Seiken Karate Academy :: Malaysia

Rhythm or tempo is one of the most important components of kata but also one of the most misunderstood. Once the moves are learned in the proper order with the proper emphasis on application, the rhythm comes into question. This is what makes the kata interesting as well as how a person makes the kata their own. When I say make it their own, I am referring to making the kata a personal expression of themselves. This is a demanding task, but when it is accomplished the person has great success with the kata because the athlete looks at home doing each move. It is theirs and they are at ease.

Rhythm is commonly misunderstood because it is two separate components and people tend to make it one. The first is how fast the athlete does each move. This is the time it takes an athlete to start a specific move until the end of that move. For example, it is how fast the athlete performs a gedan barai or mae geri. The second component is the time between the end of one move until the start of the next move. Both are equally important in developing a good rhythm in a kata. When an athlete performs a kata with bad tempo, the kata is dull and boring. If a musician played the same note with the same time spacing between each note for three minutes, it would be extremely boring and actually would no  be called music at all. Songs are exciting and dramatic because the artist changes the notes, changes the timing between each note, and changes the intensity of each note. This draws the listener into the song and captivates the listener. The same thing happens with kata. When a karateka performs the kata with dramatic changes in intensity, changes the speed of each move, and changes the timing between each move, the audience and the judges are brought into the performance, which is a sign of a great competitor.

Let’s look closer at each component. Most people perform each move in either one of two speeds: fast or slow. The key is that not all fast moves have to be at 100% speed and not all slow moves have to be done at the same slow speed. If there is a sequence of four fast moves and the fourth is a punch, the athlete can perform move 1, 2, and 3 at 90% of full capacity and the fourth at 100% of full capacity. This shows that the punch is the emphasis or “killing blow”. It will give the sequence a new meaning and a new more aggressive appearance. A slow move can be started in a dynamic fashion at 50% of full capacity. This speed lasts only for the first 10-20 degrees of the move and then the move
slows down to the regular slow speed. This gives the move a new appearance, and it also provides the athlete with a more realistic feel of fighting someone.

The timing between the end of one move and the start of another move is the next component to be manipulated. This timing is a function of control. Control can be defined as starting a movement, moving, and stopping the movement. This control is important because it helps give the contrast between moving and stopping. An example is at the end of one move, everything is totally stopped (totally still like a statue). From total stillness the move explodes and continues to move unimpeded until the end of the move when it stops. At the point where the athlete stops, their body becomes totally still again. So, the athlete goes from 100% stillness to 100% movement to 100% stillness. When an athlete performs a move in this manner, it is fantastic. The athlete shows control of his body, control of timing, and control of his intention.

Not all moves have the same intent. If a block precedes a punch, the block is not the finishing blow therefore it does not have the same emphasis or intent as a punch. Any time there is an emphasis, “killing blow”, or kiai, there needs to be a major pause which is a pause that is longer than the average pause after an average move. For the rest of the moves, groups of moves should be put together. Usually in most katas, similar moves either come in pairs or fours. These should be clustered together. This means that the timing between the moves start longer and gradually get smaller building to a climax. The last move in the sequence ends with a longer pause. For example in Shotokan’s Kanku Dai, after move 9 hold for a 2 count. After move 10 hold for a 1 count,and after move 11 hold for a ½ count. Move 12 is a kiai, which means that it has a major pause after it. This will give the sequence a different look that will make it more exciting.

Rhythm will not and cannot be the same for everyone. No two people are the same and no two bodies work in the same precise manner. A female generates power differently than a male, just as a 125-pound male will generate power differently than a 180-pound male. So, there are no set guidelines for timing such as hold for a set number of seconds for a specific move. Although, there is a general rule that the faster the athlete performs each move, the longer or more definite the pause has to be to show the contrast of fast and slow.

Karate-do is a way of life. When an athlete has trained for many years, and they look back on their history, they will see that they traveled down a path learning important lessons on the way and meeting interesting people. Kata is a micro version of karate. It, too, is a path to understanding. It is understanding the moves, the applications, the rhythm, the body mechanics, and the developing body awareness. The more you practice a kata, the more advanced each of these items gets. Gichin Funakoshi Sensei said, “To know a kata is to do it 20,000 times.” There is nothing inherently special with the number 20,000. But how many of us can say that we have done a kata 20,000 times? Not many. Even if we have done a kata 20,000 times, the kata will never be perfect. The perfect kata is unattainable, an enigma. The goal is to reduce the errors until they are so small that only a few experienced people can identify them. There is always something to improve on which is what makes kata so interesting and challenging. The key point is that tournaments are just another training aid to hone a karate-ka’s abilities and character. Tournaments are not the end goal just as punching makiwara or doing plyometrics are not the end goal. The message of all the masters has been to train, train, and train. Train in the dojo or on a subway. Every second of every day can be training of some sort. From these ordinary moments of training, come extraordinary levels of personal knowledge and awareness of self, which is a big step in the perfecting of one’s kata and one’s character.