Are eyebrows essential for kata performance?

Serious question.

What part of the body on average has about 500 hairs? Answer; the eyebrows.

I don’t want to dwell on any particular kata performer, but for me there have been two quirky presentation features that seem to be de rigour for high level kata performers, particularly the female ones:

Starting with the quite trivial one:

· What’s with the really peculiar cut of the jacket? I cannot understand why the lower section of the back of the jacket has to rigidly stick out at an angle of 45 degrees. Fashion statement or practicality? It’s just so peculiar.

But, on to the really significant one:

· The eyebrows. Is the dramatic use of the eyebrows reinforcing the expressiveness of the kata?

Let me roll with the ‘eyebrow’ thing.

One person’s ‘focus’ might be another person’s anger. In karate, at a primal level, it seems to have tipped beyond focus and into something else.

Try this:

Is ‘Poker Face’ a better way to go?

Poker Face, ‘An impassive and calm expression that hides one’s true feelings’.

To be honest, the scariest people I have ever met, both in the martial arts and in the wider world, are the ones who remain calm. Their composure and confidence gives off a cool assuredness, the mark of a person with truly dangerous potential, the ‘warrior in the garden’ (oh how I hate that expression).

Better to be the still air at the centre of the whirlwind.

The guy who gives off the ‘sound and fury’, usually ‘signifies nothing’ (Shakespeare; Macbeth).

If, when we present our karate, our demeanour is one of business-like focus, of being calmly in the zone, in the moment, surely, it should radiate from us, making the clearest and strongest of statements, but without being overcooked. It’s not a case of it being enough. There is zero ambiguity. No need for all the drama. No need for it to be etched on to our faces like a pantomime villain.

Eyebrows, from an evolutionary perspective.

I asked somebody recently; ‘Why do you think that humans evolved to nearly naked hairless faces, and the only thing we all have in common is we each own a set of eyebrows?’ I got the usual answer, ‘Isn’t it to stop sweat trickling into your eyes?’ which is considered to be largely true, but there is another one.

Eyebrows to give off messages and support other facial expressions.

There we have it; expressive eyebrows, instant communication.

For anyone who is a fan of the stop-motion heroes, Wallace and Gromit; their creator Nick Park recently said that the dog, Gromit, doesn’t need to talk because it’s all in the brow ridge.

If you watch carefully, you see that his full range of emotions comes from the slightest tweak of his brows. Gromit doesn’t have actual eyebrows; with his mobile brow ridge he doesn’t need them. If he had eyebrows, he could take over the world.

For humans, the ability to read facial signals is really important. The clearer those signals are the easier it is to navigate human social interaction.

On a personal side, I have always been envious of people with luxuriant full-bushed dark eyebrows; my own are barely visible, sparse and inclined to blond (now grey).

Famous eyebrows.

A buffet of celebrity eyebrows, just to make my point.

And then there’s Master Ken…

Ken’s eyebrows virtually radiate cynicism, tinged with intensity

Master Ken’s first episode of ‘Enter the Dojo’.

Going to have to give examples.

I was trying to avoid this but I will start by saying that I am full of admiration for the dedication and athleticism of these wonderful sportspersons.

Sandra Sanchez is a creditable world kata champion, but the eyebrows and the accompanying scowling just make me wonder what is going on? Is it a personal expression thing or is it something that has perhaps become an arms war among the coaches? That is then taken into consideration by the judges as contributing to the general aesthetic?

I mention ‘personal expression’ because I wonder what level of personal expression is allowable in kata performances? Afterall, are not the kata meant to be examples of perfect conformity (it least within the sporting format)?

Rather like six-year-old classical music prodigies who can give a flawless (but expressionless) rendition of a Paganini violin cadenza, it has to fit an established ideal that is virtually inflexible.

More kata examples.

And then there are these very talented and dedicated sisters; to my mind, taking the Sanchez eyebrows even further. Add to that the snap of the head and the nose-breathing technique and there’s a whole load of expression going on there.

As a final note:

The ‘Sandra Sanchez look’ actually might be familiar to lots of guys. It’s that look you get across the kitchen table when you confess to your partner that you forgot to take the bins out. Terrifying in itself.