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As many of you know I’ve won my share of Kata championships during my tournament career. This story is about how I made the transition from under belt Kata competitor to one of the elite Black Belt Kata Champions on the East Coast.
As an under belt in the 1970s I was pretty good in Kata. I won my share of tournaments and even won an Under Belt World Championship in 1975. I had what they call 'natural ability' and it showed in my Kata. At that time, I would practice my form but never really understood the meaning of Kata. To me, they were just moves that needed to be memorized and performed well.
As I got closer to my Black Belt and began to really observe the Black Belt division, I noticed the level of Kata competition was much greater than what I was used to. I remember entering my first Black Belt tournament in 1976 and placing fifth in Kata. This was an eye opener for me. I had never placed this low at any tournament before. I went back to the drawing board and began practicing different forms, looking for the right one that would give me an edge. The katas of my choice at that time were Kwanku dai, Kwanku sho, and Gankaku. For the next several years I was hit and miss with Kata. I took several third place finishes but these were always at small tournaments. In 1978 I began training in Jujitsu with Sensei Claudio and put my tournament career on hold. Then in 1983 I entered the Metropolitan Open tournament and took third place with Gankaku. I was still not happy with my performance and went back to work narrowing down my Kata of choice.
Then in 1984, I moved my family to New Jersey due to my job and lost touch with the dojo. For the next two years I concentrated on my job and raising my family. My wife and I had been blessed with twin boys in 1980, and from the time they were 4 years old I began training them in Karate. Well, in 1986 my wife noticed that I