2025-12-01
Teaching my regular classes at the Ross Farnsworth - East Valley YMCA.
I talked about this video during class last night, but I’m going to write about it from a different perspective today. Please watch the following video before reading the rest of this entry. Go ahead. Don’t cheat.
Click here only after watching the video
What does this have to do with karate?
The “moves” are the people passing the basketball. The “gorilla” is your combative intent.
When learning kata, you probably spend most of your time thinking about where your arms go, where your legs go, what stance you’re supposed to be in, and where you’re supposed to be looking. And when you’re learning a kata, that’s fine. It’s also common to fixate on noncombative, pedagogical things like knowing the Japanese names and count numbers for all the moves and kiais. Those aren’t bad things, but they’re means to learning the kata, not ends in and of themselves.
When it’s time to perform your kata, you don’t want to be some guy shuffling around with a basketball - you want to be a gorilla. You need to exude strength, power, and an unmistakable message to the bad guy that he just messed up.
Yes, you still need to practice footwork, teamwork, and learn how to pass the ball, but there should still be a gorilla hiding behind all the fancy moves.
