The number 3 is very significant and satisfying for human beings. “The power of 3,” “3rd time’s the charm,” 3 divisions of time: past, present and future. Along these lines I present to you my personal view of the three ingredients that make up the delicious dish that is Karate: Art. Physical conditioning. Self-defense.
It is interesting to note that Karate itself is made up of 3 things: kata, kihon and kumite. I envision these as a different mixture of the three ingredients above. As such, Kata is high on art, medium conditioning, low self-defense. Kihon is high conditioning, medium art, medium self-defense. Kumite is high self-defense, medium conditioning, low art. Something like this:
The relative amounts and degrees to which this holds true is of course debatable and I would welcome that conversation. If the ingredients make a stew, there will be many opinions as to how much of each ingredient to add in and none of them are wrong. Some folks go hard on kata, making the red bar rise higher. Some raise their technique standards much more during kihon, making their blue bar rise, some emphasize evasion and avoidance tactics during kumite for a more even spread of all three.
What should we focus on when we train? Which of the three are we best at and worst at? Should we slide the scales one way or the other? These are the questions we can now ask ourselves – if we intend to improve. Not to be better than the person next to us but at least less bad than our past selves.
Check out some of Francisco’s other articles:
How to Become Good: 10,000 Bad Kicks
Kata are songs
Best Fighting Style: Rock-Paper-Scissors
Is Martial Arts Language?
How to Develop Martial Arts Expertise: 60 Frames Per Second