looked, and it’s common for students
who are working on a kata to simply
perform it from beginning to end
every time they do it.
Pro Tip: Kata practice becomes
much more effective when you direct
students to dedicate extra time to
the sections that need it most. This
could mean spot-training a single
difficult move or repeating a whole
sequence of moves dozens of times
to burn it into muscle memory. With
this type of focus, rough spots will
be smoothed out and complicated
segments will be performed with
confidence. Before they begin, help
them identify the sections they need
to focus on.
DEVELOP DIRECTIONAL AWARENESS:
Martial artists tend to have one or
two favorite training areas. Whether
it’s a corner of the dojo or a quiet
room at home, these are the places
where most of their kata practice
takes place. Consequently, it’s not
uncommon for students to use their
surroundings as landmarks — either
consciously or subconsciously — and
associate each movement in a kata
with the wall or piece of furniture
they’re facing as they do it.
The problem, of course, is that
those landmarks will not always be
there when they perform the kata.
When they demonstrate it in an unfa-
miliar environment, the lack of famil-
iar surroundings can cause them to
lose their bearings as they turn from
one position to the next. In fact, even
changing the starting direction of a
kata is sometimes enough to cause
disorientation.
Pro Tip: Teach students to use the
forward direction only as reference
during kata practice. Advise them to
stay aware of which way is forward as
they work through each movement
of a kata. Remind them to visualize
someone watching them from the
front so they can use that imaginary
person as a mental landmark. This
will help them keep their bearings
during any kata demonstration.
PAY ATTENTION TO DETAIL: There’s
no point in students turning up the
speed and power in a kata if preci-
sion is not there. When they rush
through kata practice without com-
pleting movements or properly doing
techniques, they’re missing out on
the important physical and mental
benefits the kata was intended to pro-
vide. In the long run, they will have
to spend more time correcting the
errors than they would have needed
to get the movements right in the
first place.
Pro Tip: Remind students that
proper form should come before
speed. Ensure that they’re prac-
ticing as slowly as necessary to
develop the accuracy you expect.
Encourage them to keep notes on
the kata they’ve learned. This will
help them internalize the move-
ments and give them something to
refer to in the future.
Advice for Students and Teach-
ers: The old saying “Practice makes
perfect” is not necessarily true. Prac-
tice ingrains habits, and it’s up to
the martial artist to ensure that the
correct habits are being ingrained.
A better adage is “Perfect practice
makes perfect.”MIX IT UP: The human body is highly
adaptive. Over time, it becomes
accustomed to the demands of any
training routine, and before long, the
aspiring athlete’s progress starts to
level off. This is one of the reasons
top competitors regularly modify the
exercises in their training programs.
Pro Tip: Martial artists experi-
ence training plateaus as much as
anyone, and adding variety to kata
practice is one of the best ways to
surmount those plateaus. Introduce
your students to variations such as
practicing with their hands on theirhips to bring more attention to the
stances and working with their eyes
closed to focus on balance. Train-
ing outdoors on uneven terrain is
another good way to challenge them
— as long as the necessary safety
precautions are taken.BE METHODICAL: Most students
have a few kata they consider their
favorites. Often, these are the forms
that get the most practice time while
the others fall by the wayside. Before
long, the neglected kata become
rusty and possibly even forgotten.
Pro Tip: Encourage your students
to cycle through their kata as part of
their training regimen. Suggest tools
they can use to help them manage
their practice routines. Writing the
names of kata on cards and methodi-
cally working through the deck is a
simple way to ensure that no kata is
left behind. Various flashcard apps
can eliminate the need for physical
cards and allow practice routines
to be accessed conveniently from
mobile devices.AS AN INSTRUCTOR, you must design
your lessons so they convey the
material that’s included in your art
in an efficient manner. Develop your
own cycles of kata to teach, along
with ways to review them in class.
With this kind of attention, your
long-term lesson plan will ensure
that your students learn all the forms
they need to advance and, more
important, that every one of those
kata looks sharp.Ernest Cadorin has taught martial
arts for 25 years. He’s the author of
The Arrows of Zen.There’s no point in students
turning up the speed and power
in a kata if precision is not there.
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