When you learn to play a musical instrument, like a guitar, you start by learning the notes, one string at a time. You are given exercises to practice. These help you learn where the notes are, how to play the notes and how to read the notes. Eventually you start to learn and practice songs like Red River Valley and Ode to Joy. You get to practice scales. You get to learn other songs, that are picked specifically to teach you things like timing or additional notes or a new technique in playing.
Everyone expects that at some point, you will move on to play music outside the method book. Once you have learned the method, you can go into classical music, Jazz, Rock, Country, Bluegrass... whatever. You will even move on to songs not included in your method book. You will probably use completely different arrangements of the songs that you once learned in your method book. You will even make up your own arrangements of songs...
This is expected growth and development for a musical instrument. The expectation of the method, and all its exercises is to teach you what the notes are, how to play the notes and read the notes. But, these exercises also teach you how the notes are related, the theory of music and how they all work together. The idea is to create a repeatable process to introduce people to music, so that they can play and arrange and even compose their own music. The expectation is that you go way beyond the method book and its exercises.
Kata (specifically Japanese Kata) is designed the same way. It is to teach you the basics, and introduce you to the theory and how things works together. The idea is for you to eventually understand enough to make changes, to play around with it creating your own arrangements. Eventually, even composing your own. Kata is basically the method exercises used to teach beginners an art, just like you would teach a person to play an instrument. The expectation is that you learn the basics first, understand the theory and then start adapting and changing. You are expected to go beyond.
The problem is that too many people missed that for years. They treat the kata as the dictionary and definition of their art... if its not in the kata, its not in the art. They missed the part about going beyond. They did not understand Shu-Ha-Ri. Shu is the first step, copy exactly... play your scales, play Red River Valley exactly as written in your book. This is where many people stopped. They then put on the fancy pajamas and belt, called themselves Master, Soke, Sensei... and did not allow questions. This is it... scales, Red River Valley and Ode to Joy. Now, we have people that tell you that you cannot play Saints Go Marching In on your guitar, because "my master taught Red River Valley." No, you can't play that scale there or strum that chord, the book says play the note. We have been conditioned to look at the fancy pajamas and belt, and associate a ton of authority and knowledge... to people who do not even understand that what they are teaching is supposed to be changed and adapted. It is supposed to open doors, not close them.
I took the other route to learn guitar. I wanted to play Unforgiven by Metallica. It took me longer to be able to play that song, than it took me to earn a black belt, and start teaching... Sure, I can play a couple of other songs as well. I simply learned to read tabs, got the music for the song I wanted and brute forced my way through. The problem is that I can't play with other musicians, I can't make my own arrangements... as I ended up being able to play a few songs, but have no understanding of music and how it works. To learn a new song, takes me a year or more... because I took the shortcut, and skipped the method.
Yes, there are many methods... many different ways to learn something. However, Shu-Ha-Ri is being judged by many, as being less effective... because it too many of the people who practice part of it... do not realize that they are only practicing part of it. They are stuck under their master's "authority" who is in turn stuck under their master's "authority." This "authority" is what makes the kata stiff and unfluid and useless. This "authority" has been so effective, that you can go in to a random Shotokan school, and explain Funakoshi's view on what a kata is doing... and they will tell you that you have no idea what you are talking about. When you show them, that it is Funakoshi's own words, about that exact movement, in that kata... they look sheepish, then admit that it could possibly be looked at that way in specific circumstances, but its not generally accepted.... (for those who don't know, Funakoshi was the creator and founder of Shotokan... he might have an idea on what he was trying to teach with the kata that he included)
I submit that if you take only one part, of any training method... and then not only ignore, but prevent people from doing any of the other parts of that training method, you will get bad results. Especially when you start linking "authority" to it. Kata is not good or bad. It is part of a much larger method for teaching people, in a repeatable fashion. We just keep using it wrong.
There are places that do understand it, and are using it correctly... These are places to train, if you can find them. When kata is used correctly, it can produce very good results.
