Judo: Kata Clinic 1: Nage No Kata
07/08/10 14:09 Filed in: Judo
This is not a standard Judo practice. There was a free Kata clinic taught by Bob Harder (6th Dan!) on Nage No Kata, Gateme no Kata, and my Sensei Brett was there doing Goshi-no-Kata.
You don’t know what any of those are, and neither did I, so don’t feel behind.
Anyway Kata: What and Why?
Kata is different than in other martial arts like Karate where a Kata is just you performing a predefined set of moves against the air.
In Judo, it requires two people, and is a predefined set of throws but it is an art on it’s own with Kata competitions specifically testing how well one is performing in the kata. It is artful, difficult, and requires a lot of practice.
Most Judoka seem to avoid Kata. This I believe is a huge mistake. They were created a rote method to ensure training of various throws and techniques is preserved in a rigid way. Thus, it is a learning tool. All Judoka white belt and on should be doing Kata. It TEACHES YOU THINGS. And being short on techniques, learning 15 new throws in Nage No Kata was an enticing proposition.
Sadly, other than Sensei Brett I was the ONLY person from my dojo to come to the kata-clinic. That is shameful, in my opinion. Especially some of the brown belts eying black belt should have been there. Being able to perform the first half of Nage-no-kata is one of the requirements for Shodan. This is why most Judoka just avoid it until they absolutely have to do to get their black belt. I think I’m benefiting from it as a learning tool and now I have a head start for whenever I’m ready for my black belt, as I’ll already have been exposed to it.
Anyway, the other dojo was cool, and all the senseis were great. Everyone else there was a black or brown belt, I was the only white belt. Sensei Chad (see blog entry: Sensei Pinch my Arm class 13) was there as well so I was a little apprehensive.
I also wore my blue gi. Everyone else was in a white gi. Kata is always performed in a white gi. Whoops!
Anyway, my partner was fantastic and taught me *A TON*. I worked through the kata more slowly than others since I hadn’t been introduced to as many throws. This was 5 hours of learning, it was so fantastic.
Sensei Chad later become my partner and was fantastic. He again imparted me with a ton of immediately useful information to my current skill level. He was also very kind and gentle to me and even let me throw him a few times in the Randori we capped the class with.
I learned that the pinching I was experiencing had more to do with my white gi shrinking than anything mean or intentional Sensei Chad had been doing to me. Now I feel bad for being so mean to him in my blog. Oh well, live and learn, he’s a great guy and I appreicated the opportunity.
Sensei Bob Harder was a character as well, he is a 6th-Dan (Rokudan) which is above black belt. That is Red-White range. He was one of the sensei’s who originally taught MY sensei, Brett Lewis. He is much older now, but it was fantastic to get his experience and he is very funny in a ‘shit my dad says’ sort of fashion.
We then did the Gatame No Kata (forms of grappling) which is like the Nage-No-Kata but for the ne-waza (Ground techniques). I didn’t enjoy this as much, but I DID get the joy of being used as Uke for Bob Harder to demonstrate a technique.
He gave me some very encouraging words and seemed pleased by my enthusiasm and drive.
All in all, this was a fantastic experience and I intend to pursue any kata learning opportunities I can find. I think other Judoka who don’t pursue kata early are cheating themself of opportunties.
You don’t know what any of those are, and neither did I, so don’t feel behind.
Anyway Kata: What and Why?
Kata is different than in other martial arts like Karate where a Kata is just you performing a predefined set of moves against the air.
In Judo, it requires two people, and is a predefined set of throws but it is an art on it’s own with Kata competitions specifically testing how well one is performing in the kata. It is artful, difficult, and requires a lot of practice.
Most Judoka seem to avoid Kata. This I believe is a huge mistake. They were created a rote method to ensure training of various throws and techniques is preserved in a rigid way. Thus, it is a learning tool. All Judoka white belt and on should be doing Kata. It TEACHES YOU THINGS. And being short on techniques, learning 15 new throws in Nage No Kata was an enticing proposition.
Sadly, other than Sensei Brett I was the ONLY person from my dojo to come to the kata-clinic. That is shameful, in my opinion. Especially some of the brown belts eying black belt should have been there. Being able to perform the first half of Nage-no-kata is one of the requirements for Shodan. This is why most Judoka just avoid it until they absolutely have to do to get their black belt. I think I’m benefiting from it as a learning tool and now I have a head start for whenever I’m ready for my black belt, as I’ll already have been exposed to it.
Anyway, the other dojo was cool, and all the senseis were great. Everyone else there was a black or brown belt, I was the only white belt. Sensei Chad (see blog entry: Sensei Pinch my Arm class 13) was there as well so I was a little apprehensive.
I also wore my blue gi. Everyone else was in a white gi. Kata is always performed in a white gi. Whoops!
Anyway, my partner was fantastic and taught me *A TON*. I worked through the kata more slowly than others since I hadn’t been introduced to as many throws. This was 5 hours of learning, it was so fantastic.
Sensei Chad later become my partner and was fantastic. He again imparted me with a ton of immediately useful information to my current skill level. He was also very kind and gentle to me and even let me throw him a few times in the Randori we capped the class with.
I learned that the pinching I was experiencing had more to do with my white gi shrinking than anything mean or intentional Sensei Chad had been doing to me. Now I feel bad for being so mean to him in my blog. Oh well, live and learn, he’s a great guy and I appreicated the opportunity.
Sensei Bob Harder was a character as well, he is a 6th-Dan (Rokudan) which is above black belt. That is Red-White range. He was one of the sensei’s who originally taught MY sensei, Brett Lewis. He is much older now, but it was fantastic to get his experience and he is very funny in a ‘shit my dad says’ sort of fashion.
We then did the Gatame No Kata (forms of grappling) which is like the Nage-No-Kata but for the ne-waza (Ground techniques). I didn’t enjoy this as much, but I DID get the joy of being used as Uke for Bob Harder to demonstrate a technique.
He gave me some very encouraging words and seemed pleased by my enthusiasm and drive.
All in all, this was a fantastic experience and I intend to pursue any kata learning opportunities I can find. I think other Judoka who don’t pursue kata early are cheating themself of opportunties.