On Fri, 10 Apr 1998, K Yee wrote:

What exactly is a kata?  Here's what I THINK it is.  "A warm-up exercise
to loosen the muscles.  It's a set of basic moves intended to be repeated
over and over." 

I've always seen that referred to as "stretching".

 Err, obviously, I'm missing a lot of information.  I'm
pretty sure all katas aren't basic, ne?  And are they really only a
warm-up exercise, similar to stretching?  Arigatou.

A vast majority of katas are not simple at all.  In Isshinryu, it may take
several months to learn a single kata.  A kata is essentially a catalogue
ov techniques (or is supposed to be.  Several people [including myself and
Bruce Lee] have questioned the usefulness of katas).  In several karates,
a significant portion of advancement is based on kata.  

Ideally, when you learn a kata, you learn how to react to any of the
situations presented in the kata.

Terrence Marks
normal@grove.ufl.edu