Benefits of Kata and Form

[Sukerkin]

This is a link to a very good short article about the utility and necessity of kata training in the sword arts.

It's not a long read but touches on the important points that need to be considered:

http://www.aikidojournal.com/article.php?articleID=622

 

[pgsmith]

I've always enjoyed Ellis Amdur's writing, thanks for posting that link! However, it's a bit like preaching to the choir to post it here. You ought to post it in the general forum. Bet it would engender some interesting comments.

 

[Ken Morgan]

I've always enjoyed Ellis Amdur's writing, thanks for posting that link! However, it's a bit like preaching to the choir to post it here. You ought to post it in the general forum. Bet it would engender some interesting comments.

Yeah the five of us here who actually practice JSA are already convinced!

 

[Xue Sheng]

kata.... form....pfhht...who needs em...... Xingyiquan...forms...never heard of it

I do not do Japanese sword, I did have a brief stint in Kendo but that is as far as I got. But Xingyiquan is a style I truly love and it does require forms and stance training and without that it is not Xingyiquan.

Based on the article (which was rather good) I doubt that a Japanese sword art would be a Japanese sword art without kata and like any style that has kata or forms they are a rather integral and important part of these styles that can lead to much more than the understanding of the style and being able to fight. And if you train those styles and ignore the forms/kata, or do no train them properly, you are not training those styles at all and therefore, IMO, can’t really say if they are effective or not or if kata/forms are useless or not since you do not, in fact, train them.

 

[Sukerkin]

A fair point Mr. Smith and Mr. Morgan.

It is one of my sorrows that MT does not have more JSA students amongst it's members. As a result there are very few posts made in the fora that are actually of most interest to we 'happy few', so I reckoned a little 'ding' to turn the light on for a while might be a good idea .

Have you seen the dust in here ... ? :lol:

 

[pgsmith]

Have you seen the dust in here ... ?

Nah. I never notice dust until the wife points it out to me.

 

[Ken Morgan]

Nah. I never notice dust until the wife points it out to me.

so are you saying she's not doing her job.......?

 

[pgsmith]

so are you saying she's not doing her job.......?

Ummm .... you're talking about the woman that wants me to get her a new chain saw for Christmas, and it better be a Stihl! Dusting is not real high on the priority list.