A famous master of shorin-ryu karate, Yoshimitsu Ogawa (9th dan), made statements about kata with which I whole-heartedly agree. He said that kata is comprised of fixed postures but actual fighting is not; it is dynamic, fluid, and ever-changing. However, he cautioned his students to bear in mind that “kata IS karate.” How can those statements be merged?
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Kata (form) is the framework upon which the art is built. It forms the foundation and skeletal structure (or frame) of the “body” of the art. Applications forms the musculature and flesh of the body. The applications are not necessarily absolutely fixed; they can be very pliable and adaptable. But they are based upon the underlying framework; the form itself.
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How often have I heard kung-fu stylists (especially those that practice one of the three “internal” methods of taijiquan, xingyiquan, and baguazhang) insist that a given posture (of a form) is absolutely fixed and cannot be altered in any way in so far as application is concerned. How foolish! The postures (and/or their applications) are not, and were never meant to be, carved in stone. Don't mistake what is on the outside for that which lies inside.
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