The Way of Least Resistance

Introduction In Parts 1 and 2 of my article "Bridging the gap between karate and the internal arts", I discussed my design of an experimental or "research" form ("kenkyugata") - one that is an "external/internal hybrid".  In this essay I wish to describe and discuss the "final product" in detail. The goal of this project was to create a form for external martial arts practitioners (in particular, karateka) that enables them to assimilate  into their practice some  of the principles/concepts  (意 or "yi") of the internal arts relating to efficient momentum transfer - both for defence (effective evasion and deflection) and counter attack (landing blows more securely and with "whole body" force multiplication). Above all else I wanted this kata to be sufficiently familiar to karateka : I wanted to avoid the need for them to undergo lengthy training in the outward form  of the internal arts  (called 形 or "xi...

Introduction: isolating the essential “yi” (concepts) In Part 1 of this article I discussed the interest many karateka have in the Chinese martial arts, particularly the internal arts of xingyiquan, baguazhang and taijiquan. I also discussed how many karateka are dissuaded from pursuing a study of the internal arts (or any other Chinese forms) because of their perceived complexity and “overly ritualistic” nature. Accordingly I suggested that it might be possible to create a “plug-in” for karate that teaches some of the essential concepts of the Chinese internal arts (what is known as the “yi”) without requiring a lengthy, laborious study of the exact (and complex) forms (the “xing”). 1 Would some information be lost? Undoubtedly. It is not possible for a “plug-in” to teach all of the subtleties and intricacies of the concepts of the internal arts. For that you have to study the full systems themselves. But I believe it is possible to extract certain pivotal concepts (“yi”) ...

As I said in Creating a kata: Part 1 , you create a kata in order to: 1. package and preserve "fragments" of knowledge; or 2. fill a void; or 3. improve existing forms. In terms of the latter 2, this is not an exercise to be entered into lightly. That you are "filling a void" or "improving" something is a big assumption. Nonetheless one can see some obvious examples, eg. with beginner kata; finding newer ways of teaching beginners how to acquire basic coordination and skill quickly is the role of any coach/teacher. Now here is an interesting example of (I assume) a created kata: Daishizen Koken-ha Goju-ryu Tode kata Mizute - click on the image to view the video. I assume it is "created" recently because in my research I am not aware of any kata corresponding to this name or to this movement. If it is recently created, then I think it actually looks quite good. The real issue for me would be whether it would have any "value adding" ben...