Visualisation – see it and believe it
We learn Katas a move at a time and most often practice them solo. This leads us to concentrate on the move rather than what it’s for, for instance ‘now throw an arm up here and step to the side’ rather than ‘block a left kick to my head as I move into position to avoid a follow-on and make my counterattack’. Then it’s almost distracting when you do Kata against a real opponent (‘hey, what’s that leg doing, coming towards my head?’) and harder still in kumite (‘there’s a leg coming at me – what do I do??’). The remedy is to visualise every move, both yours and the opponent's, in sharp detail. You can do it with your eyes shut, anytime. The clearer you picture it, the better it works; visual cue triggers reflex reaction. Then when you do it for real you’ll see where your technique needs improving. And in a fight it’s easy to take control
because you’ve seen it all before.