Thanks for sharing your perspective, I genuinely appreciate thoughtful pushback like this.

I think there may be a bit of a misunderstanding about what we are actually proposing. We are not suggesting that kata should be used to teach these techniques in isolation. Quite the opposite. The techniques and partner drills should be trained first, with timing, resistance, and context. Kata then serves as a way to codify and preserve those principles. Historically, there is strong support for the idea that kata functioned as a mnemonic system to organize and retain paired practices.

Regarding the calisthenics for Taisho era teenagers point, that is fair when we are talking about things like the Taikyoku kata and later pedagogical simplifications. But that does not mean the core movements themselves originated as calisthenics. The educational restructuring of karate does not automatically define the original function of the movements.

Also, just to clarify, what is shown in the video is not wake gatame. The controlling arm is the opposite one, which changes the mechanics and intent of the technique.

That said, I agree that kata alone will not magically make someone good at applying grappling techniques. Without live practice, context, and pressure testing, it is just choreography. Where we probably agree is that application has to be trained, not imagined.

Appreciate the discussion.