When we consider the parallels between language and martial arts we can extend the comparison to a fun new area. If techniques are words and combos are sentences, then forms (kata) are songs.
Kihon is a repeated sequence of (usually basic) moves. Adding to the sequence makes the repetition more difficult. To the point that a sequence of 8 or 10 moves would be extremely hard to repeat. Yet later in the class Sensei may call for any number of kata from the syllabus
and off we go repeating from memory a sequence of 27 moves without much thought. Yes, having drilled the kata hundreds of times before does help keep it in the memory banks but there’s more to it. Kata has a cadence, a rhythm. It’s a choreography of imagined fights against invisible opponents. It’s a story.
Consider now an English teacher giving vocabulary lessons in a foreign language by giving pupils lists of words to memorize. Recite these 3-4 words. Now add another… then another. It would strain the memory to keep a list of 10 words to recite. Now the teacher decides to switch it up and sing a song with their pupils.
They know the words, all 50 of them. They know the rhythm and the rhyme. It’s a story.
A story is easy to remember. The sequence of events follows each other in a logical manner that makes it simple for our squishy human brains to remember. Add music and it’s even better, now there are sound queues that help you along.
Why teach kata? Because they are our songs. The stories that we can teach a beginner before they know how to “speak” karate. Understanding can come later. We call it bunkai. The translation of the often stylized motion within the kata to a real-world application of the technique. All of a sudden the story takes shape, a deeper understanding is gained, “so THAT’S what that means…” In the meantime we can train and drill the kata and gain all the other benefits of knowing it without having to understand it as deeply as sensei might like.
Thank you,
Francisco Berro