My Dojo

Jeff asked:


I made it up myself, but I don’t have a name to announce when I get in front of the judges. My style is Shotokan, and it’s Japanese, if you didn’t know. So, any ideas? And if you leave a suggestion, please tell me what the Japanese name means in English.

Gracie

4 Responses to “Help naming my kama kata for karate competition?”

1. Carson Says:
   February 5th, 2010 at 4:04 am

   Jack

   Kamie Kazie

2. Carter Says:
   February 6th, 2010 at 5:51 pm

   Noah

   You should name it

   A technique that would never work in a real world self defense scenario.

3. Sara Says:
   February 8th, 2010 at 3:56 pm

   Landon

   Well, I’m afraid that what you have created isn’t actually a kata, in the traditional sense–until you have taught it to a student of yours who then teaches it to a student of theirs, it is really an exercise. If I were you, I would announce it as Ju Ju Undo no Kama (Free Exercise with Kama), as that is basically what it is. There is nothing wrong with making up your own forms for use in a tournament, but they generally wouldn’t be considered kata by traditional martial artists. If you’re entering an XMA tournament, you can probably go ahead and give it some fancy name or name it after yourself.

4. Ashley Says:
   February 11th, 2010 at 5:14 pm

   Brady

   I think you ought to name it based on what your form is supposed to show. For example, if it is full of fast movements, you could call it hayaku no kama, which literally means fast kama. If it is full of strong blocks and strikes, you might want to call it tsuyoi no kama, or strong kama. Whatever you call it, I recommend you keep it easy to remember, and make sure you can pronounce it correctly. Truth is, judges won’t remember/care what the name of your form is, but it’s nice to hear someone make an effort to pronounce it half-way correct. There is nothing more annoyign than a 5th degree slaughtering a Japanese word or making Japanese words up (both of which I come across a lot).