Kata Are Required
Kata Specialization Contrary to popular opinion, karate does not require a lifetime to master for everyone. Everyone is different, and some people are naturally more talented than others. Some people are particularly quick studies at kata and have a natural ability to remember and perform many kata equally well. Such a person might eventually become bored with the 26 kata of Shotokan after having specialized in each of them long enough to fully understand them. With the limits of the Shotokan Kata Canon explored, some turn introspective and begin unraveling applications from the kata they know to revitalize their interest. Others turn to any of the 100 or more kata that are not part of the Shotokan Canon and learn new and different ways of performing kata. Very few people have the necessary inborn talent to learn all 26 of the kata and perform them all equally well. Most people are challenged by kata as a performance art, and so they instead try to limit the scope of their efforts to only a few kata. With all of those kata to choose from, Shotokan makes it a little easier on you by limiting the study of kata to only 26 different ones. Most instructors do not know all of them. Instead, they've chosen to specialize in only a couple of kata and practice a few of the others enough to remember the movements and the rhythm. For most people, learning that first kata is usually quite a challenge. Learning to think in three dimensions about where you are going together with the confusion of having to remember not only which techniques to do, but also all of the twenty or so variables that go into each movement, even a simple kata becomes a challenge. But as the students who continue their training for years eventually discover, those big kata like Kanku-Dai that stare down on you imposingly are possible to conquer. As the student gains experience, the mind no longer must monitor every little detail because it groups several actions into one thought, and, over time, several thought types into one thought combination. The human mind chunks single moves into groups of moves, and finally sees patterns and organization where before only chaos was visible. Experts
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