The answer is simple.
A kata, patience and hard work.
The masters of old would study a single kata for years to study every small detail so that they could use it to brutally breakdown an opponent should they be called upon to do so. Understand that many old karate men were brawlers, bodyguards and police. They practiced in their yards or behind closed doors in the middle of the night wearing normal clothes and learning through patience and diligence.
In Gichin Funakoshi's autobiography, he explains how they never even received instruction on what the movements meant. They only practiced, practiced and practiced some more.
This is all that is necessary.
The reason you don't hear this being offered as a viable option from karate instructors is because they have a conflict of interest. Mastering a single kata takes years, mastering multiple kata takes decades. Karate instructors make the bulk of their money off tuition fees and belt testing. Without several kata they would soon run out of things to test and once a student mastered the kata there would be little reason to keep paying the instructor. With ranks, multiple kata and the idea that it takes a life time to master karate, they can keep students paying for decades.
A kata, patience and hard work.
The masters of old would study a single kata for years to study every small detail so that they could use it to brutally breakdown an opponent should they be called upon to do so. Understand that many old karate men were brawlers, bodyguards and police. They practiced in their yards or behind closed doors in the middle of the night wearing normal clothes and learning through patience and diligence.
In Gichin Funakoshi's autobiography, he explains how they never even received instruction on what the movements meant. They only practiced, practiced and practiced some more.
This is all that is necessary.
The reason you don't hear this being offered as a viable option from karate instructors is because they have a conflict of interest. Mastering a single kata takes years, mastering multiple kata takes decades. Karate instructors make the bulk of their money off tuition fees and belt testing. Without several kata they would soon run out of things to test and once a student mastered the kata there would be little reason to keep paying the instructor. With ranks, multiple kata and the idea that it takes a life time to master karate, they can keep students paying for decades.
