Gun Kata



Gun Kata is a fictional firearms based martial art first seen in the film Equilibrium (2002). The concept was conceived by Equilibrium writer/director Kurt Wimmer and developed by fight choreographer Jim Vickers. The word "kata" is Japanese for form and describes detailed patterns of defense-and-attack movements in martial arts. The concept of Gun Kata is to do the same with firearms, resulting in a deadly and visually stunning performance.


 * "The Gun Katas. 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% increase to lethal proficiency makes the master of the Gun Katas an adversary not to be taken lightly."
 * - DuPont in Equilibrium

The premise is to maximize efficiency in both accuracy and lethality, whilst avoiding harm to the user. This is achieved by wielding two firearms and intuitively shooting the antagonist(s) in areas likely to cause the most harm. Users are trained to shoot lethally without using any sights or aiming in the traditional sense. The user is trained to know exactly where an antagonist is before he or she gets to their destination, allowing the user to plan their movements, thus giving them the ability to move out of the trajectory of incoming bullets and take out the attacker with precision.

All in all, this allows the Gun Kata master an immense advantage in any close-quarters gunfight, allowing the individual to kill a huge number of attackers and minimizes the risk to the user. In Equilibrium, Grammaton Cleric First Class John Preston is a master of the Gun Kata, and uses the skill to obliterate Father's personal guard of more than 30 black-helmeted Librian stormtroopers in just slightly over a dozen seconds. (It should be noted that this was an exceptional feat by the standards of Gun-kata, and even Preston expressed some doubt as to whether or not he would be able to accomplish it earlier in the movie).

Gun Kata is a type of "fake-fu"; some moves closely resemble kung fu and also Japanese form (kata) based martial arts. The combat in Equilibrium in general has been compared to The Matrix.