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How do I write a "kata" or sparring match?

So like the title says, I'm trying to figure out how to write "katas"/sparring matches.

The reason that I put kata in quotes is because I'm not sure it's the right word. I want a practice session of sorts with a sword but it's only done with one person. I've heard it described as a kata before but I looked it up and Google says it's for martial arts so now I don't think I'm using it right.

But whatever it's called, I need to find out how to describe one. It's really important to my WIP.
And just to be clear, I don't have any humans in my WIP, it's mostly elves, but the other races aren't relevant to the question.
So, anyway, one of my MC's has to do a "kata" and perform it as part of a ceremony to acknowledge that he's become an adult and worthy of becoming Aran. (The elves live in a type of nomadic clan (called a geth) and the leader is called the Aran) So he has a lot riding on it but he's struggling to do it right and he works on his "kata" several times throughout the book.

As far as sparring matches go, there are several and I don't know how to describe them without it sounding dumb.

In general, I just don't know how to write "katas" or sparring matches without making it sound dumb or even mildly realistic. Neither can I figure out how to write a "kata" that was done wrong.

Help please?
 

Chasejxyz

Inkling
If you describe it only as a mechanical thing (he swung his sword to the left, and then the right, then took two steps and swung again) it's gonna be really boring. Watching people swing swords in real life is cool because you're seeing what's happening, but on paper explaining everything on detail will be dull. What you should be thinking of instead is what these scenes really mean in the context of the plot or the character's own growth. You've already stated that he needs to do this the right way in a ceremony to become an adult, so we have a good reason why he's practicing and we can make some educated guesses as to how he's feeling emotionally.

How is he struggling? I can think of a few ideas:
  • To do the kata the proper way, you need to be in a certain headspace (especially so if it requires magic). His worries/fears/doubt about screwing up is preventing him from being in the proper headspace
  • He's had some incident in the past that is a "mental block" from doing it the right way. Maybe he accidentally hurt himself or someone else during a practice, or he saw someone close to him die when they were doing the ceremony, or he's incredibly shy and can't stand others watching him, so that's preventing him from practicing or doing things
  • He has some character flaw he needs to overcome to do this. This can be a literal flaw like he's impatient, and part of being an adult is growing past those "childish" flaws, or it can be more metaphorical, like he thinks he needs to overcome some difference he has (like a disability) because he believes his community won't accept him as an adult otherwise, but the thing he has to learn is that he's fine the way he is
So when you're describing the sparring scenes, you're going to want to interlace these mental (internal) conflicts with the physical (external) ones. He needs to move the sword in the proper way, stick the landing etc, but we should also be seeing what he's thinking and feeling. Does he know he has to pace himself but he's pushing himself to get it done as fast as possible? Then we'll feel his body being pushed to go faster, his balance being harder to control, maybe he'll fall over. Or he's scared he'll be hurt like someone else was, so he's not jumping as far or moving as much, but he's also chastising himself because he'll never be able to do the ceremony right this way.

If you need to figure out how to write the physical stuff, do some practice on your own! Grab a wrapping paper tube or a pool noodle and do the movements slowly, pay attention to what's moving, how your weight is shifting around, what you're thinking to replicate those movements. If your character is spending a whole day practicing, then they're going to be working the same muscles over and over, and you'll see which ones are being used with your experimentation. You can figure out ways he might fall over or how there could be an accident where someone falls on their sword. I did fencing for a number of years because I knew it would be good reference for my writing; it really helped me get deep pov for fight scenes.
 
The main reason that he is struggling with the kata is because there's a group of people that watches him when he practices and they point out every mistake that he makes and makes fun of him for it. He's asked his instructor to send them away but she won't because she says that it builds character and he can learn from it. But now he get's really nervous when people watch him practice. He actually does know what he's doing and how to do it but hearing the criticism makes him doubt every move and make more mistakes. (He's 99 years old and though he's technically an adult by now. Since he's going to be Aran he's had to wait to perform his ceremony until he's old enough to become Aran, which is 100.)

As far as the physical stuff, I'll give it a shot. All I've done so far is to talk to a friend that does/did fighting in SCA events.
 
Chasejxyz has several great points. Indeed, writing a long fight scene where you describe all moves in detail can get boring quickly in a book. Imagine a Jacky Chan fight scene. It makes for a good movie scene which can last ten minutes. Now, put that on a page. You'll get something like: He punched someone. He punched someone in a different way. He punched someone through a gap in a ladder. He jumped on a bus and punched someone else...

A novel is not a visual medium, so don't try to make it one. Instead, work off the strengths of a novel. Get inside the head of a character. Focus on their struggles and feelings. Show us Aran is self-consious because people are watching and show it distracting him. If you do it well, you can then use some of those aspects later in the novel to build tension. Maybe he has to present something to a king and suddenly everyone is watching him. Will he be able to do what he must?

As for how to write the actual sword stuff. Do some research. Watch people sparring or doing drills. Search for HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts). It depends on how deep you want to dive into it. I find Guy Windsor a great starting point (see Guy Windsor – Consulting Swordsman. Writer.). He's a European Swordfighting teacher who's written several book on the subject. You can dig into that if you want to find out how to swordfight. He's also got a solo training course (though that's on the expensive side I think), which can drag you further down the rabit hole. There's plenty of free resources on his teachings as well on The School of European Swordsmanship (swordschool.com).
 

Mad Swede

Auror
There are a couple of web pages which I would recommend to you:

diGrasse's True Art of Defense (Rapier Fencing) - Rapier and Dagger (which is basically DiGrasse's book the True Art of Defence)
Essays - Swords & Swordsmanship (which is part of The Association for Renaissance Martial Arts web site)

The other piece of advice I would give you is not to describe it in too much detail unless you need to. As Chasejxyz wrote, what matters is what the scenes mean for the character and for the development of the plot overall. If you want to get some idea of what it means to physically hold a long sword and then use it, try picking up a broom handle and using that as a sort of practice sword.
 

S J Lee

Inkling
a mere practice match would be boring unless it meant something to someone - EG, the king would pardon someone if X won, a student would regain his mentor's respect etc...?

mechanical moves get boring - but ebb and flow, suspense as to who will win, and A TWIST at the end make a swordfight good. Read Dune - at least THREE decent knife fights

eg - Feyd vs the gladiator - at one point it looks like he'll lose, but he has a contingency hypnosis command - AND the fight is really about discrediting the old slave master so Feyd's candidate can step into place so Fey can jockey for power vs his uncle - OR the final fight vs Paul - Paul refuses to use the "cheat code" and in the process " I will not say it!" he distracts Feyd anyway... OR the fight vs Jamis - Paul can win easily with his training BUT he hesitates to KILL ...AND he is trained to fight vs shielded opponents, so he is deliberately a bit slow to pierce a shield... so J slips away a few times .. Stilgar is annoyed Pauls is "toying" with his opponent / showing off....

I remember a R A Salvatore fight scene (ok, not a great writer, but he has SOME virtues) where Drizzt is fighting Entreri in the sewers - Drizzt is winning - they get locked in a clinch - Entreri has NOT responded to anything D says - then Entreri spits a mouthful of sewer water in D's eyes...

The common thing is - Don't worry TOO much about "realism" and instead give us something interesting. This probably means ebb and flow which means we are not sure who will win..and a little twist. It is NOT necessary that the fight be a long one.

EG - Young Guns 2!!! Emilio Estevez throws his gun on the ground and THEN tells his opponent to draw. "Sorry, but you will not make it!" Opponent has a HUGE advantage... goes for his gun.....and ... how will the hero prevail????
look at 60 seconds 2.00 to 3.00 !!! for a good fight scene that would work well on the page.


Now you CAN put in all sorts of weapons research etc - great ... but it must SERVE the story - EG I have a rapier duel where a novice is against a master ... the master allows the novice to wear a breastplate... they both hold their rapiers out in front, as they need to ... and the master waits.... and a few moments later the novice realises to his horror that his untrained arms are not strong enough to KEEP THE SWORD UP for long - he MUST attack before his arm gets tired and EITHER his guard drops OR he pulls the sword back and sacrifices his reach ... the master is smirking and...! Yes, some idiot might protest, "but rapiers weigh almost nothing, that wouldn't be a problem...!" You cannot worry about people like that too much or try to educate them. Don't worry about it, give me a good story. You COULD clarify why strength is important with a rapier through dialogue, but do NOT put in a yakky narrator explaining to the reader that the light foils/slim knitting needles you see in most movie swordfights ARE NOT rapiers etc....
 
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Stevie

Minstrel
Good advice posted on this already.

I've done a fair few sword forms so I've got an idea what your MC is going through. Standing alone on the mats at a grading in front of a room full of people is a whole lot different from a practice session. I'd be tempted to focus the scene mostly on the inner thoughts and feelings of the MC - his efforts to get everything just right, the distraction of the cat calling, wanting to avoid the shame of failing, maybe his anger at his instructor and the guilt and conflict that brings. All these things are warring with the need to focus solely on the kata. Switch between inner feelings/thoughts and what is happening around him. Pepper it with the physical actions but not too many. Go in deep to your MCs thoughts then pull back out again to show the external. Keep it flowing, like a sword form should. So you might get something like -

Standing at attention, shoulders taut, sweat already stinging her eyes. The command - "Begin." Gliding through the first sequence, cut left, cut right, block. A sneering laugh from the crowd. Who? Stay focussed! A foot falls wrong, a clumsy recovery. I will not lose this because of them. Turn and cut. Why did he not send them away?
 

Lodestone

Acolyte
You might consider breaking down the kata (which I would call a form as that’s what we call them in Kenpo) into separate distinct moves, or techniques, with cool names to help the practitioner remember each part.

For instance, imagine a character working on Tempest Form II.

TEMPEST FORM II
  • First, slowly position your body and gently begin Stinging Mist to 9 o’clock
  • Then, Echoes of Thunder to 12 o’clock
  • Followed by Whisper of the Hurricane Song to 4:30
  • …….
  • End by executing Triple Flash of Lightning Strikes as you return to center.
This way you can zoom in and imagine what each technique might be teaching and what it might look like.
 
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