Do Katas Help You Defend Yourself Or Improve Fighting Skills?

There has been a longstanding debate in the martial arts world regarding the use of katas (Japanese styles), hyungs (Korean styles), or forms (more globally). Kata refers to the practice of preordained individual fighting moves designed to protect against and subdue imaginary attacker(s). But the debate is not about what they are; it's about their usefulness in training for real life self defense and fighting situations. So here's the question- Are katas an effective use of a martial artist's time?

When Bruce Lee formulated the martial arts style/training philosophy of Jeet Kune Do, katas or forms were not a big part of it. He believed they did little to help people defend themselves. MMA fighters, whom are asked to fight full go against opponents on a regular basis, for the most part also do not subscribe to the kata philosophy. Still, there are tons of traditional martial artists that believe forms help them to improve their sparring and defend against attackers. In fact, many martial arts practitioners swear by them.

So which is it? Does the practice of kata help you defend yourself or not? Well, that's a big question. Here are some of the arguments both for and against their use as an effective self defense training tool.

Do Katas Help You Defend Yourself Or Improve Your Fighting Skills- Some Arguments For Doing Katas

1. Learn the Basics: Since katas involved executing preordained strikes and blocks, they can be effective in helping to teach someone basic strikes and blocking. After all, everyone is a beginner at some point.
2. Strength and Conditioning: Katas help practitioners gain strength through a focused workout. This can help someone to be self-defense ready.
3. Develop Discipline: It would be hard to argue that a disciplined fighter is not a better one. Some believe that the hard work and discipline it takes to learn forms can translate to fighting and defending one's self.
4. Strategy and Technique Development: Since katas teach ways to deal with an imaginary attacker, the idea is that using these strategies in real life (the high block then punch to the body you used in a particular kata, for example) will become instinctive. In other words, since you practiced the moves over and over again, they will come naturally to you via muscle memory in a real situation.
5. Meditation: If you've ever watched a fighter in his first UFC bout, then you know that nerves play a role. Oftentimes, that first fight in the UFC is difficult because they are unable to calm down. Enter kata and its' meditative purposes. If Diego Sanchez uses yoga to get himself ready to fight, why wouldn't kata offer some of the same benefits? A calm person in a fighting or self defense situation is usually a better one.
6. Injury Prevention: The bottom line is that katas allow you to train without going full go against an opponent. Since such training can cause injury, the execution of katas allows a martial artist to train without much risk of injury.

Do Katas Help You Defend Yourself Or Improve Your Fighting Skills- Some Arguments Against Doing Katas

1. Sure You Can Learn The Basics, But....: Learning a kata takes time. Most traditional martial arts styles require that multiple katas be performed and learned. Since these are not all about specific strikes- there is also an order to things- the naysayers usually profess that martial arts basics can be better learned by simply working on martial arts basics. In other words, if you want to practice a reverse punch, just do a lot of reverse punches. Adding the moves of a kata equates to just another thing to learn that wastes time.
2. Most MMA Fighters Don't Do Kata: If you believe that MMA fighting is the closest thing to street fighting that we have out there- keep in mind that not everyone does believe that the sport mirrors real world defense situations well- then you can't ignore one thing. . . Very few MMA fighters find worth in doing katas.
3. Traditional Katas Are Outdated- Most Of The Moves Won't Work: The naysayers will point to stances worked on in katas, such as the horse stance, that hold very little applicability in the real world. They may also note that some of the blocks practiced in many traditional forms haven't really been proven to be effective in hand to hand combat, but rather against swords and the like, which is reminiscent of the time when the katas were first devised.
4. Fake Opponents: Why bother practicing against a fake opponent when you can spar with a real one?

So which is it for you? Do you believe that the practice of katas or forms is helpful? Weigh in with your opinion here.