Keith's Corner

This is where Keith shares his view of the world

Bunkai in Practice

Kata are a collection of techniques put together by past Masters in a form that allows them to be learned and demonstrated in a seamless pattern of moves and is a vehicle by which the karate of the Master can be passed on to future generations. They are, in effect, a curriculum of that Master’s style. Modern karate styles usually embrace a number of kata, representing the knowledge and skills of more than one Master.

Kata are performed by modern karate groups for a variety of reasons, including sport, tournaments, fitness, coordination etc. And in most of these instances, form is more important than function. However, in my view, the only reason the old Masters used karate or tode was for self-defence. Consequently, the applications in the kata reflect the self defence moves of the Master.

It is said that each application within the kata should be capable of finishing the fight. This is in keeping with old Okinawan karate philosophy of one strike, one life, or no more than three applications to finish a fight. Putting aside the aspect of killing someone, this short sharp approach is important in self-defence.

When you absolutely cannot prevent violence being used against you (ie by avoiding, escaping, defusing) your objective should be to get out of that situation as quickly as possible. Several quick (and violent) offensive moves to distract, delay the attacker and escape. Prolonged exchanges may be considered by the legal system as consensual violence which may water down your legal defence! Those who want more information on karate bunkai and the differences between consensual and non-consensual violence should view Iain Abernathy’s excellent in-depth explanation here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOKZCsxHDY8

The old Masters are long gone, so who knows what applications they had behind their kata moves. It is possible that they saw multiple applications for some of their moves. Given the passage of time and the drift over time that occurs in a multigenerational communication chain, it is likely that we may never know. We only have to look at the variations in a single kata by different styles to see the drift that has occurred without the added complication of differing bunkai interpretations.

We may never know the original intent behind the kata moves. However, I don’t think it matters.

We can interpret the kata on two levels. (1) The superficial or obvious interpretation (omote) or (2) the more in depth analysis (ura) applied by senor karateka which may include higher level karate techniques and additional moves not obvious in the kata form. The “ura” approach more accurately reflects the karate of old with its additional techniques no longer used in sports karate, and given its more violent application, is more useful in self defence. However, there are myriad interpretations of single kata moves that vary with the proponent.

My view is that it doesn’t matter. Look at all the variations or design your own. Find something that works and practice it from different sides and against different attacks and put it in your arsenal to be used if the situation arises. Just make sure that it is effective, able to be easily applied, and, from a legal aspect, its use is able to be justified in court if necessary.

Stages of Learning Kata

In teaching kata to beginners and children, I have noticed several stages of learning. Your expectations of an individual’s learning need to consider the stage that they are at. I see three stages.

1. Hokey Pokey Approach

I call the first or earliest stage the Hokey Pokey Stage

We take our cue from the song. Namely “Put your right arm in; Put your right arm out; Put your right arm in and shake it all about.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzSJBowPECY

Take Gekisai for example. The greenest beginner will turn to the left, stick their left arm up, shuffle forward, stick their right arm out, turn 90 degrees and step out, while rotating their left hand in a circle. They know approximately where to put their arms and feet without understanding what they are doing.

The Hokey Pokey approach is also used when attempting complex moves such as mawashi uke or round block requiring both arms. The Hokey Pokey expert will throw their arms about in gay abandon, as fast as they can, hoping you can’t see what they have done!

2. The Basics Approach

The student now knows enough basics to be able to identify that the various karate moves are a combination of basics. Using the Gekisai example they now turn to the left in sanchin dachi, doing a rising head level block with the left hand, step forward in sanchin dachi and do a head level punch with the right hand, then stepping back and turning 90 degrees into shikodachi while doing a harai uke block with the left hand.

At this stage kata can be technically correct but very stilted and clunky and performed at a monotonous pace like a metronome. It lacks realism and life.

3. The Superficial Bunkai Approach

The student approaches the kata like it is a self defence drill (which, in effect, it is!) The kata move is applied as a defensive or offensive move against an imaginary opponent. In our example, the student pivots to the right, defending against a head high strike with a rising head level block and retaliating by moving forward in sanchin and striking to the opponent’s head, then stepping back into shikodachi while jerking the opponent towards the student with the right hand while striking the opponent’s groin with the left fist in a tetsui type move( or simply blocking a kick or low punch with a harai uke block.- depending on your interpretation)

Kata performed in this way has realism. It has fast moves and slow moves depending on the part of the response. Some moves may be joined together, others may have pauses. Such an approach brings the kata to life.

Guidance is provided as a response to the superficial, or omote, bunkai rather than the deeper interpretations (ura). Trying to emulate these more complex interpretations would destroy the correctness and accuracy of the kata. For instance, given our example, turning into an attacker while driving one’s forearm up under the chin while grabbing the collar/hair/arm with the right hand and stepping back while throwing the opponent onto the ground might be appealing but would require different hand shapes and feet movements than reflected in the kata. Many of the more deeper interpretations may require hands to be crooked if catching a limb or alternative movements if applying a lock or a throw or using other types of strikes such as ippon ken or nukite which do nor provide a guide to how the kata is expected to be performed. These more in-depth moves may be very useful in self defence but do not assist in helping one perform the kata in the traditional form as our style knows it.