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Function Dictated Form

True kata were developed by observing and recording how the human body could successfully respond to direct forces: rolling with, rerouting, and turning that force back on the sender. Continuous contact is an important element, and this accounts for the lack of Western-style ducking and weaving. This hands-on aspect of both the Saam Chin and Nai Fuan Chin kata means that an opponent's arms or legs are continuously monitored by contact, then trapped or neutralized. Neither of these kata make any sense at all as a choreographed fight against multiple opponents and should not be considered as such.

Although these kata are performed solo, the information that they contain gives rise to practical formulae that dictate, as simply as possible, the science of unarmed combat. Attempts to apply any kata without prior understanding of its essence (if it is a genuine kata it will have one), produce highly individualized applications that bear little resemblance to the original purpose of the form. These individualistic interpretations are so unlimited in scope that a situation arises in which you cannot see the wood for the trees, and collecting more and more kata will not help. Unless you can penetrate to the essence, the kata will remain a mysterious set of movements that are very difficult to apply in a practical way.