How much bunkai training do you do?

[RichardHangHong]

I believe that bunkai is an essential part of karate training as it helps the transition from kata to kumite/applied techniques for self defence as well as helping one to understand just what it is we are doing in our respective katas.

My question is this. Do you train in bunkai in your school? If so, how often and do you feel you do too little, just enough or too much?

Regards,

Richard

[lordtariel]

We train in bunkai from time to time. Usually our sensei does it in the form of drills and later explains that the moves are from this or that kata. I'd say we probably do it about once a week in the classes that I take. The more advanced classes may have more. We also do some bunkai in kobudo, but we do that quite a bit less.

[Shotokan-kez]

I would prefere it if our sensei did much more Bunkai. We do some from time to time, especially when someone is finding some certain part of a kata difficult, we will do it all in very slow motion and be shown the moves in Bunkai, i enjoy it and it helps so much to grasp what kata is all about.

So on the whole i don't think we do enough of it, so i think i may ask sensei about this in the next session.

Kez xx

[shotochem]

A little bit here and there in the regular classes for us.

All the time in the advanced adult class.

Then of course it's a bunch of us before or after class trying stuff out to see if it works.

[cathal]

We do it every time we learn a new kata. We do a set bunkai given to us by our sensei, after 3 months we are asked to perform another bunkai of our own interpretation.

At least once per month we practice a random bunkai, as well as the 5-Kata kumite...a bunkai of mixed sections from the five Heian katas.

[Orca]

We do a lot of bunkai. We need to explain at least two potential applications of each move in each kata in order to pass exams. We are also encouraged to come up with our own aplications, present them to the class, and defend them, after we reach advanced levels.

[cathal]

present them to the class, and defend them, after we reach advanced levels.

We do that as well, starting at 5th Kyu and up. It really helps to do that because they will enhance their knowledge of the kata (and the related techniques) when they realize they have to pass that on to us, as though we had never seen those techniques before.

[armanox]

We do it with every new kata, and usually one out of four classes is dedicated to it.

[bushido_man96]

We don't do any bunkai training in my school at all. From what I have heard talked about it, it sounds like I am missing out on a lot of fun.

[cathal]

We don't do any bunkai training in my school at all. From what I have heard talked about it, it sounds like I am missing out on a lot of fun.

Most definitely. I don't think you can truly understand a kata, or it's intent, until you go over several aspects of the techniques and their possible applications.