown with all your strength. Give your kata your best effort.

The more you practice the application of Kata techniques, the more you will realize by yourself, over time, that the real purpose of Kata is to prepare both the body and the mind for actual combat.

If you want to improve, you should avoid looking at others and comparing yourself with them. Compare yourself to your past self instead, so you can see what you need to improve on and correct to enhance your Kata performance and take it to the next level.