09/06/2018
Is there a secret kata?
In my view, there is no such thing. Kata is form and form is basically "empty". The secret is not the kata, the secret lies in the kata, or better said, the secret of kata lies in the practitioner himself. Through devotion and continuous practice of a kata, one can find "his secret" in the kata. This secret will be different than that of the founder of kata and it will of course be different from any other practitioner. It is the very personal experience of the practitioner
One can compare the kata with a philosophical text. Take the Daodejing. If someone gives me this book and I read the book, what will I understand? What do I get from that? Nothing!
If I read and work intensively with the Daodejing and the history Lao Tzu for years, I will get an idea what he might have meant and find "my secret" of his text inside of me.
There are some kata that I have heard that are secret. But even these kata are not secret at all. These kata are only passed on from generation to generation to a small number of students. Why that?
Ultimately there are only a few students in a dojo who are really devoted to karatedo and see karatedo as a life's work. For these students, the kata treasures of a school are reserved because these kata are either technically or energetically so complex and difficult to understand that only a small group of students can learn and truly understand these kata.
Resume: There is no secret kata.
