Gun Kata

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Gun Kata is a fictional firearm-based martial art, seen in the films Equilibrium (2002) and Ultraviolet (2006).

1 Techniques
2 Martial sports inspired by Gun Kata
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Techniques

The concept was conceived by Equilibrium writer/director Kurt Wimmer and developed by fight choreographer Jim Vickers. It involves the use of firearms (generally pistols) against nearby opponents, resulting in an athletic and visually engaging form of combat. Vice councillor DuPont (Angus Macfadyen) in Equilibrium describes the concept thus:

four examples of Gun Kata techniques

"Through analysis of thousands of recorded gunfights, the Cleric has determined that the geometric distribution of antagonists in any gun battle is a statistically-predictable element. The Gun Kata treats the gun as a total weapon, each fluid position representing a maximum kill zone, inflicting maximum damage on the maximum number of opponents, while keeping the defender clear of the statistically-traditional trajectories of return fire. By the rote mastery of this art, your firing efficiency will rise by no less than 120%. The difference of a 63% increased lethal proficiency makes the master of the Gun Katas an adversary not to be taken lightly."

Gun Kata, as a martial art, places emphasis on two tenets: shooting the enemy as efficiently as possible, and avoiding return fire. Hitting targets is a matter of knowing where enemy fighters are likely to be located in relation to the user, which removes the problem of aiming (especially at close ranges), not to mention allowing the user to defeat foes with pre-emptive fire before they can present a true threat. Avoiding return fire is also a matter of statistical probability, as Gun Kata users do not rely on bullet time-style evasions, but rather on avoiding the enemy's most likely lines of fire. In short, Gun Kata is the art of shooting where the enemy should be, while not being where the enemy should shoot. It is effective enough that the protagonist of Equilibrium, Grammaton Cleric First Class John Preston, is able to defeat more than 30 enemy stormtroopers in under a minute. It should be noted, however, that this was an exceptional feat even by the standards of Gun Kata, since Preston himself expressed some doubt as to whether he could manage it, and as a First Class Cleric, Preston was a master of Gun Kata.

In UltraViolet, a further, more aggressive development of this technique is seen displayed by Violet Song jat Shariff (portrayed by Milla Jovovich). When unarmed and surrounded by multiple firearm-wielding opponents, Violet's movements allow her to avoid the shots fired at her and simultaneously make the enemies shoot each other instead. This could be compared to another famous fictional martial art, lightsaber combat, where the Form III only concentrates on deflecting the incoming blaster bolts with one's lightsaber, whereas the Form V allows one to send them back in the direction of the opposing gunners.

Another, less commonly seen technique of Gun Kata involves dueling with a single opponent at a very close range. This often includes melee combat with both opponents trying to point a gun at the other and pull the trigger, while at the same time, preventing the enemy from doing the same thing. This technique is only used if both adversaries are skilled in it. The most striking difference of such duels to the rest of hand-to-hand martial arts is that an enemy shot cannot be blocked or parried as in unarmed combat and fencing and can thusly be only avoided by constantly knocking off the enemy's aim and leaving him or her no time to shoot in your direction.

Yet another technique involves using a pistol as a normal melee weapon to hit the close range opponents without wasting ammunition. Since the technique is frequently used against multiple enemies equipped with firearms, the basic rules of avoiding their most likely shooting trajectories also apply, as well as hitting each enemy in a way to prevent them from shooting at all.

Gun kata is, however, primarily a cinematic martial art constructed to create visually appealing gunfights and not to reflect reality. Gun battles in the real world revolve around cover and lines of fire, which are dictated by terrain and thus inherently unpredictable, as opposed to statistically predictable positions and lines of fire that can be exploited by rote memorization, as depicted in Equilibrium.

[edit] Martial sports inspired by Gun Kata

A number of enthusiasts inspired by Kurt Wimmer's portrayal of Gun Kata have attempted to develop practical versions of the style, generally in a stage combat, performance kata or combat sport format rather than as a realistic fighting technique. For example, the Gun Sau style - the name being a portmanteau of the English "gun" and the Cantonese "sau", meaning "hand" - employs harmless infra-red "laser" pistols and headband-mounted sensors, adapted or modded from commercially available toys. As a game, Gun Sau mimics the action featured in the final fight sequence of the Equilibrium movie, with players attempting to out-maneuver each other at close range and to score "headshots" which are achieved by firing the infra-red beam directly at their opponent's headband sensor. The sensors keep score electronically and the winner is the first player to reach a certain number of points.