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The Papua New Guinea Karate-do Federation (PNGKF) will be placing restrictions on the performance of Kata in the upcoming Open Karate Titles which will be held on April 13 and 14 at the Ela Murray International School in Port Moresby.
Kata, according to the free online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, is the “Japanese word describing detailed choreographed patterns of movements practiced either solo or in pairs,” and is used by Oriental martial arts including Karate for training.
PNGKF President, Sensei Carl Mari, said these restrictions would be placed to ensure students of karate had a proper understanding and grounding of the Katas before attempting to perform them.
Performance of kata will be restricted to age and skill, and proficiency level or grade.
Sensei Mari added that “kata is the heart of karate” and differentiates it from other styles of martial arts.
The restrictions will encourage better understanding of Katas and develop higher quality of karate students.
We want to put these restrictions so that kids learn the Katas properly, and are grounded properly, instead of attempting advanced katas and their foundation is very poor.
Sensei Carl Mari
Children from the ages of 9 to 13 will only be allowed to perform Taikyoku 1 – 3, Heian or Pinan 1 – 3 and Gekisai. The cadets (14 – 15 year olds) will be allowed to perform the Taikyoku and complete Heian or Pinan series and Gekisai, plus Saifa for Goju-Ryu practitioners.
Children and cadets are the only age categories allowed to repeat their katas at intervals.
The Kata events will be categorized into individual with bunkai (application or use of specific Kata), team, musical and Kobudo or weapons forms.
Kobudo is also set to be an interesting event as competitors will demonstrate forms for various weapons including the nanchaku, bo (long stick), tonfa and other weapons that the federation accepts.
Other events in the tournament will be point contact kumité, full contact kumité and tame-shiwari (breaking).
The open tournament had initially been planned for March 30 – 31. However, due to late clearance of trophies and medal by Customs, the dates had to be deferred.
Sensei Mari said the dates (April 13 – 14) had been chosen to coincide with the Development Squad Training Camp and seminar scheduled for the same week. This would minimize cost for participants from outside of Port Moresby who would be able to kill two birds with one stone.
Application forms for the tournament can be downloaded by clicking on the links provided below:
For further information regarding the tournament, please contact the Karate Development Officer, Willie Leslie on 7277667 or PNGKF Treasurer Joseph Kubul on 71690504.
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