Types of kata/forms/patterns

[jks9199]

A number of threads lately have got me thinking... along with an incident where I realized that my colleagues and I were using a word one way, and some computer types were using the same word, but meaning something else.

There are a number of threads about the value of forms training. For the purpose of discussion -- kata, forms, and many other words are being used to mean a pre-arranged sequence of movements and techniques, often handed down for multiple generations with little change. I'll distinguish a "form" from a "drill" thus; a drill is a simple arrangement of techniques or means to practice a limited scope of techniques. (I know, there's plenty of overlap!) A punching drill might contain straight punches, hooks, hammer punches, and so on. A punching form might be a sequence of steps combined with punches.

That said... I'm gonna toss it in the trash, in a sense. I think there are different types of forms. Some forms record proven fighting principles (evade and counter-attack, for example). Other forms are for "showing off" or demonstrating a system; they may include a lot of the system, or very little of it. Still others are done as "memorializations" of particular events or roles, or done to unify the body and mind, and I'm sure there are more.

Where I think a problem crops up is when I start to discuss a form, and I mean a "recorded combat principle in several executions" -- but the guy I'm talking to is thinking of "demonstration or index of the system". And the guy listening in... He's thinking of drills, not forms! But we all keep using the same terms...

I read an article once that mentioned two types of Okinawan kata; I don't recall the Japanese names used. One type was "freeform", where the class leader basically told a story and the class followed; the other was the prearranged way we're used to.

 

[exile]

I think there are different types of forms. Some forms record proven fighting principles (evade and counter-attack, for example). Other forms are for "showing off" or demonstrating a system; they may include a lot of the system, or very little of it. Still others are done as "memorializations" of particular events or roles, or done to unify the body and mind, and I'm sure there are more.

Where I think a problem crops up is when I start to discuss a form, and I mean a "recorded combat principle in several executions" -- but the guy I'm talking to is thinking of "demonstration or index of the system". And the guy listening in... He's thinking of drills, not forms! But we all keep using the same terms...

This is a very interesting distinction, jks.... my first question is, how do you know which kind you're dealing with? And my second one is, are (at least some of) the different kinds really that different?

For example, we know there are a fair number of kata in Okinawan karate that exemplify a fighting system; in a sense, they `are' the fighting system, exhibited as the kinds of responses and continuations the kata, correctly interpreted, makes available to you in the face of a typical initiating attack move by an assailant. But we also know that Chinto was recorded by Matsumura as a record of the combat techs the sailor Chinto had used against him in a confrontation, after M. succeeded in persuading C. to show him just what it was he had done... still, it seems likely that M. was recording the Chinto kata as a mnemonic for C.'s skill set, so that M. could learn it and use elements of it himself. So Chinto is a `memorialization' but also a record of a proven fighting system.

My first response therefore is to wonder if there really is a sound basis for drawing a sharp line amongst these different types...?

 

[Steel Tiger]

Now this is a problem for CMAs. Ever since the development of the National Wushu Institute and Wushu competitions forms have been divided into two broad groups. There are the older forms that were designed to pass on combat information and there are the newer Wushu forms. These new forms may have many aspects of the older forms but a large element of show and display has been added. Further, though there are a number of elements a performance should be judged on, judging tends to favours the acrobatic and theatrical.

Unfortunately for CMAs generally Wushu is so prevalent that it is often the only experience that some people might have of 'Kung Fu'. The result being a very disparaging view of 'Kung Fu' even though only a single aspect has been viewed.

I can tell you now my forms are not acrobatic or theatrical. The Tiger form that I know is brutal and efficient, though there is a jumping spinning kick in it. The same can be said for my Snake Fist and Snake Palm forms.