Shinto Muso-ryu Jodo Kata

Kata (型 or 形 literally: "form"?) is an old way of teaching traditional martial arts in Japan. Kata are used in many modern and koryū martial arts as a way of teaching advanced techniques and maneuvers using a series of scripted movements and actions against an opponent. In many of the older koryū martial arts, kata are at the center of what is taught with little or even no sparring as compared to more modern martial arts such as kendo and/or judo

The modern Shintō Musō-ryū system holds approximately 64jō kata divided into several series. All forms are normally taught in sequence. In some SMR dojos, new students begin their kata training by learning one or more kata from the Seitei Jodo-curriculum due to their relative technical simplicity.

As a comparison, the compact Seitei Jodo created by Shimizu Takaji contains 12 forms. Ten of these kata are drawn from the existing SMR kata with minor modifications, and 2 other kata created specifically for Seitei Jodo. The two specific Seitei jodo are taught in various SMR dojos outside the main series of Kata.

As Shinto Musō-ryū has no current single leader, there exists no strict consensus regarding which order the kata should be taught, though the traditional order when applied is Omote, chudan, ran ai, kage, samidare Gohon (not in every dojo), okuden and hiden gokui. The kata-series Gohon no midare was created by Shimizu Takaji in the late 1930s and is not taught by every Dojo. The number of kata in each series is also not strictly defined by any single organisation. The Chudan series counts twelve kata plus one variant thus pushing the actual number of kata performed to thirteen.

The list of kata series below is mainly from the Shimizu Takaji-line of Shinto Musō-ryū Jodo.

Omote (表) is the first earliest series of kata taught to new students. The two Seitei Jodo kata are taught in some dojos before Tachi Otoshi, although not always. Tzuki Zue is also sometimes used as a first kata taught to new students.

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