Page 29 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 87

www.sportsenergynews.com Issue #87 February 2020 29

KARATE KOMMENTS

Technology as a Training Tool

By Jim Riddell,
Seaway Karate Club

uch of the karate kata that is taught in dojos today remains
Meither the same or very similar to what was being taught in
Okinawa one hundred plus years ago. What has changed is the
means by which many, if not most students, learn kata today.

When I first began my karate training in 1985, we would begin
learning the kata in the dojo and then practice at home trying to
remember the moves. I remember numerous phone calls with other
students discussing the sequence of moves and which stance each
particular move was in. “Best Karate” was a series of books that
covered the Heian/Pinan katas and could be ordered from the local
bookstore, but it was a few years before we were able to acquire
anything beyond that. Video recorders weren’t that common at the
time, but eventually we got someone to record the katas at the dojo
and we all had copies made. The quality was extremely poor by Congratulations to the following Char-Lan Skating
today’s standard, but we were all thrilled to have them to enhance
our training. Club Skaters on their success Jan 17-19 at the
STAR 1-4 Series in Brockville
By the early 90’s, karate was becoming a mainstream sport and soon Left, Anthony MacDonald GOLD STAR 4 Boys U13
all types of training videos in VHS format were available through Right - top to bottom, Alessia MacDonald BRONZE STAR 3 Girls
mail order. Most of these videos were professionally produced by big Charlotte Phypers BRONZE STAR 2 Girls
name, high ranking martial artists and, although they weren’t cheap, Jessica Lopez BRONZE STAR 2 Girls Photo Submitted
it was like having a personal seminar in your own living room. It is
now 2020 and technology has certainly evolved – YouTube has over
six billion hours of video watched each month. To put that number
into perspective, it translates to an average of over fifty minutes per
month of viewing for each person on Earth.

Like most things in life, online martial art video comes with pros
and cons. On the plus side, it is free and can be watched anywhere
and at any time, extending your dojo training to the location of
your choice. The video can be watched and re-watched as often as
necessary while learning a kata and also as a resource for refreshment
in the future. On the downside, the videos may be free but sometimes
you get exactly what you pay for - some are from suspect sources WE LOVE FOOTBALL
and are designed to promote certain lines of products and what
information they might contain is often of little value. Others that
I’ve seen may show excellent technique, but they either neglect any
safety concerns or fail to take the time to properly address them.

When learning a new kata there are many things to think about
and sometimes this can be a bit overwhelming. Here are a few
tips to help with learning and perfecting a new kata: 1) Focus on
the direction, 2) Focus on the techniques, 3) Put the direction and
technique together starting with the first four moves, and then add
more as you progress, 4) Improve the techniques and stances, 5)
Remember that no YouTube video will be done exactly as it is at
your club - the power, flow, rhythm, and small details need to come
at the dojo, 6) Bunkai (dissection and application) – Kata is like
an iceberg: there is much more below the surface than what you Joe St. Denis Field, 504 Fourth Street East
see. How a student views the self-defense applications is usually Cornwall, Ontario
relevant to belt level and experience. Technology as a learning tool www.cornwallwildcats.com
is not an absolute, but if properly used it can enhance dojo training.