A poem inspired by Billy Collins
Introduction to Kata and Bunkai
Torture devices (Credit: Peter Bechthold)
I ask them to take a kata
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a kata
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the kata’s room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a kata
waving at the shihan’s name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the kata to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Coerced confessions are notoriously unreliable. Try seduction instead.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Patrick Parker // Apr 19, 2008
I like that - a lot!
2 Kungfuguy // Apr 20, 2008
cool torture stuff
Ordosclan, The Grumpy Savant of rec.martial-arts // Apr 19, 2008
[…] …Interpretation of function leads to degradation of structure. If a posture can be rooted to a canonical reference, pre-natal or post-natal posture, then that’s the ultimate authority on the subject. Period. […]
Learn The Art of Kata Seduction // Apr 25, 2008
[…] Search ← How to Discover The Purpose of Your Kata […]
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