Zen-Shin held our second Kata workshop since opening up after lockdown. The turnout was great, and there was a lot of energy an enthusiasm towards learning and improvement.
We continued on from what we had learnt in our previous workshop. We now know about half of the kata, but w still haven’t managed to make it to the first kiai.
Although many of the higher grades know the kata already, the kata workshops are a way to gain further understanding, and through that be more confident in performing it. This week we put an emphasis on timing, which is an integral part to the story-telling aspects of performing a kata.
Often when we are in front of an audience, because we get nervous, our sense of time goes. Things we thought we had learnt evade our recall. We took section of the kata, and repeated performing them to a steady count. Ichi…..Ni…..San……Shi……Ichi.
The last part of the workshop we practiced walking on, and performing the kata in pairs. It was great to see what people have learnt over two weeks, the high grades setting an example, and the lower grades trying their best to become better.
Performing in front of people is a massive hurdle that many people never overcome. Hopefully some students have gained confidence from that experience, and I look forward to seeing them perform in a real competitive environment.
We have another Kata Workshop in two weeks time, Saturday 3rd July 3:00-4:30pm. We looking forward to seeing you there.
