Karate Lesson #1: Try Not To Throw Up

Ok kids, it's time to learn! Since karate is a mystery to a lot of people, and I'm a woman of limited interest, I figure I should share. Today's word is: kata. Kata is a pre-arranged fight with an imaginary opponent. Oh my yes, we fight imaginary opponents sometimes. What... this sounds lame? This might sound useless to some because, really, shouldn't we be fighting real life people? How can one properly learn to maim if the opponent is in your mind?! Kata, my friends, is practice. By repetition your body learns how to move and how to act in certain situations. It's a way to stop hesitation. Or at least lesson it... because hesitating is usually how I roll.

When done properly kata looks like a dance. It's even more impressive looking when there's a huge group of people all doing it at once (all perfectly synchronized and on count... right sensei? :P). One movement should move fluidly into the next. Each kata consists of anywhere from 8 to 50 movements generally. In my art alone there are a dozens of katas. In my experience, over time they get mixed up in your brain and try to mash themselves into one giant super kata which goes on for days at a time, leaving you dry heaving and your sensei confused and horrified. But enough about me.

Some katas are performed with much screaming and vein-bulging. Not so much in my art. Generally, there's one yell (a kiai) somewhere in the kata and strong but not binding movements. This video is much how I learned; in a small group. This kata is called "Pinan Shodan" and is learned as a white or blue belt. Yes, it's younger kids, but you get the idea:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLFyzzVGX7M

Ah yes, be enlightened. Go now and reflect on what you have learned and eat some sushi, green tea ice cream and other asian-type delights. Be sure and tune in next time for more karate-ness you never wanted to know.