Kata Speed?

Question

Hey I was wondering what would be a good way to increase my kata speed. In sparring I'm really fast but in my kata's im just pretty fast but I want to get that quick crisp look that people like jet li and tony jaa have. My problem is I can go fast but when I go fast I usualy have poor stances or get can't continue fluently. Any training tips?

Answer 1

Slow down. Jet LI, who is really a trained dancer would probably tell you that. But since you already have your katas, it isn't really how fast you do them each time, but how OFTEN youdo them that makes the difference.
Most of the 'look-at-me' styles of arts, which are of course mainly dance and entertainment, are learned by starting pretty early. The members of the Chinese traditional opera are enrolled at seven or so and train several hours a day. I think Mr. Li started that way.
It's not quite that you have to make a choice, do I want to look like a movie star or do I want to have successful combat skills?
But you need to think about what you are intending to accomplish in your training.
The people you admire in their katas may have specific talents in that direction. Psychologists have told me that women like katas better because they like combinations of different moves, and that men are better at repetition. In my own life I have found this to be generally true.
But see, even in combat, which is what you attempt to prepare for with sparring, SPEED is not your goal; your goal is QUICKNESS, the ability to go from fast to slow, left, right, and all the angles, all the combinations, and appropriately.
If youwant the LOOKS of crispness and speed, you might try walking your katas slow, then put a barbell on your shoulders and walk the steps, exagerrate the turns, etc. You'll also develop some fighting power this way, too.
There's a basic and VERY old series of ways to use barbells in martial arts. After all, I think it was the Chinese who developed barbells!
OK: walk your chosen form with the barbell on your shoulders.
Also carrying the bar with the inner side of your elbows, close to your chest.
Also hold the bar behind you, a little below waist level. This one really sharpens your direction-change steps.
It also incidentally sharpens up your hammer-fist etc strikes at targets behind you, but you'll find all that out when you practice this way.

And do your kata MORE often. Keep track: aim to practice a kata fifteen minutes every day with a light barbell, and then see if you can do it without weights 1,000 times fairly slowly in a month.
You will see some improvement and respect in your life...
See, and get this deeply, very strongly, in your mind: the WAY is in the training, there's no other WAY.
Probably very few people know what martial arts is all about. Perhaps your instructor and some advanced students know, but I will tell you it isn't about show, not primarily. It's far more REAL than that. And so is the advice I, a veryold man in the martial arts, give you. May you train a lot, and not just in martial arts. All the best to you and yours...

Answer 2

I was going to say about the same thing that "artfuldragons" said.

To increase your kata speed you may want to slow your practice speed way down. This will improve you in precision and fluid motion.

Forget how jet li, tony jaa or anybody else does it!
The person you are competing with is YOURSELF.

Answer 3

a good way to learn kata is to do it at different speeds and in reverse,but not at the expense of technique or stances.also breaking it down into bunkai is another good way.bunkai also shows you that kata does have a practicle side.

Answer 4

In taijiquan, we do forms slowly, so that each movement can be precisely what it needs to be, and then ultimately train it faster and faster. Perhaps to achieve the quality at high speed that you wish, you should practice very slow. As the precision of your movements becomes second nature, then speed will come. Be patient.

Answer 5

I am against katas but know what you have to do... to move more fluently you need to practice moving basically. turning your feet slightly outward will increase your ballance and help you to change direction faster and more fluently. you need to practice the transference of your weight. practice evading(stepping back and going forward) then try diagnol ,in a circle and so on.

Answer 6

Do everything, and I mean everything slowly, or at least at a steady pace. Your rule of thumb should be 'Form & Technique before Speed & Power'. It doesn't matter how fast you move if you're not hitting your target, or if your techniques don't work.