Kata European and World Champion, Wolfgang Dax-Romswinkel will continue with the online Kata classes which have been executed in the absence of the Judo Festival in Porec, Croatia this year.
So far, the Kata classes have been successful in attracting more and more judoka, allowing them to gain a greater understanding of the art.
Expert, Wolfgang, will continue this week with classes specifically in Koshiki No Kata. The initial class will cover the history of this area in tomorrows session (16.06.20) which will be followed by the practical elements on Thursday (18.06.20). Koshiki No Kata is also known as Kito-Ryu No Kata, formed of 21 techniques that were revised and implemented in to a Kata in order to preserve the history by Jigoro Kano. Wolfgang is surprised by the potential they have already reached by using the online forum in comparison with a traditional seminar, where only a small number of people can be taught and the expenses involved which are usually quite high, have been removed in this case, allowing for greater inclusion.
Online there is much less to prepare: just set-up an event with a few clicks and publish it via the website and social media. That´s all! Then it is available for recap for everybody. In a traditional seminar all this is not possible. That´s how we can reach a far bigger community. Only after a few days, my sessions about the history have over 600 views, the explanation of techniques over 400, live views were, if I recall correctly, about 150.
In traditional seminars time is usually limited, so lectures about history and theory take away time from practice. With these online-classes we “produce” instructional content, of course it is not as perfect as professional video production, but I think it helps to boost interest in Kata. Also we can make meetings interactive in the future, so discussions will be possible; we could also send live streams from the dojo and give live demonstrations.
Kata can be very helpful to improve your judo in theory and also in practice, but it has to be studied in an appropriate manner. Reaching a bigger community can help to speed up this process, at the moment I cannot imagine big training camps or randori sessions with many judoka. Now we are all limited to athletic training and technique training in small groups. This is the perfect opportunity to learn a new Kata or to recap Kata you previously learned. I am confident, that the online sessions can give everybody some ideas on areas, he or she can improve the kata. In most countries Kata are required for grading – so why not start to prepare for the next Dan exam?
Though these are the final classes to be held by Wolfgang, both history and practical sessions will continue up until the first week of July, hosted by; Maurizio Calderini, Pedro Gonçalves and Nicolas Gilon. Wolfgang is pleased there has been a positive outcome from the virus,
I am optimistic, that we find ways to understand the situation not only as tragic – which it is of course – but also as a chance to rethink the way we practice and teach. Personally I discovered many ideas and have also positive experiences I want to carry on also in the future, when the Coronavirus is defeated.
Author: Thea Cowen