Thinking Like the Creators: Kata as Living Time Capsules – Perspective in Practice.

 

Posted by ADAM CARTER on SEP 15, 2025

Thinking Like the Creators: Kata as Living Time Capsules – Perspective in Practice.

(Approx 2 minute 25 second read)

Do kata have a theme, or are they just a collection of techniques?

Many people see only the techniques, but what we should be doing is learning how to uncover what each kata is trying to teach. The goal is to discover the individual theme and message in each of them.

Does one teach us how to escape from grabs, does another teach us how to throw an assailant after incapacitating them? Does another teach how to escape from being grabbed from behind, and give us more if failure occurs?

Within each theme exists different principles, and within those principles exist the techniques, the movements.

The movements are how the principles are reduced to practice, how they are applied.

To really understand the kata we have to use our powers of observation to work out the theme, the principles, and movements of each one.

However, if you start with the technique (as some have suggested), then it’s almost like you aren’t seeing the woods for the trees. You’re missing the theme.

No one knows exactly what message a kata is meant to impart. But we do have methods and principles that give us the tools to investigate and understand what they provide.

Perhaps the key is understanding the mindset of the kata creators, putting ourselves in their perspective to analyze them.

For those grounded in traditional karate, perceiving the mindset of the pioneers and creators from a very different time is exceptionally difficult. Traditional karate teaches an art for character development. However the techniques and kata derive from what I like to refer to as classical karate, what was proven to work on the streets of Okinawa.

Traditional karate, or karate-do, is “the way”, with its philosophical aspects and focus on personal growth. Classical karate, while it also incorporates philosophy, is about dealing with life-or-death realities. It is designed to neutralize an opponent quickly and efficiently. Traditional karate emphasizes peace; classical karate emphasizes survival.

I’m not advocating one as superior to the other, I am only helping to distinguish between the two.

The kata came from a period where the opponent’s intentions were understood, and this context is necessary for us to try and understand them fully.

Many today tell me that self-defense alone isn’t enough, they don’t need it. That’s fine if that’s what you want.

However, understanding the mindset of the creators, is challenging. Perhaps the ancient combatants’ “kill or be killed” reality is so far removed from our modern training and society that it’s almost inconceivable. Some of us have tactical or modern combat experience, but few have faced repeated life-or-death encounters.

Just for a moment, consider this: Do you understand the mindset of a professional medic simply because you’ve applied a bandage to a wound? First aid training may give you concepts and practice, but it doesn’t mean you truly comprehend the perspective and training of a paramedic. It’s the same with the kata creators, their frame of reference is almost incomprehensible to us, this is where the difficulty lies.

What we are attempting is not to replicate that reality, but to begin thinking a little like them.

The kata exists to provide the information. So we must learn to uncover what each of them teaches to reveal its core intent.

Perspective, understanding the mindset of the kata creators, is everything if we are to truly learn from these living time capsules.

Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo