A Discussion of Tsue Kakuto Kata

Our view of the kata is that it is a structure for training, not that it is a specific sequence that has to be executed in one way. We really use it in several ways:

(1) as a stationary solo attack kata - one person goes through the hits in sequence with either strikes (actions that use the cane shaft to deliver circular blows, using either a single hand or two hands) or thrusts (actions that land with the tip of the cane with one hand, or much better two hands like a bayonet thrust) - and a fellow practitioner serves as the aiming point (no or very
light contact). This helps students learn the points and is our core sequence for training that gets longer and longer as you go up the ranks.

(2) as a moving kata - as the solo attack but against an opponent who is moving forward so that the student has to coordinate footwork and blows to keep at a good hitting distance. In some cases the speed of the opponent's movement may force the student to omit hits in the sequence, while still keeping with the flow.

(3) as an interactive attack and defense drill, done with movement - one person attacks with realistic forward movement, the other person uses one of the parries to block the attack and then riposting to three open points with a sequence of strikes and thrusts. This gets the student used to picking open targets and hitting them.

The kata works (1) the inside of the arm to (2) the center line of the body to (3) the outside of the arm and (4) meridians on the edge of the torso to (5) the outside of the leg and then (6) the inside of the leg, (7) around to the back, and finally in Red and Black to foot hits (a specialized type of preemptive attack) and head hits (because of their possible lethality they will be the last actions taught). The kata also can be executed on either side of the body, depending on whether the attacker is right handed or left handed.

We are really focusing on learning and hitting targets, rather than learning specific movement sequences, so a perfectly good kata execution could be one of the three inside wrist targets against an initial attack, followed by an upper arm hit, followed by a hit to the collar bone area, followed by a hit to the hip as the opponent turns away, and finally a hit to one of the back targets ... or a hit to the wrist, followed by a strike to one of the knee targets, followed by a direct thrust to a Conception Vessel target.