Kata and Kiai in Martial and Other Arts

Hi-yah! A stoic martial arts hero dramatically works his way through a series of deadly techniques handed down from generation to generation, punctuated by a fearsome shout. It’s a familiar scene to any martial arts film buff, but what is the reality? Both kata ? (forms) and kiai ?? (shouts) are a part of many martial arts. However, there’s often an air of mystique built up around both, so let’s have a go at separating fact from fiction. There is practical thought behind these traditions, and we’ll see how their usefulness has spread outside of the dojo.

Form and Function

Learning through repetition and rote memorization has long been a favored method in East Asia, and kata are an extension of this. By practicing the same series of movements again and again one builds muscle memory, so that, eventually, one can perform the technique well without conscious thought. These concepts traveled from China to Japan and over time kata came to be used in martial arts like karate, kendo, aikido, and judo, to name a few. There’s often an aura of antiquity around kata. Whether explicitly expressed or not, there’s a feeling that masters have been handing down these forms for centuries. The truth (as usual) is a bit more complicated.

Take karate for example. It began as a blend of Okinawan and Chinese fighting styles. Although it may go back farther, no one has been able to reliably trace karate any earlier than the early nineteenth century. A lot of the exact Chinese connections have been lost, but it is possible to trace a few kata to their Chinese antecedents. For example, the kata Sanchin can be traced to the Fujian White Crane Style, beyond a reasonable doubt, but that would still put its origins at about the mid to late eighteenth century. There are many kata like this; ones that are old, but probably not ancient in the way people imagine. Others are less than a century old. Most of the masters responsible for bringing karate from Okinawa to the rest of Japan (and then the world) lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. To bring their art to a much larger audience, some of them invented new kata. Some of these broke down or simplified older kata, while others were more original. Likewise, most of the kata in judo were created by founder Kano Jigoro during the 20th century.

Non-Combative Kata

There are also kata among non-martial Japanese traditions. When studying abroad in Fukuoka a few years ago, I took a course on tea ceremony, part of which was learning to perform a bit of it ourselves. Having some prior experience in karate, I began to notice that the routine of the tea ceremony was quite similar to practicing a kata. In both cases, you build technique and muscle memory through repetition with strict attention to detail. As you hone your skills there is room for the individual to shine through, to adapt the form to yourself without losing that which makes it the form. But you must learn the rules before you can bend them. I voiced these sentiments in class and my tea sensei was inclined to agree. Indeed, kata are part of training in both the tea ceremony and in kabuki, as well.

Kata For the 21st Century

Though kata can be a way to preserve knowledge, they are also a way to sharpen skills, whether for fighting, pouring a cup of tea, or writing computer code. That’s right, kata have found a place in the digital world. Programmer and author, Dave Thomas (no, not the Wendy’s guy), probably coined the term “code kata.” These code kata are basically code writing exercises or problems that can be practiced repeatedly with the goal of improving one’s programming skills. Unfortunately, I know nothing about programming, so I can’t really comment on the details or effectiveness of these exercises, but I think it’s really cool that people are attempting to apply the concept to new skills. I imagine there are other skills for which kata could be a useful learning method.

All About the Shout

At its most basic the kiai is a shout, usually given in conjunction with executing an attack, such as a punch or kick. A proper kiai originates in the diaphragm, not the throat, and emanates as a loud shout, with the shouter expelling as much air from their lungs as possible. What sound your kiai makes doesn’t matter much, and there is a lot of individual variation, but there are some trends among different arts. The kiai of most unarmed styles like karate tend to be short and sharp, while those in sword arts like kendo tend to be much longer. In fact, in kendo, the kiai is deemed so important that in a match points will not be awarded to a successful strike if there is no accompanying kiai.

Why kiai at all though? Well, there are several practical reasons.

Firstly, doing kiai when practicing kata can help develop the proper coordination of movement and breathing, which is important in maximizing the efficiency of your movement and not tiring yourself out as quickly. For this purpose making a sound is not strictly necessary, but doing so during a kata just emphasizes the point. Secondly, getting all the air out of yourself voluntarily when you strike makes you less vulnerable to getting it knocked of you by a counterattack, which is much less pleasant. For a similar reason, those who do jujutsu or judo are trained to kiai at the point of impact when they take a fall, and I can tell you from experience that it works pretty well. Thirdly, a kiai can have the effect of intimidating an opponent.

However, some have taken this last possibility to an unbelievable level. There has been much discussion over the existence and nature of ki ? (the ki in kiai). Perhaps the best translation is “energy,” but much like this English word, ki can be used in a variety of situations. Trying to briefly define energy in a way that covers all of its possible uses is not so easy. However, that does not necessitate the mystification of either word. Having some experience in martial arts and in studying ancient Japanese and Chinese texts, in my opinion, most of the uses of the word ki within the martial arts/medical fields are related to breathing, physical/mental effort, blood circulation, biomechanics, perhaps bioelectricity, or some combination of the above. But all of these have been put under the blanket term ki. Therefore, many of the things ascribed to ki are explicable through science. In the cases where ki is credited with something supernatural, I would approach that with just as much skepticism as I would someone who claims to read auras or see ghosts.

Legends of Dubiousness

There are a number of stories of martial arts masters able to employ the kiai in a near superhuman manner. However, there is plenty of exaggeration in the martial arts world, so it’s best to take such stories with shaker of salt. Funakoshi Gichin was the master perhaps most responsible for popularizing karate throughout Japan, and then the world. In his memoir he dismisses claims of karate masters who can pierce through human flesh with their fingertips, saying that no amount of training will allow a person to exceed the bounds of human ability, but shortly thereafter he relates a story that arouses skepticism in me for those same reasons.

The story goes that well-known karate master Matsumura Sokon was challenged to a match by an engraver, who also happened to be skilled in karate. The engraver tried to attack Matsumura twice, but each time was immobilized by the latter’s gaze alone. The confused engraver realized he had lost, but was determined to finish the match to save face. He attacked, but Matsumura gave a “great cry that sounded to the engraver like a thunderbolt,” and finding himself unable to move, the engraver made a final feeble attempt before falling to the ground.

A Lot of Hot Air

You may think such fantastic stories are a thing of the past, something that could only exist in a time before smartphone cameras and such, but no. There are still individuals purporting to be kiai masters with abilities beyond our perception. Some of these people claim to be able to attack someone without touching them, in a Jedi-like manner. I will admit to feeling a bit of schadenfreude when I see videos of people demonstrating to these kiai masters ample evidence to the contrary. I give you Exhibit A, in which an MMA fighter takes up a kiai master’s offer of 5,000 dollars to anyone who can beat him.

As satisfying as that was, I think I like Exhibit B even better. Here we take a look at kiai master, George Dillman.

I think my favorite part of this video is watching Dillman jump through hoops trying to explain away the failure of his technique on a nonbeliever. From his reaction, it seems that he is not cynically trying to fool his students, but believes in his own ki abilities. Others who have analyzed dojos like this one, have theorized that they may be examples of both self-delusion in the master and a form of mass-delusion among the students.

Back to Reality

Kata are great for developing technique, and if one analyzes them, the sequences can tell you some useful things for an actual fight, but to jump in the ring and start doing a kata from beginning to end is ridiculous (I’m looking at you “Karate Kid 3”). Also, keep in mind that although they are a useful training tool, they are not the end-all, be-all of martial arts. Likewise, they are practical uses for kiai, just not anything that would qualify you for the X-Men. There are many reasons to do martial arts, but if practicality is of any concern to you, it’s good to keep your romanticism in check and think about what you are doing.

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Sources:

• Bishop, Mark. Okinawan Karate: Teachers, Styles and Secret Techniques. Tokyo: Tuttle, 1999.


• Funakoshi, Gichin. Karate-do: My Way of Life. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1981.


• Code Kata


• Deep Reason: Curious Case of the Kiai Master


• Wikipedia: Kata

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