Training in Karate

What are the three areas of training in Karate?
Kihon, kata, and kumite are generally regarded as The Triad of Karate Training. Basic techniques, shadow boxing routines, and sparring exercises are the components. Many instructors have come to reject the notion of balancing their training between these three areas, however, and have begun to explore new ways of organizing their knowledge of Karate.



The three areas of training can be intermixed with any of the other two, or perfectly synthesized into all three at once in rare situations. Training is usually highly compartmentalized, but some instructors realize the value of crossing from the primary color areas into the secondary color areas, taking two different areas of training and blending them.

What is kata?
Kata (pronounced "kahtah") is a Japanese word that means shape, form, or style. When a Karate enthusiast puts basic techniques together in a kind of floor routine, it is called a kata. However, most Karate enthusiasts do not create kata. There are 26 kata that are considered to be part of the Shotokan Canon. Some karate organizations require only the fifteen kata that Funakoshi named in his book Karate-do Kyohan. Other instructors have advanced to the point that they would like to study some of the karate kata from Okinawan that Funakoshi did not leave behind for his students to practice. Karate students are required to learn a new kata for each rank up to shodan. After this rank, the participant may pick and choose from the remaining kata as free kata. Some of these kata are very athletic and contain much jumping, ducking, and acrobatic display. Many of the kata are simple and merely involve changes in direction and blocking and punching.

What is kihon?
Fundamental techniques are called, "kihon." (say key hone) Fundamental training in Karate involves training in punching, blocking, kicking, striking with different edges of the hands, feet, knees, and elbows, stances, hip rotation (for more power), and stepping about. There is also more advanced fundamental training in changing direction, shifting the body out of the way of an attack, and using the different fundamentals in combination with each other.

Shotokan is famous for endowing its players with strong kihon. Where a typical Tae Kwon Do class in a commercial school might do twenty punches, then rest before the next set of techniques, a Shotokan training session will involve hundreds of repetitions of different pieces of the punching action. First with one arm, then the other. Another portion might be studied, only to switch back and forth between arms. It may take a class of beginners an hour to reach a point in the lesson where they actually punch using both arms at once. This excruciating attention to detail during basic technical training is what sets Shotokan apart from other karate styles. Enthusiasts of other systems may say that Shotokan training takes this emphasis too far, at the expense of other skills, but the belief is strongly held that this training is the most important of all training. It requires more time before it can be brought against an opponent, but in the long run produces higher quality results.

What is kumite?
Kumite (say "koomeeteh") is sparring training. There are several different ways to practice sparring in Karate. One of the most basic methods is called three-step sparring. In this drill, students line up in pairs, and one attacks three times while the other blocks three times. Both players know what techniques will be used, so the drill is relatively easy at first. Later, students are introduced to one step drills, and one step free sparring drills. Finally, they are introduced to free sparring in which any techniques can be utilized within a certain limitation.

Shotokan Karate is different from many other schools in that students of the lower ranks are not allowed to practice free sparring. Since Shotokan sparring frequently involves no protective gear, learning to execute techniques with precise control is emphasized over the need to spar. This control serves students well later on, when they are able to apply their techniques at differing levels of force at will.

No one is hit and injured during proper sparring practice in Shotokan Karate. Some advanced level Karate players like to touch their opponents with their techniques, but no pain or injury is allowed. Junior Karate practitioners usually pull their strikes short of contact for safety reasons. Some people acquire bruises on their shins and forearms during their first few lessons of Karate sparring from blocking techniques. The bruising eventually goes away, and the forearms have been strengthened to withstand techniques from larger, stronger people.

Many Shotokan enthusiasts refer to sparring drills as "partner drills." They emphasize working with their partner to help them improve their sparring skills as well, rather than simply overpowering and defeating another person in class.

How much of a lesson is dedicated to kihon, kata, and kumite?
Depending upon the instructor, more or less of the lesson is dedicated to different things. Some instructors (usually in Japan) prefer the entire class to be nothing but kihon, and all kumite and kata practice comes after the end of the class. In the West, where sparring is more popular, kihon practice only takes about 15 minutes to 1 hour, leaving the rest of the 2 hour class for kumite drills. Most schools perform kata after class or at the end of class for about 15 minutes or so. Many instructors vary the amount of time spent on each of the three areas depending upon the time of the year, half year, season, or month. Some instructors have a kata class one day and a kumite class the other. Depending upon the instructor, you could get a totally different class in the same Shotokan style depending upon the instructor that is teaching that evening.

When can I stop practicing kihon and kata and just do kumite?
You can stop doing them outside of class anytime that you like. If you give up the pursuit of being promoted to higher ranks, you could conceivably never do the tedious basic training and kata again and simply enjoy the skills that you have now. However, those two training methods will be required of you in classes for your entire training experience. Part of the Shotokan philosophy is to ensure that each technique is absolutely perfect, not sloppy, and this requires constant and total dedication to improving the level of technique that one has. This takes precedence over anything else that you might do in Karate, since you can do this for the rest of your life. The day eventually may come when you are too old to continue practicing kumite with a partner without getting injured.

Do I have to learn kata?
Yes. It is doubtful that a reputable Shotokan instructor will value your opinions about how best to learn to fight over his own opinions if you are a novice to karate. Question the training regimen is comparable to asking a professor of physics "Do I have to learn calculus?" Of course you do.

Kata is firmly required for rank promotions in all Shotokan Karate organizations. As well it should be, since kata hold the more violent defense combinations and also act as a sort of database of Shotokan Karate knowledge. Also, since you must achieve a certain rank before you are allowed to learn to free spar, not learning kata would mean that you will never be allowed to participate in the more difficult sparring exercises because you will not be promoted to the higher ranks. Just as in any class, you must learn whatever is taught as a whole, then parse out what you wish to retain later on.

There are some very large benefits to kata training. First and foremost, kata make you learn something that you would not normally have thought to make yourself do. Also, you are moving in imitation of some great fighters, learning their combinations and techniques. Kata act as a built in system of self-training. You can decide to do a few kata, and what you will do is already laid out for you without you having to think about what to do next.

By attempting to learn karate without practicing the kata exercises, you will also be missing out on most of the information that the art has to offer you. The kata act as a kind of database of basic skills and the meanings of many of the motions that are practiced repeatedly. Without the kata, you will not have these skills or knowledge, and you will not have a method to organize this knowledge in your mind.

The most important thing that kata does for us, though, is that it forces us to do something that was not our own creation. If we perform only actions that are comfortable for us, we learn nothing. However, if we are forced to train through someone else's footsteps, then we learn new skills that we probably never would have thought of or attempted. The kata prevent us from reinventing the wheel.

Will I learn weapons?
Shotokan is a very time consuming experience. Considering the size of the syllabus that is already required of students, and the level of detail that is required in performing on an exam, there is no time to practice weapons. Most organizations do not endorse the practice of playing with weapons when one should be improving other areas of technique or sparring.

The Shotokan philosophy is that people who waste time with weapons usually are not very good at the empty handed actions of Karate itself. However, after ten years of training or so, many people like to take up a weapon art as another outside hobby, but, you will not practice with weapons in a Shotokan club. That is not to say that weapons training has nothing to offer. It simply means that Shotokan has been structured in such a way that it is very time intensive to learn even the most basic skills. If you spend time on other things like another martial art in your first decade of training, you will probably never acquire any basic skills that will impress anyone.

So, before you pick up a pair of nunchaku or a sword, think about what your Shotokan instructor is going to say, "Can you perform a flawless kata for me? No? Then why aren't you doing that kata?" However, do balance your fun with your training. All work and no play...

Will I learn to throw people to the ground?
Karate exposes one to different methods of attacking and damaging the human body. Throwing is covered by most instructors for a brief time, but is usually not a major part of the curriculum of the class. Karate training emphasizes hitting people with various parts of the body, blocking such blows, and occasionally taking people to the ground. Your training in this regard will depend largely on the instructor, but don't expect much of it.

Will I learn cool moves to escape from different holds?
Yes, you certainly will. You just won't realize it until you take a closer look at the kata. Kata actions are full of the joint locks of Aikido and Jujutsu, and they also contain many examples and templates of escapes from those techniques. For example, in Heian 3, your opponent grabs your wrist to apply a Jujutsu wrist lock, but your spin with the lock and back-fist the opponent in the throat. Karate kata are the secret to this kind of action. Everything that can be applied in a grappling art has a nemesis technique sitting in the karate kata. If your instructor has never been shown these many techniques to escape from various holds, throws, and locks, it is probably because he is not familiar with them.