Is there a need for Kata in todays martial arts?

[shinbushi]

Depends on what you mean by kata

I think the Okinawan (karate) and Chinese arts form of Kata don't have many uses, if any but, the Japanese arts such as jujutsu, kenjutsu, jodo judo etc, are 2- man drills that teach technique.
Example from Takagi Yoshin ryu Jujutsu a technique called Kasaage (Magpie): Attacker attemps to hip throw from Kumi Uchi, Defender drops hipsand hits him in the face. Followed by Tomoe Nage (Sacrifice throw). This kata or parts of it translate directly into sparring therefore are useful.

[Kingston]

I think shinbushi just gave a good example of how Kata can be effective for fighting.

[kengar]

That is a good example given by shinbushi, but it is surely flawed. Its amaing you could say that in a judo kata you work with two people and that what makes it effective. Karate kata is ment to teach form, technique for blocking and striking, and body mechanics. When learning kata you should also be working with attackers to see how these movements apply to defending yourself. Unfortunately a lot of schools just teach a kata and never show the students how applies and leaving clueless to the whole function.

[Toudiyama]

Re: Depends on what you mean by kata

Originally posted by shinbushi
I think the Okinawan (karate) and Chinese arts form of Kata don't have many uses, if any but, the Japanese arts such as jujutsu, kenjutsu, jodo judo etc, are 2- man drills that teach technique.
Example from Takagi Yoshin ryu Jujutsu a technique called Kasaage (Magpie): Attacker attemps to hip throw from Kumi Uchi, Defender drops hipsand hits him in the face. Followed by Tomoe Nage (Sacrifice throw). This kata or parts of it translate directly into sparring therefore are useful.

In Karate this is called yakusokugumite or pre-arranged fighting but depending on the style they may be even more useless than the kata because the attacks aren't realistic at all