Kata

From Japanese åž‹ ("pattern, model").

In English use since the 1950s.

Full definition of kata

(plural katas)

(martial arts) A sequence of positions and movements used in the practice of many martial arts.

1979, Masatoshi Nakayama, Best Karate: Heian, Tekki, page 12,About fifty kata, or "formal exercises," are practiced at the present time, some having been passed down from generation to generation, others having been developed fairly recently.
2006, Kelley MacAulay, Bobbie Kalman, Karate in Action, page 22,Katas are a series of motions, such as punches, strikes, and kicks, arranged in a specific pattern. The pattern allows the motions to flow into one another. A student must learn a new kata to advance to each new belt level.
2009, Thomas W. Hanlon, The Sports Rules Book, Human Kinetics (publisher), page 161,When the competitor's name is called, she stands on the designated line, bows to the panel of judges, and announces the name of the kata she will perform....She then performs the kata. When she is finished, her opponent performs her kata. At the end of the second kata, both return to the mat area to await the decision of the judging panel.
2010, Kenji Tokitsu, The Katas: The Meaning Behind the Movements.

From Ancient Greek ÎºÎ±Ï„Î¬ ("downwards"). Compare cata-.

(plural katas)

In a direction analogous to down, but along the additional axis added by the fourth dimension.

1985, Rudy von Bitter Rucker, The Fourth Dimension: A Guided Tour of the Higher Universes (page 43)Your right half would move ana, let us say, and your left half would move kata. The two halves would, in their parallel spaces, move past the plane of rotation, and then they would swing back into our space.
2005, Animation journal (volumes 13-15)Added to the conventional FPS control keys are two extra keys that move the player in ana and kata direction in 4d space. If you go in this extra direction the space around you changes, the room transforms.