2005 Workout #146: Black Belt Kata Trifecta…

Tonight’s workout departed a bit from the normal clamor of sparring that we’ve been up to. After some fairly brutal warmups by Kevin, we had a pretty basic first class. Lunge Punch, Front Kick, San-bon zuki… that lead into blocking up and down the floor, and then some partner drills to help the lower rank understand pressing block.

The second class was black belt kata… we started with stretching (thank God!) and then went right into Kanku Sho. We did that several times, breaking it into pieces for those that didn’t know it. Next up: Nijyushiho (I checked the spelling , both this and Nijushiho is acceptable). We did this one several times, I really enjoy the different feeling of this kata. Some of the movements just feel powerful to me, especially the last run of techniques.

Finally, it was one of my personal favorites that I am least good at: Unsu. Going through Unsu hearkens me back to earlier days of watching Sensei Hartman and Sensei Jennings do this kata. Both men are/were amazing in their own rights, and I was not alone in remembering the raw power that seemed to emanate from Sensei Jennings during that first set of oxjaw blocks. It was a fun kata to do a few times, but WOW is it hard on your legs. I’d love to learn how to do this kata the right way… there’s so many intricities there.

It was a pretty mentally taxing workout with all of the rarely done katas, but it was a nice break. My body can only handle so many times of running into feet and fists before it falls apart, its nice to enjoy a few katas while the bruises heal and the bones mend. I’m sure we’ll be back to sparring on Thursday and Saturday, and I’m sure I’ll be looking forward to it.

Sensei Brewer gave an interesting view on the whole “kata is interpretation” perspective. I asked a few questions about how techniques are done and he answered them then went on to say that you’ll see things differently because Karate, like fine art, looks different when interpreted through different people. He said that you may as well just buy the video if you’re after a perfect kata, because part of performing a kata is putting your own tilt on it to make it your own. It is, after all, a martial art.

Hearing his perspective on advanced training is very fascinating.