Most karateka spend a great deal of time learning and practicing kata, which is fitting, given that the kata are templates for the curriculum of karate, but as the art has morphed into a tradition-based art over the past century, the way that people train and practice kata has changed. As recently as the mid-20th Century CE, kata were regularly taught differently to different students, and an instructor may not even teach the same selection of kata to every student, as instruction was more tailored to the individual than to teaching large groups of people. Over time, not only did instructors begin to teach all the same kata to all of their students, but they also began to expect those kata to be practiced very strictly, constantly refining the most minute details in order to perform them as perfectly as possible. This was, of course, accompanied by shifting the focus of kata from acting as a template for practical fighting techniques to an aesthetic demonstration of balance, coordination, and skill. Kata performance has become an art, unto itself, and has narrowed the focus of kata practice for many karateka.
While it certainly expanded on the number of kata the average karateka knows how to perform, this rigid, uniform approach to teaching kata has left many in a situation where they do not have the chance to explore the kata, leaving them to study broadly, but not deeply. This is not the case for all practitioners, of course, but it is not unusual for an average karate student to have learned a handful of kata, and have no idea how to apply their techniques on a resisting partner. Additionally, even among those who do learn practical applications for their kata, it can sometimes be difficult to see how the kata connect with each other. While one can certainly look at each kata separately, as its own system–which is fairly accurate, in a historical sense–it is also very beneficial to study how those kata relate to each other in the scheme of the broader systems that are now practiced all over the world. A good method for introducing this study is the practice of what the late Richard Poage (Renshi, Godan, Shorin-Ryu) and Jeff Allred (Shihan, Rokudan, Shorin-Ryu) referred to as “wormhole kata,” or “wormholing.”
The name comes from the physics theory of the Einstein-Rosen bridge/wormhole (LINK) which, put very, very simply, is the idea that two separate and potentially very distant points in space and/or time can be directly connected in such a way that something could go from one point to the other without having to actually travel through everything in between. When applied to kata, the concept remains essentially the same, but instead of being different theoretical points in spacetime, we are connecting different points in a kata, or even across different kata, entirely. Although the idea is quite simple, it can be rather challenging, in practice, particularly for those who have spent years ensuring that they never deviate from the prescribed movements of the given kata they are performing. Beginners often do this by accident, when they have learned multiple kata, but not fully developed the muscle memory for them, and sometimes even more advanced practitioners will slip from one kata to another when under pressure, such as tournaments or rank exams.
Mixing up kata by mistake is different from engaging in the practice of wormholing mindfully, however. To get started, it may be easiest to start experimenting with single kata, before moving onto jumping between different kata. Even something as simple as Pinan Nidan (Heian Shodan), for example, can be used to practice wormholing by removing repetitive sequences, which feature in most kata. The kata starts by performing a sequence to the left, then repeating it to the right, before performing a different sequence to the front. More “advanced” kata, such as Kusanku/Kanku Sho and Kusanku/Kanku Dai, follow a similar pattern, which can be explored the same way. By simply skipping over the repetition to the right, and going straight from the sequence to the left to the sequence to the front, one is “wormholing” from one part of the kata to another, which brings up a number of questions. How does removing the repetition affect the kata, as a whole? How does the footwork change? How does it affect the transfer of body weight? How do the hands travel between postures differently? One can also expand beyond simply removing one repeating sequence to skipping over any repeating sequence in a kata, or even skipping any individual movements which are repeated, and ask the same sorts of questions.
To begin exploring the idea of jumping between kata, it can help to plan things out in advance, at first, by finding similar points in each. For example, Naihanchi/Tekki Shodan features a morote-zuki (lit. “thrust with both hands”), and so does Kusanku/Kanku Sho, which can be used as transition points from one kata to the other fairly easily. Even before one physically engages in practicing the kata, this mental exercise can be beneficial, as it forces the karateka to review every kata that they know and find similarities. The similarities one uses as transition points need not even be similar techniques–they may be as abstract as similar changes in direction. Many kata have very similar enbusen (lit. “martial demonstration,” but used in this context to refer to the diagram of directions the kata moves to as one performs it), so perhaps after performing a sequence to one side, instead of turning to the other side and repeating it, one switches to a sequence from another kata, entirely, which is performed to that side after a turn. Of course, these experimentations should bring up many of the same sorts of questions as are brought up by skipping repetitions in kata, and eventually, one should find various new ways of transitioning between kata, based on what feels right.
The question that will almost certainly come up, with regard to this practice, is “why?” What is the benefit of practicing kata “incorrectly,” skipping over movements, or jumping between different kata. Well, the first benefit is fairly obvious–it forces the practitioner to think about their kata, rather than simply performing them by rote. Studies have shown that memorization of patterns, as well as challenges to balance and coordination, are beneficial to cognitive development and health, but once one has memorized a pattern, such as a kata, the brain should be challenged to memorize new patterns, as well. This can be done by simply teaching more kata, or kihon (basics) drills, but as previously mentioned, that comes with its own issues, and it also isn’t really necessary if one begins finding connections between the kata they already know. The new challenges in balance and coordination are good for the brain, as well, and provide additional physical benefits with regard to coordination and body control. There is also something to be said for figuring out such things for oneself, rather than being taught to do them by an instructor.
From a martial perspective, kata wormholing provides a method for karateka to explore their art as a system, rather than a collection of disparate kata. For most, it is easy to see how the three Naihanchi/Tekki kata fit together as a system, because they are obviously very similar, and use mostly the same techniques. The Pinan/Heian kata follow very similar enbusen, and kata with Sho (lesser) and Dai (greater) versions, such as Passai/Bassai and Kusanku/Kanku, have enough shared movements that one can typically see that they are meant to be complimentary. Outside of those groups of kata, however, it can be difficult to understand how the techniques of two very different kata compliment each other, unless one really dives into kata bunkai (lit. “take apart and analyze”), particularly unless one does so with the intention of exploring the practical application of those kata.
Bunkai for the purposes of deriving practical application can be approached from several different perspectives (LINK), but it is quite common for those engaged in the practice to look at the movements before and after a given technique to help inform their interpretations of how that technique might be applied. When one is practicing kata wormholing, however, the movements that come before or after a technique can be changed, which can potentially drastically alter how one might apply them. It could provide ideas for new entries into a technique, or new follow-ups in case the technique fails, or variations on how a technique is applied, or completely different techniques, entirely. One can then take these ideas and play with them in various forms of resistant training, such as progressively resistant drilling, kakedameshi (lit. “hooked/hanging [hands] trial”), kata randori (free practice), self-defense scenario exercises, or free sparring methods with appropriate rulesets, such as MMA-style or clinch-focused sparring. By exploring kata in this manner, one gains the benefits of not just the collection of the kata, but the nearly limitless potential of the sum of their parts, from an application perspective.