One of the judo clubs go to on occasion has a heavy emphasis on kata. Belt promotions are given for participation in quarterly kata meetings and not for doing well in competitions (they almost never have competitors at comps anyway). Uchikomis are done in a way where there is a heavy critique on making it 'look good' against a static opponent and not on getting good at the throw in any kind of realistic setting (i.e. against someone not wanting to be thrown). As a result, you have judoka who have earned their brown and black belts from this club that get thrown around like rag dolls by much lower level ranks that come over from competition oriented dojos on the rare occasion there is randori.
It used to be that getting a shodan was a matter of competing and gathering enough points earn your promotion; not participating in a dance with a partner. When I was growing up having a shodan or higher in judo meant you were a certifiable bad ass that had tested your skill and ability against others of your own rank and weight and won often enough to earn your rank. Nowdays you can be a black belt in judo and not be able to throw a plastic bag with a stiff wind helping you out. Stuff like Nage No Kata for a black belt is comparable to breaking baked pine wood boards in a karate class for a promotion. It really has no baring on if you're actually good at the martial art or not.
I'm not against kata for white belts and such as you have to start somewhere to learn the throws but once you've learned the basics 'by the book' you should be focusing on adapting what works for you based on your own body type and ability and expanding your repertoire via randori and competition. Being able to nail anybody with a small handful of throws beats knowing a hundred throws you can't actually use.
Submitted February 26, 2019 at 10:03PM by bigmacebell https://ift.tt/2BVYxo8
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