American Karate System

Following are the current quarterly promotions for each club.

Black Belt Promotions


Jeremy Jackson	1st Dan	Mountaineer Karate Club
	3rd Dan	American Karate Club-Muskegon

Kata - Your Training Partner

By Dave Thomas

My students have heard many times that when I started karate I was not a fan of kata. I was awkward, clumsy and remarkably uncoordinated when it came to forms. When we would practice, I tried to hide in the back of the beginner's group, but to no avail. Mr. Lieb quickly spotted my litany of mistakes. It didn't make my challenges any easier that there were excellent kata practitioners in our class that served to highlight my shortcomings. At the time, kata was not my friend.

The first hurdle I forced myself to overcome was to "quit fighting the katas; just try and learn them." One of the realizations that I came to was that there were many knowledgeable and skilled martial artists that valued forms as an integral part of the training regimen. Their years of experience and high level of skill told me that because they considered forms important to training, then I should too.

I began to appreciate forms during my tenure as a brown belt. Almost inexplicably they started to become fluid, took on some semblance of power, and began to look like an almost respectable exercise. I was even fortunate enough to place in forms competition at several tournaments.

It was also during this time that I began to understand the value of kata in martial arts training. I learned that it was not just the physical sequence of movements using the proper stances, but kata trains the mind as well. After 47 years, I am still in awe of the many benefits kata has to offer, as well as the constant discovery of new benefits to enrich one's training.

As with most accomplished teachers, Mr. Lieb didn't always explain everything he wanted his students to learn. He knew we would discover some things on our own as we trained. This way he allowed us to think we were reasonably clever that we had learned something profound. This was also the reason that all testings begin with kata. Not only is the student fresh and strong, but a poor kata portends major shortcomings in training. Those that I have seen fail their Black Belt test were not able to perform their katas to his standards.

When we would practice forms in class, I would ask the students, "Why kata?" The answers would slightly vary and typically focus on the most apparent elements. But I considered it just as important for students to know why they are doing forms as well as what they were doing.

Self-Defense

Proper Breathing

Focus

Power

Balance

Fluid Movement

Muscle Memory

Flipping the Switch

This was how I made kata my best training partner.

Dave Thomas
8th Dan