Once you advance in karate you will be able to decipher the kata according to your own interpretations, that is if you are interested in this area, some traditional karateka think kata are the ABC of karate, while others think they are a waste or time and would rather be sparring.
Its up to you whether you want to go down this road, but usaully the younger athletes concentrate on competition and as they age and cannot compete anymore then they study kata applications.
Here is an example of how kata can be used in a self defense situation, ofcourse just knowing the movements is not enough, you have to drill the interpretations that you have come up with in an alive manner and with a non complaint partner to see if they work under a stressful situation.
Just like any technique in any art you must practice the applications in partner drills and scenario training just like the RBSD camps do with their techniques, which when compared to kata are very similar if not identical.
Here we look at the kata kanku dai, first the individual performance and then the some of the applications that sensei Tom Leeman has deciphered.
Kata Kanku Dai by Mr Yamamoto from Teikyo University
sensei Tom Leeman applications kata Kanku Dai -1
sensei Tom Leeman applications kata Kanku Dai - 2
sensei Tom Leeman applications kata Kanku Dai - 3
sensei Tom Leeman applications kata Kanku Dai - 4
sensei Tom Leeman applications kata Kanku Dai - 5
sensei Tom Leeman applications kata Kanku Dai - 6
sensei Tom Leeman applications kata Kanku Dai - 7
