If you ever asked yourself what is the most beneficial for your self defense Karate, between Kata and Kumite, this will help you figure it out.
“What should I put more effort into”.... Kata Vs Kumite.
Beginners usually join their local Karate Dojo to learn how to defend themselves. Some people set themselves a goal of getting a Black belt, while others only practice for the workout and social aspect of it.
Regardless of why, this is what usually happens after beginners join a Dojo. Fast forward 6 to 12 Months, and the most dedicated ones keep focusing on Kata, as every beginner should, while the others jump a little too early into Kumite, which they see closer to a real fight.
Unfortunately, Today’s Kumite has pretty much become a sport, and many Karateka, even non beginners, transpose their progression in sport Kumite into an ability to defend themselves in the street. It is only true to some extend, since practicing sport Kumite can teach you a great deal about managing the distance with your opponent, as well as the importance of timing in attack and defence. But realistically, Karate sport Kumite alone, is nowhere close to preparing you for a street fight. Because of the rules that have been set in sport Kumite, for the sake of safety, almost everything that can really hurt, and help you get rid of an attacker efficiently, is forbidden. Also, the fact that you uniquely spar other Karateka, is already a problem in itself. It means that you only built muscle memory towards an opponent with a typical Karate behaviour, and only attacking you using certain type of attacks. When you are used to dodging straight punches in a single opponent attack (Sport Kumite) and you find yourself having to deal with combinations of hook punches, uppercuts, grapples from multiple opponents in a street fight, the result could be catastrophic for you! So how can a Karateka achieve street fight efficiency?
The 1st thing to remember, is that, having rock solid Kata is the one thing that can get your fighting skills to a higher level. Without good Kata, no good Kumite. Then, having both solid Kata, and solid Kumite opens the door to a higher level of Karate. Unfortunately, many Karateka neglect, either Kata or Kumite, preventing them from achieving that proficiency stage. Once you reached a solid level in both Kata and Kumite, and only then, you can focus on turning Kata Bunkai into a very street efficient Karate. So as you can see, if self defense is your goal, there is no real choice to be made between Kumite Vs Kata, and you need both skills developed to boost your Karate to be street fight efficient. And for those of you which goal is/was to get a black belt, it’s a fair goal, but please remember that having a Shodan Black belt is not an end to itself, far from it. You are supposed to then have acquired the core of Karate, and be ready to take it to the next level. It is then up to you to make it happen. By focusing more on practicing advanced Kata Bunkai, and moving towards a more personalized training, you can then turn your Karate into a practical self defense weapon.
Remember that originally, Karate wasn’t made to do competition and win medals and trophies, but to defeat anyone threatening your life ….no rules! . Karate is a complete fighting system that needs all its components in order to deliver…..No shortcuts!
Here’s a good Kata to watch followed by its Bunkai (Kata Unshu).
Toronto, Sensei Alpha - KarateBoost blog
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