If a DrupalCamp or other gathering is a "Dojo", then a Kata is a formal activity where a teacher leads students through a form or series of forms which, done correctly, create a resuIt.

Taking this back to Webchick's point on http://buytaert.net/drupal-learning-curve - I think this can work best when both beginning students AND master teachers have roles to play - and agree that a "beginner's mind" is a terrible thing to waste.

Currently we have two basic levels of training available for free on the web:

• FORM CREATORS: Those expert enough in particular forms to define, in text outline, screenshot or screencast, the best way to accomplish something in Drupal. Where there are many ways, identifying the right sequence to follow to accomplish one. In video form, Acquia webinars are like this - very fast and tight and definitive.
• SCREENCASTERS: Acquia webinars go too fast for noobs. Whether live or in video, a presenter slows it down, provides background - like the DrupalTherapy folks do, among others, or like Lynda videos. A look through http://yadadrop.com could identify screencasts that work.

I see us "Branding" Kata trainings as follows:

• KATA SCREENCAST PRESENTERS: "Best Practice" in Screencasting should include a text outline and marked places to pause for long procedures. To brand a screencast as Kata, we might employ a logo (one is attached), some bits of Japanese from martial arts. The branding indicates that this screencast meets whatever the "Kata" standards evolve into, and also comes complete with links to downloadable example files.
• KATA INSTRUCTOR: Whether recording their own Kata Screencasts or working from those in a repository, these presenters would offer sessions at DrupalCamps, promoting them ahead of time (so that interested students will download the files in advance) and take a room of students through the steps in a set period of time.

Because branding implies meeting standards, this approach implies a directory of "Screencasters / Preparers" and a repository of "Screencasts / Outlines / Files" which could be called up at a DrupalCamp to meet the need of folks looking to be trained in something - and also used in other training settings (like schools, for instance).

I imagine two levels of KATA INSTRUCTOR:

• MASTER: A presenter who knows the material cold - a "black belt" in image gallery creation, if you will, who knows the depth behind every decision, not just following a recipe. This might be the Lullabot crew - and they might get paid to do it.
• STUDENT: A presenter who knows how to bring a room of Drupal students through the Kata - when to pause for questions, when to help a student troubleshoot, and when to move through so that everyone finishes at the end. The Student Instructor should know the Kata well enough to perform it three times through without error (though may not know all the background and alternative methods).

This past Saturday, I tried my first Kata at DrupalCamp NYC. I had many takers for the workshop but only one person actually going through the Kata with me - and he was an "elder". The more experienced Drupalers in the room were content to multitask. Does this mean that the Kata method is only appropriate for noobs? Perhaps...