Black Belt Negotiating: Become a Master Negotiator Using Powerful Lessons from the Martial Arts

How to Practice

Even when they’re alone, martial artists practice just to challenge themselves. They perform what we call katas. Katas are dances with very precise and set moves that let students practice kicks, punches, blocks, turns, and techniques. This is the equivalent of shadowboxing for prizefighters, except that the order of attacks by your opponent are predetermined.

When you are practicing in the dojo there are different levels of contact—no-contact, light-contact, and full-contact sparring. In no-contact sparring, you hit close to your opponent, but you don’t actually strike the person. Perhaps your kick is close enough that your opponent can even feel the air being displaced by your foot. To score, the strike must be so near that ...