Choosing a kata for competition is an important decision. The more you compete the more you will find that your 'dojo' katas do not stand up to the flashy, more dynamic katas performed by many seasoned karateka competitors.
When you choose a kata you should not only look for a kata that suits you and your strengths, but you should also choose a kata that you will like doing. After you will repeat it, once, twice maybe a few thousand times (if not more). Sensei Kieron has been doing his favourite kata, Naipaipo, for about 15 years and is still working on improving it!
Over the last year we've really enjoyed introducing many of our students to competitions and watching you progress, you've all learnt new katas and have been making them better each time you train. However, up until now, all your katas have been 'syllabus katas', katas that aim to teach you new techniques and skills as you progress through the ranks, rather than show off your skills and put on a show.
But now it is time to start introducing you to some new 'flashy', 'cool' katas that you've all been watching in awe at competitions. Over time you will learn many, but to start we will as a squad choose two to focus on. Instead of forcing the katas upon you, we've decided to put it to a survey, letting you decide what you want to learn. We will then take the two most popular katas and begin teaching them to you.
We've gone through the most popular katas currently being performed in WKF competitions as well as some new up and coming ones and put them on a short list for you to choose from.
Have a watch of the videos below, and then click the 'Vote Now' button to make your choice. We'll review the results and will start with the new katas at the next Sport karate session on 6 Oct at Ichiban Leeds.
Sansai : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHiye1AJIKs
Unsu : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StgEXxYwSiQ
Chatanyara Kushanku: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiiznDpoapQ
Papuren : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT6QnT7km3Q
Kururunfa : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH_kSxcm0Fo
Naipaipo : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBSM7arXojo
Anan : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYCyB1a8sy4
Empi : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z69U7zrJva0
VOTING HAS NOW BEEN CLOSED.
We will let you know what katas have been decided at the next squad training