Kata consist of a number of pre-arranged defensive and offensive movements against imaginary opponents and will form a very important part of your training. It is from the serious study of kata that you will develop the ability to defend and attack against many different attack scenarios.
Starting with a few thoughts…
“KATA or routines of fighting, cannot be a simple physical exercise. It is a way to attain discipline in Martial Art and to cultivate the Art part of it. Without KATA there is no progress in true KARATE-DO. KATA represents the ideal model of KARATE techniques: the respect of this essence, the knowledge and the proficiency of KATA.” (JKA Technical Manual for the Instructor)
“In the past, it was expected that about three years were required to learn a single kata, and usually even an expert of considerable skill would only know three, or at most five, kata.” (Gichin Funakoshi)
“Once a kata has been learned, it must be practiced repeatedly until it can be applied in an emergency, for knowledge of just the sequence of a form in Karate is useless.” (Gichin Funakoshi)
“A kata is not fixed or immoveable. Like water, it’s ever changing and fits itself to the shape of the vessel containing it. However, kata are not some kind of beautiful competitive dance, but a grand martial art of self-defense – which determines life and death.” (Kenwa Mabuni)
“When practicing KATA, always strive to capture the 3 key elements which are – contrasting displays of power, contraction and expansion of the body, changes in the speed of the techniques. […] Proper posture and utmost spirit, eye contact and imaginary imaging of opponent are essential as well as comprehension of the meaning of each technique.” (JKA Technical Manual for the Instructor)