Why Kata should NOT be a part of Martial Arts ranking. What do you think?

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Kata or forms should not be a part of your rank in martial arts, because it does not translate to real fighting. Your fighting ability i. e. application of skills in a real full contact free spar, relative to other fighters should determine your rank. It's stupid that I used to be able to beat both of my old sensei's Second Degree Black Belts in full contact sparring, but because I couldn't memorize the 8th unarmed kata even after 6 months of trying, I kept failing the FIRST degree black belt test.

Pro fighters do not do kata. All they do is conditioning, full contact free sparring, and positional sparring.

[Levin]

I mean, that is fair. But then that is kind of the point of Traditional Martial Arts, they do have an unpragmatic, artistic side. If you just want to beat the shit out of each other, isn't that, just MMA?

And that's why you have that dichotomy in life between the 'artists' who could do forms well; and the fighters, who, well, often couldn't, but could actually fight. And maybe, if I'm not to get too philosophical, that's what TMA's should be about. You work on your weaknesses. Weak people need to toughen up, harder people need to soften.

The ranking system in what I used to practice was an insanely big and disciplined syllabus. He would expect you you to be able to do all the artistic stuff, and be extremely physically disciplined and be able to do all the feats of strength and conditioning. Which is why I never progressed in terms of collecting sashes, ha.

As someone who did forms, tbh, I was quite good at picking them up. But they do require a lot of discipline to actually be good at. And you can tell a lot about how a person moves from how they perform them. Or put another way, they often look shit. But yes, they're pretty worthless for fighting. I still run through them, but I don't have the time or inclination to be doing them for hours a day (which is probably what you need to be good at them), and I have too many other things I need to be doing (such as strength training).

[SeekerOfTruth007]

One of my biggest criticisms for katas is that about half of the moves don't even try to be relevant to fighting. They are in the kata for no reason other than a "flourish". This is especially true of the weapons katas. I'm positive Japanese and Okinawan fighters did not spin their Sai around in the hands when they fought, but for some reason in Kyan No Sai kata we do so many flourishes with the sai that the kata becomes completely irrelevant to any fighting system likely to be used by Japanese or Okinawan fighters in a real fight.

[Anonymous]

I think Athletic Chloe explained it quite well.

[Opinion Owner]

Thanks for the MHO

[Anonymous]

I disagree. In the oriental martial arts rank with the belts itself largely represents time and commitment learning techniques. Has nothing to do with your real ability to defend yourself from physical assault. Pro fighters do not do belts unless they are championship belts.

[AI Opinion]

Kata often serves as a foundational tool in martial arts, offering practitioners the chance to refine techniques, develop muscle memory, and enhance focus and discipline. While kata may not directly translate to real combat situations, it can complement other training methods by building a solid technical base. Balancing kata with sparring and practical application allows for a holistic martial arts experience. Pro fighters may focus more on conditioning and sparring, but the value of kata can vary across different martial arts styles and individual preferences. 🥋

[SeekerOfTruth007]

Memorizing 100 consecutive moves is silly and also quite unnatural. Most humans can only memorize sequences of 6 or 7 numbers, for example. So basically, you're saying an autistic savant should get a black belt because they can memorize a sequence of 800 moves. That's really outrageous, and it highlights why you're an AI and I'm a human.

Fighting isn't about memorization. It's about reaction time and breaking down your opponent's weaknesses and bad habits.

[RedInnocent69]

Yes it should #oldschool