The Art of Kata By Dohigh Chris Lloyd

The Wisewarrior Art of Kata Workshop ran in May this year seemed an inspiration to many of our students, here are the thoughts of Dohigh Chris Lloyd a Green Belt in Aikido-Te…

The art of Kata

or … I fight my mind – although mostly it wins, sometimes I do.

 

Reflections on a cracking Wise Warrior workshop.
It is impossible to fully convey in words how far one can travel in two hours, on a hot Saturday afternoon, without ever leaving the room. And like so many journeys, you think you know where you are going, but boy are you in for a shock! Although it’s hard to remember the journey in detail, the destination is unforgettable!

It starts the way any other practice session does… ‘pick a kata, any kata, find yourself a space and perform it’. So, with national gradings in two weeks, you pick one you know, the one you think you do least well (kata 3 anyone?) and relish a chance to practice it. Simples.

Well, not quite.

By now you know to focus on the attackers rather than the attacks; and with gradings coming up attention soon shifts more to the the mistakes – left foot should go there, keep your thumbs in. Then making it slicker – placing my foot a little more to the left on this move move makes the next move easier.

And so it goes until Sensai throws in direct & indirect focus… Keep looking at this attacker, don’t look at the next one go straigt to the one after! OK. I can do this… a chance to look really cool :-). Deal with a grab to the wrist without even looking at the guy. Yeah!

And then, just when you are sure you are brilliant (a legend in you own lunchtime), you are first to take ‘that spot’ on the floor*. It is the moment of truth – performing the kata for the others; all higher grades that know every move and will spot every error. So just how brilliant are you then eh? There is nowhere to hide now!

You do your bit. Goes OK… well apart from that slip, oh and when my stance was wrong, and changing pace at the wrong time and… Everyone goes in turn. Damn they are good. Some are just brilliant – how do they do it?

Sensei then explains the real ‘art of kata’; the light goes on. Only now do you see the real ‘attacker’. The toughest. The one who knows your every move before you make it, every weakness you try to hide, every mistake you are gonna make! He is the reason you want to do it ‘right’! He is the one to defeat. He has no mercy.

Unfortunatly he is not in front or to the side and, unlike traditional pantomime, he is not behind you either (‘oh yes he is…’). He is instead, inside your head. No, not the voices the doctors said would quiet down with these nice ‘sweeties’ :-). He is the one in the dark corner, armed with impressive array of weapons. Weapons more effecive than Jo, nuchucks or tonfa. He uses fear, self-doubt, criticism, ego, pride etc. The list never ends and any, and all, can be called into service at any time.

So, what is this ‘Art of Kata’? What separates a Dohigh from a 2nd Dan?

It is hard to sum up a 2-hour journey in words. You just had to be there. It seems insufficient to say it is perhaps the courage to face the toughest enemy and (in the words of Bruce Lee)… ‘express yourself honestly’; too cliche to suggest you must take the palatte of BAMA’s kata and make your own unique picture!

Maybe the answer is that we should ‘be the kata’ and not just ‘do the kata’… We are, after all, ‘human beings’ not ‘human doings’.

Which started my wondering… Is this also “The art of living”?

D.Chris
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* Those who were there will all know that spot 🙂