Antagony

Okay, I'll kind of get these with a catch-all response. If a person doesn't practice the martial arts, they cannot be a martial artist. You got this concept from my previous post. So that brings your new question . . .

I wouldn't call you a "fighter" either unless you practice fighting. That's just how language works. I would just say that you think about fighting. You think about possibility for blocks, attacks, counter-attacks and what-not.

As for you having your "own style", of course you do. Everyone has their own style of fighting. No two people fight the same, not even two people in the same martial arts school. That's a given. Some fellow who has never been in a fight before is going to be using his own unpracticed style.

Until you actively participate in something, you aren't going to be able to classify yourself. Except maybe "guy who reads about fighting".

This is a pretty common sentiment among people outside of the arts. I think it's mainly due to ignorance of what the kata is used for.

Kata isn't meant to be a template for what to do in a fight. It's absurd that anyone would believe that. Here are some of the reasons for learning kata that I can think of off the top of my head:

Spiritual/Mental - Practicing a kata entails much concentration and focus. I hesitate to say it, but it's even a bit meditative. Zen-like, if you fancy. To practice kata to the fullest and best, we must purge our minds of thoughts and obtrusive emotions. As such, it serves as a way to exercise our mind and spirit.

Remember how I mentioned before that the martial arts very much involve the mind and spirit. Martial arts are more about winning fights.

Combat Application - First off, all combat application from the kata is an indirect affector on our combat skills. What I mean is that we don't take the actual kata into combat. That's silly, and it would never work in any real situation.

The benefits we develop from kata for combat comes in three different, but closely related forms: fluidity, reflexes, and combat thinking.

Practicing kata helps us move around in real situations. Again, this is indirect. We learn to be as fluid as possible in the kata. So in real application, we can easily shift body weight, change stances, perform successive strikes, etc.

Reflexes are developed through kata. A kata is really just a long collection of many useable moves. Of course a kata isn't going to directly apply to a real situation, but a martial artist will have a developed "muscle memory" of what to do when he is in position X and the opponent just performed action Y. Sure, you could sit down by yourself and think about moves for that situation, but practicing such a movement makes it reflexive. In combat you don't have time to think.

Once a kata is learned pretty well, the brain kicks in high gear when practicing them. A martial artist can go through his kata and think about possible variations in both his movements and his imaginary opponents. I think the benefits there don't need to be explained.

Someone who has been practicing the arts longer than myself could probably provide a much better, thorough, and correct explanation for the benefits of learning kata, but at least I gave it a try


Anyway, I hope I answered your question and helped you understand why the kata is so widely practiced. Martial arts have been around for thousands of years and kata still exist in the vast majority of these arts. That alone would make me think a lot deeper than, "But you can't use a kata in real life!"

p.s. - If you want further discussion on this, please PM me and perhaps we can start another thread. I don't think this material is appropriate to the intention of this thread.

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