Sensei Gichin Funakoshi ( the founder of Shotokan karate) said that Taikyoku is a kata "of the most profound character and one to which, upon mastery of the art of karate, an expert will return to select it as the ultimate training kata."
The reason that the Taikyoku are so beneficial to training is that they come down to the very basic simple movements. They bring us to our base, and reveal how solid, or weak our foundation can be. We can see if we are wasting energy through extra movement, announcing our attacks ahead of time, keeping our focus in the right direction, using our balance to our advantage, utilizing our breathing efficiently, turning with control, and speed, etc., etc. It is in the plain/simple moves that one will be able to notice little things that can be improved. The more solid we have our basics, the more stronger will the rest of our karate become.
Although kihon, kumite, and kata are totally different, one will find that as they improve in one aspect of karate, the other parts will benefit exponentially.
Sosai Masutatsu Oyama wrote in one of his books " We should perform these exercises (kata) so exactly that they become a part of our very lives because as fundamentals of karate they may be compared to the letters of an alphabet in that, just as letters are the building blocks of words and sentences, so these fundamentals are the building blocks from which karate is built ".
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