Well, here is something I wrote a couple years ago on what I thought the purpose of kata "Should" be.... just don't ask how well I think Classical kata actually do this
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Kata are the defining feature of Okinawan karate. Without kata it is no longer karate that you are doing. So the question arises what are kata and what do they accomplish? Kata are probably the most misunderstood training tool used by modern karate-ka. In this article I hope to express my views on what the function of kata is in training and provided support for my views.
First I would like to describe something which I feel is in a sense a kata, although we might not think of it as so. It is not a karate kata, or a martial arts kata but it serves much the same purpose. That kata is as follows:
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."
If you didn't recognize it, it is a sentence often used when learning to type, it could also be used in Calligraphy. It is used because it contains all the letters of the alphabet. By practicing this sentence you practice all the positions required to type.
After enough practice hitting the right keys becomes natural and instinctual. One might say that this sentence contains all the required elements of typing condensed into one sentence that is easy to remember and can be practiced quickly.
Kata act in much the same way, they train our bodies to move in certain ways, keeping good "structure", maintaining balance, proper breathing, etc. All the key elements required for the martial arts. There is certainly more required then just posturing and movements though, and this is also true in typing.
We must also learn spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc. The typing "kata" only provides us with the proper positions and movements required to be able to efficiently do this. You can hardly write a novel if you have to spend 3 - 5 seconds pausing to look for each letter on the keyboard.
What the typing "kata" does is allow us to effectively and efficiently make use of our theoretical skill by giving our body the ability to move in the proper manner without thought to what it is doing. We are teaching ourselves to instinctively move in a certain way to accomplish a specific task.
This applies to our karate kata as well. We are teaching ourselves to instinctively move in an efficient way, to maintain a strong structure, to breath in a specific manner, programming our automatic responses to best suit our needs in combat.
We also need strategy, knowledge of techniques, physical conditioning, a clear mental state, etc. Just as in typing you need Grammar and writing ability (strategy), spelling and punctuation (techniques) and focus. The kata can only teach us to move correctly, but not when and where to use those movements, that requires other training.
Now some people choose to use kata purely as a performance act. Trying to look good, kick high and yell lots. This is clearly not the point kata where intended for but it is done and is another possible use for the kata. I might work Calligraphy with that sentence, dress it up, make it fancy, put it on display, etc. That doesn't mean that is the intended purpose of the form, just something that can be done with them. However this is different then using the sentence to learn typing, with the goal of writing. Same as it is different from training kata to look good and training them for martial arts.
Now others have come to the realization that kata contain techniques that can be used in combat. They have analysed the movement sequences and derived applications responding to certain types of events. Often they focus on what have been named the "Habitual Acts of Violence", common attacks that occur in real situations involving physical force.
I cannot dispute that kata contain techniques which do work and can be applied against the HAOV. But I would argue that that is quite trivial and not at all the purpose of doing kata.
One might compare it to recognizing that there are words in the typing kata. Previously you had just been typing the pattern, but not know how to read, how to form sentences or what exactly you where doing. You might think of typing it in a different language, and later realising that there where words contained in that. You then search out how these words might be used in common situations. What I'll call the "Habitual Acts of Conversation", common verbal situations which occur and the appropriate responses.
Now this should come off as rather silly, the individual words are clearly not the purpose in the sentence. The purpose is learning the skill of typing. Learning to hit the right keys at the right time in the right order without having to think about it and being able to focus on what you write, not how you write it.
Karate kata are the same, yes there are words there and yes it is important to be able to recognise what those words are. But it shouldn't be the focus to figure out what the words are and how they are used. If you understand the concepts and tactics of the martial arts you should simply see the techniques used in the kata as clearly as you see the words in the sentence.
That's not to say there is no value to trying to work out kata, this is certainly a good starting point if you don't understand the language. You can start be trying to understand the words you have been using, but the focus should be on learning the language, not just a few words that have been chosen to represent the movements applicable to the martial arts.
So if you have been using various English sentences to learn how to type, and you decide you'd like to start learning English, one starting point would be to start learning how the words you've already been using can be used. But if that is the whole focus, and rather then learning the language you just focus on trying to uncover all the possible uses of the word "fox" you will never really understand English.
It is also often claimed that kata are a mnemonic device used to remember specific techniques. Again I argue that this is silly. It is the same as claiming that the sentence is to remember the words contained within it. If you understand the martial arts / language this has no value.
So what kata are is a series of movements (letters) organized into techniques (words) and further organized into a pattern (sentence) which can be remembered and practiced to develop the movements / postures relevant to the martial arts.
