Recently we held our Autumn gradings which included two students doing their nidan syllabus for open hand. One of the highlights of this was their performance of kata; most of the lower ranks had never seen these kata before and it was truly a thing of elegance to watch. One of the yudansha performing the kata had, some weeks earlier, suggested I write something on kata and so now seems like an appropriate time.
In actual fact, it was the parallel between the TARDIS and kata that struck them, I believe they were inspired by my previous Doctor Who post, (or they would have been had they actually read it).
I did see a member of UNIT take out an attacker with a gun using kotegaeshi in an early Jon Pertwee episode recently.
More relevant to the TARDIS is that kata also, is bigger on the inside than on the outside.
To the uninitiated observer it is just as it appears.
To those who have access to its inner workings, it is an endless storehouse of wisdom and insight.
If used wisely and correctly it can transport one to undreamt of realms.
One can explore the hidden regions of a kata for the rest of their life and still not exhaust its teachings.
For most, however, it will always remain just a police box.
This applies not just to outsiders, but sadly, also to those students who fail to grasp the real purpose of their training.
Kai Cho