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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8 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 [...]
James Barton’s Virtuous Science of Self-Defense // Sep 11, 2008
[...] or kata practice is a method of inductive learning: the practitioner learns not only specific choreography, [...]
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[...] (the application of the kata techniques) is invaluable. Not all the kata can be deciphered, but many can, especially the more modern kata. It is this element, where the kata can be broken down and the [...]
The True Kata Applications...Part 1 | ActionKarateArts.com // Sep 19, 2009
[...] intended for a certain movement, or even if that is the original movement of the kata at all, that I can take ownership of it now. As I train and work the form to perfect my execution of it, I am also perfecting IT to fit me. [...]
Crossing The Pond – Martial Expo 2010 Review // Aug 18, 2010
[...] Quotations on Martial Arts I Challenge Kimbo Slice to a Fair Fight Are You Fit Enough to Fight? How to Discover The Purpose of Your Kata Martial Arts of Addition and Subtraction Movement, Martial Arts, and Man-in-the-Middle [...]
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