the school. In this way pattern practice is a means to systematize and reg-
ularize training and to provide continuity within the art or school from
generation to generation, even in the absence of written instruments for
transmission. In application, the kata practiced by a given school can and
do change from generation to generation—or even within the lifetime of an
individual teacher—but they are normally considered to have been handed
down intact by the founder or some other important figure in the school’s
heritage. Changes, when they occur, are viewed as being superficial, ad-
justments to the outward form of the kata; the key elements—the mar-136 Form/Xing/Kata/Pattern Practice
Women at an annual
martial arts festival in
Seattle, Washington,
perform kata(forms)
in unison. (Bohemian
Nomad Picture-
makers/Corbis)