In the last blog, we looked at the front kick. In this one, we will look at Foundation Movements for Kata – Turns for Kata Practice. For any Kata to be practiced, the foundation of the Kata movements are forward and backward movements using techniques and, more importantly, turns.

We will learn a few of the important turns here:

• Turns using forward stance (Down block)
• Back turn, Half turn, 3/4th turn
• Turns using back stance (Knife hand block)

To make it simple, we use the illustration of a clock to learn the turns. Let’s look at the back turn. By default, you need to move your back leg beyond the centre line, get ready for a block, and move from a 12 o’clock to a 6 o’clock position to face the other way.

A half turn is basically a half stance turn, where you go from 12.00 to 3.15 or a 12.00 to 8.45, depending on where it is a half turn with back leg or front leg. For the ¾ turn, lift up your hand, move your leg beyond the straight line, and turn with your back shoulder going back first. Basically, you turn towards 9.00, move to 6.00 and finally reach 3.00.

These foundation movements are the new arsenal that you have as a part of the Karate skills that you will soon know. Practice them along with the previous techniques till they’re perfect. Our next blog is on Techniques for White Belts.