The Big Kata Book – Kyokushin Karate III

VOLUME III – KNOW YOUR OPPONENT

Kata is the map of combat

Kata is not a demonstration, not gymnastics and not a sequence of movements to be memorised.

Kata is encoded fighting knowledge.

But to recognise this knowledge, we have to go beyond the outer form of the movement.

Why do we move in exactly this direction?
Where is the opponent?
What is being attacked?
What are we defending?
Where are the vulnerable points of the human body?
How does the form become real application?

The third volume uncovers the connection between kihon and kumite. Through the approach of bunkai and kyusho, kata gradually comes to life: the karateka no longer merely performs the technique, but understands its fighting content.

This level leads from knowing a technique to applying it.

KIHON → KATA → BUNKAI → KYUSHO → KUMITE

So the third volume is the university of karate:
learning to understand not only ourselves and our own arsenal, but also the opponent, the situation and the real purpose of the technique.

→ Four books. One path.

About the book

The Big Kata Book is the kata manual of Dr. István Adámy's Kyokushin series. Twenty-three kata, from the first Taikyoku to Kanku Dai and Sushiho, are shown step by step in numbered photographs; simple symbols mark ibuki breathing, kiai and slow movements, with their length in seconds.

Bunkai photographs show what the movements of the Pinan kata are for. Short chapters explain where the kata come from, what their names mean and how to practise them. A collection of Japanese terms closes the book.