Sharper Skills: Refining Technique Through Kata Training
I’ve been doing karate for a little more than nine years at Amerikick Langhorne. I am senior black belt and part of the demo team. Karate, especially Kata Training, has made me push myself through tough situations and become stronger. At karate I have learned many things, especially in the last couple of years since I have been a black belt. For one I have learned katas and self defense, but I have also learned a lot about the performance aspects of karate. I’ve been competing in extreme forms and nunchucks, and have improved a lot. Another thing I’ve improved at is sparring.
Since becoming a black belt I have learned new katas, such as Mass Attacks, Long 2, Tiger Set, and Short 3. Katas have made my stances, punches, kicks, and blocks a lot sharper. My stances have gotten lower, my punches have gotten more powerful, my kicks are higher, and my blocks are stronger. Katas have helped me in other ways. When going over Short 3 we learn all of the self defense moves, which helped me with self defense. I have learned how to teach myself stuff because of katas. I learned all of Mass Attacks from watching a youtube video, I also used this technique to help learn some of my self defense moves.
As a black belt, I’ve been able to learn more advanced self-defense moves like Turtle Breaks and Stilts. I’ve also expanded my knowledge of takedowns and locks. Knife and ground defenses were entirely new to me after receiving my Amerikick black belt, along with the two-man defenses I learned as a junior black belt. These new techniques, combined with increased experience, have significantly bolstered my confidence in handling myself if necessary.
Black Belt Performance: Sharpening Skills and Embracing Competition
Beyond self-defense, earning my black belt opened doors to the performance aspects of karate. Joining the demo team and competing individually have been rewarding experiences. Working one-on-one with Sensei Andrew on Kata Training has significantly improved my hand speed and sharpness with and without nunchucks. My tricking skills have also seen improvement, allowing me to consistently land backflips and roundhouse flash kicks. Recently, I’ve even mastered catching advanced nunchuck releases like the double spin.
In sparring, I have improved a lot. My movement and strikes have gotten faster and stronger. I have learned how to get the opponent into a pattern and changing it to get points. I have gotten better at finding patterns in the other persons strategy and getting past what they are doing to get points.
Overall, I have learned a crazy amount since receiving my junior black belt. In knowing more katas and self defense but also sparring and performing. I have by far learned the most in performing, I have gone from losing most of the time to getting all golds in the last tournament.