I pointed out to my friend that “Dancing with the Stars” (Popular TV reality series… if you are living without a television) demand that contestants memorize and be capable of performing complex dance movements, far more difficult than most kata, within one week’s time. If this is possible, then why should a typical karate student not be able to learn and perform a new kata every week?
A teacher must differentiate between learning a kata and “mastering” a kata. In “mastering” a kata, a teacher must know what each kata was designed for; what it was capable of “identifying” within the student and finally, the process of making those attributes of the kata, part of the student.
Keep your workouts interesting and varied, but don’t loose sight of the fact we are teaching a martial art, not “Dancing with the Sensei”!
Tomoyose Sensei said it best: “Uechi-ryu kata are few. Only three that are very important. These kata are very ‘deep’ in content and require a lifetime of study and practice“.