Kaze Uta Budo Kai Forum Archive

Recently some folks have been wondering if I am making changes to our katas-- let me assure you I have changed nothing-- our standard forms of the walk, releases, the 23 (or 17+6 if you prefer), the big 10, san, yon, go , and roku are all still the same good ole stuff and folks comming up for promotion do the same ole stuff in the same ole ways-- I'm not trying to fix what aint broke .

all i have been doing is research into the historical evolution of the different katas from the different Tomiki-oriented systems -- from Tomiki's early Judo at a distance ideas, to the 15 (predesessor to the 17), to the earlier forms of 17 and the current JAA form as compared to ours, plus the varients of the walk and the releases that have developed in the different schools and over time -- also comparing the underpinnings of the divergence of styles of play and practice across the board-- (so much depends on the concept of uke, it turns out) and also katas that we havent seen in awhile (or ever) like kuzushi kata, Kogure's krazy form and double hand release form, koryu forms of Ichi and Ni -- an extended version of Yon, some varients on San too-- particualrly in the weapons sections, as well as Nariyama and Shishida's newer work, the Goshin Ho kata.

No doubt some of these kata methods are dead ends, or in other worsds, are innappropriate for meeting our needs for self-defense in a consistant and probable manner, and as I review them I can see there are good reasons why we might eschew them in our standard curriculumn; simutaneously much of this material offers some rich lessons in principle and is readily adapatable to our style of play and practice. In many instances I am finding ways that expand our potential repretoire of application in both kata and randori, while incidently allowing me to also catch up with old friends-- and make new ones!