The Way of Least Resistance

The other day I received an email query about the nature and purpose of kata. As it raises some very pertinent issues I thought I would share it with you and also my response. "I was reading your blog and the information on the page for the traditional school of martial arts. I was just wondering your thoughts on the internal art of Tai Chi and the application of solo forms of that as well as katas of karate. The application part is what is all kind of new to me and where I am having trouble understanding. With the repetitive nature of these forms and styles, in real world setting,(not at competitions to gain points)is the aim for it to be second nature and to "re-act" rather than square up and have a formal fight?" This query made me made me realise that I have never really addressed the issue of what I consider to be its main purpose. [Readers of my blog will be aware that I have previously discussed purposes of kata in the articles such as: “ Kata - art or sci...

Some of you might have heard about a martial arts school that teaches “secret techniques” or has “secret training methods”. Something about this might intrigue you. Perhaps they guard their secrets so obsessively that you might wonder whether they do indeed have some methodology that makes them “superior” to all other arts/styles/schools... In my school of martial art we have certain techniques that I’ve found to be very effective from my personal physical experience. However these techniques and methods are largely misunderstood today - particularly in the sports arena where issues such as glove dynamics and rules affect their use. Although they are classical techniques they are even forgotten among traditional martial artists who are increasingly adopting boxing and other modern sports alternatives (see for example my article " Faux boxing "). These include our use of "blocks" in sparring (especially with our use of "tenshin" or evasion), our "...