Kihon – Kata – Kumite

The three-pronged approach to improving your Karate is: Kihon, Kata, and Kumite.

Kihon (basics) is the most important to develop first. Proper technique and stance is essential to all areas of Karate. Kata (form) is performing your basics in a particular sequence. Kumite (sparring) is applying your basics on another person. Develop proper kihon so you can concentrate on the form or your opponent without having to think about performing the basic correctly.

Kata (form) is often taught as a ‘dance’, without thought to practical application. An essential, and often overlooked, part of kata is bunkai (analysis; dissection; examining how the technique works). To be fair, many schools do teach bunkai, however, a personal peeve of mine is when they work bunkai incorrectly. Often, the martial artist will do an entire section of kata, then their bunkai shows how one move works, with follow-up techniques and takedowns that are not part of the kata. Did they demonstrate bunkai, or did they show how the kata alone is insufficient? Our students are taught bunkai for every move of their kata, with senior students usually knowing multiple meanings for each move.

Kumite is often used for sport. This is fine; sparring teaches the student combinations, strategy, being aware and reacting to your opponent’s moves, working safely with good control, etc. I teach our students to carefully observe the rules when sparring. In the dojo, you want to follow the rules for the safety of you and your fellow classmate. In tournament, you follow the rules for the same safety reasons and so you won’t get penalized. In the street, you want to know which moves are frowned upon in the dojo and tournament so you’re sure to use them on your opponent while protecting yourself.

Our classes always begin with kihon, often practicing basics in the form of 4-count and 5-count ten-no-kata. Beginners must develop good basics and learn new katas. Advanced students work on keeping their basics sharp and remembering the numerous katas they were taught.