My Bunkai Examples

[Wastelander]

Hello everyone,

I thought I would share two short videos of two examples of my own personal bunkai--one from the kata Anaku, and one from the kata Chinto. No one taught me these applications, so if they are terrible the only person to blame is me, but I feel that they are relatively straight-forward, they work off of harnessed natural reactions and they work for me. Of course, these are simply examples of possibilities since bunkai is not set in stone and people will find different ways to apply kata based on their training backgrounds, their methodologies and their personal preferences. My training partner in these videos had never seen the applications before, and doesn't know either kata, so I was teaching him at the same time I was recording which makes it a bit clunky, and for that I apologize. Usually when I am explaining things to a group I have planned out everything I am going to say and the explanation is clear, but when working one-on-one I tend to get a little informal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA3ojBE7DVw&feature=youtu.be

Let me know what you think! Thanks!

[Dobie1979]

I really like the Chinto application. Thanks for sharing.

[MasterPain]

Good stuff. Never thought of a suplex defense in kata. Nice interpretation.

[Wastelander]

Thanks to both of you!

The Chinto application is one that I'm pretty proud of because it seems so simple and natural to me. Lately I have been thinking about ude gatame, which I had learned in judo but had been finding applications for in karate. In the process of doing some research on the Indo-Chinese influence on Okinawan te I came across this carving. I instantly recognized the lock, although applied from a different position, and I recognized the hand position from Chinto. That started me thinking about why that lock might be used at the beginning of that kata, and I realized that it is the only kata I know that steps backwards, and it does so into a low horse stance which indicates (to me) a grappling scenario. Being pulled backward and dropping your weight to make it harder to be thrown, then drawing the hands back to one side and breaking their grip seemed a natural start.

It also occurred to me that, according to legend, Bushi Matsumura developed this kata after attempting to arrest a shipwrecked Chinese man who had been stealing from Okinawan people and being defeated (or possibly fought to a draw) by the man. I decided that, as a law enforcement officer of sorts, it would make sense for Matsumura to try and put Chinto on the ground and a suplex would have been a technique he knew to do so. Furthermore, if that had been what occurred then the defense against such a takedown would have been the first thing he learned from his encounter and it would make sense for it to be the first thing in the kata. This is, of course, all merely speculation and theory, but that was my thought process in any case.

[MasterPain]

From the lock setup you showed, I like to turn all the way around and turn it into a sort of straight armbar with a top wristlock.

[sensei8]

The beauty of Oyo Bunkai is that the created application is of your own, in that, if the application works for you, then what I think about it might be mute.

I didn't like either Bunkai from an effective viewpoint.

The Bunkai of Anaku/Ananku: For me, anything after the first two opening techniques have appeared to be way to disjointed, especially in the flow.

For me, it's an assumption that the third techniques, the hair grab and hammer strikes, would be that easy to reach their assumed conclusion because while you've blocked his punch, he's still quite capable of unleashing a variety of attacks/counter-attacks against you, which would possibly nullify your third techniques entirely.

If, and only if, your third techniques are successful, and by successful I mean that you're opponent is injured/disabled enough to allow you to deliver your fourth technique, the knee strike to the stomach, effectively. For this fourth technique to work, your third techniques must prevent him from guarding his stomach, as he's already doing in the video.

If you've success with techniques 1-4, then and only then might the fifth technique, pulling your opponent down to the floor, be effective. However, your footwork/posture/stance speaks against control of your opponent.

Then on your sixth techniques, controlling your opponents left arm, after he's gotten back up, and then delivering a series of punches to his back. I don't see your opponent getting back up if techniques 1-5 are successful, and if your opponent is only down by his hands and knees, then possibly a more damaging kick to his face/head would be more effectively. I sure wouldn't bring my opponent back up onto his feet for two fleeted punches towards his back area.

Chinto Bunkai: Technique one and two, into horse stance and escape. The posture isn't conducive enough to ensure the easing of the grip around you, and you're now quite prone to have your balance easily disrupted, meaning that your opponent might be able to throw you to the ground.

Your method of releasing your opponents grip will not work that quite easily, imho, because while your right hand seems to aide your left hand quite well, against me, that wouldn't be enough to release my grip around your waist. Both movements with your left and right hand have to be very accurate across the board, and even with that, you're going to have to quickly come up with an effective counter to when I don't let go, and unleash my immediate counter after your attempts at your technique one and two.

In that, technique two won't even unfold because, with me, your technique 1 already has you at a great disadvantage with me behind you.

Technique three, reverse elbow strike to the face/head, imho, is a wild assumption that, while your opponent might be bent over/forward due to technique one, who's to say that your opponent won't have his face/head buried in your back to shield him from the possibility of technique three?!?

If technique three is unsuccessful, techniques four, a throw aided by wrapping your right arm around your opponents neck, has no chance of conclusion, imho. However, if techniques 1-3 are successful, then technique four is quite solid and effective.

Technique five, stomp to the face, is effective providing techniques 1-4 are successful.

In closing, a resisting opponent will prove quite a challenge for you in both of your Bunkai, imho. For me, to many uncertainities exist. Do your presented Bunkai have possibilities? Yes, they do. Yet, some fine tuning will be required before I see them being quite effective against a resisting opponent.

That's what I think.

[straightblast]

I like that you are seeking your own truth.

[sensei8]

I like that you are seeking your own truth.

YES!! I wholeheartedly concur with straightblast...you're seeking your OWN truth, and that is admirable. It's your Oyo, and not mine...if it works for you, then again, who cares what I and/or anyone else might or might not think.

Train on my friend!!

[Wastelander]

The beauty of Oyo Bunkai is that the created application is of your own, in that, if the application works for you, then what I think about it might be mute.

I didn't like either Bunkai from an effective viewpoint.

Well, I did say I wanted people's opinions! I understand that you are addressing the application from your own perspective and that it differs from mine, but I'll do what I can to explain my thought process

The Bunkai of Anaku/Ananku: For me, anything after the first two opening techniques have appeared to be way to disjointed, especially in the flow.

For me, it's an assumption that the third techniques, the hair grab and hammer strikes, would be that easy to reach their assumed conclusion because while you've blocked his punch, he's still quite capable of unleashing a variety of attacks/counter-attacks against you, which would possibly nullify your third techniques entirely.

If, and only if, your third techniques are successful, and by successful I mean that you're opponent is injured/disabled enough to allow you to deliver your fourth technique, the knee strike to the stomach, effectively. For this fourth technique to work, your third techniques must prevent him from guarding his stomach, as he's already doing in the video.

If you've success with techniques 1-4, then and only then might the fifth technique, pulling your opponent down to the floor, be effective. However, your footwork/posture/stance speaks against control of your opponent.

Then on your sixth techniques, controlling your opponents left arm, after he's gotten back up, and then delivering a series of punches to his back. I don't see your opponent getting back up if techniques 1-5 are successful, and if your opponent is only down by his hands and knees, then possibly a more damaging kick to his face/head would be more effectively. I sure wouldn't bring my opponent back up onto his feet for two fleeted punches towards his back area.

I understand your concern with techniques being reliant upon the previous techniques, but I also feel like there is some aspect of that present in just about anything you could possibly do to a person. To me, the possibilities found in kata are not certainties, but simply scenarios and techniques that may be applied in those scenarios. A kata (and therefore an application for techniques in it) can't predict exactly what will happen, only what may happen and so you could provide much the same argument for any application to anything--"that would work if they did this, but not if they did this." The only way to avoid this in bunkai, that I can think of, is to successfully apply the "one hit kill" concept by rendering the attacker incapable of attacking from the very first movement, and even then that very concept is just as unlikely to be successful.

I, personally, feel that the grab is actually fairly easy to attain--I have never really had a problem getting grips on people, in general--but even if you can't grab onto anything, the contact still provides a reference point for your striking. Generally, if you are striking an untrained person in the face they either cover their face or strike you back, but either way should not interfere much with clinching and kneeing if you practice those things. The shove down does only work if you have doubled them over with the knees, I will grant that, but I also have plenty of techniques from Naihanchi to work from in a clinch if they protect themselves against the knees and that is where things stay.

I agree that once they are forced to the ground there are better things to do than hook their arm and bring them up to punch them--in the video I did say that the kata assumes you can figure out what to do (kicking someone in the face when they are right in front of your shin isn't terribly complicated) but I suppose I could have gone into it more in depth. The reason I mentioned the arm hook (although it could also hook the head or opposite arm) and punches to the spleen was to scoop their arm up to defend against them trying to tackle you or grab your leg if you don't manage to kick them in time or they absorb the kick well enough to continue. Again, this was just a possible scenario that could be planned for, but certainly not the only one by any means, and if you successfully drop them with a kick while they are down then there is no reason to do it.

I will mention that I was actually never taught ANY application for this kata outside of block-kick-punch omote application, so exploring this kata for bunkai is entirely new to me and I am still playing with it

Chinto Bunkai: Technique one and two, into horse stance and escape. The posture isn't conducive enough to ensure the easing of the grip around you, and you're now quite prone to have your balance easily disrupted, meaning that your opponent might be able to throw you to the ground.

Your method of releasing your opponents grip will not work that quite easily, imho, because while your right hand seems to aide your left hand quite well, against me, that wouldn't be enough to release my grip around your waist. Both movements with your left and right hand have to be very accurate across the board, and even with that, you're going to have to quickly come up with an effective counter to when I don't let go, and unleash my immediate counter after your attempts at your technique one and two.

In that, technique two won't even unfold because, with me, your technique 1 already has you at a great disadvantage with me behind you.

Technique three, reverse elbow strike to the face/head, imho, is a wild assumption that, while your opponent might be bent over/forward due to technique one, who's to say that your opponent won't have his face/head buried in your back to shield him from the possibility of technique three?!?

If technique three is unsuccessful, techniques four, a throw aided by wrapping your right arm around your opponents neck, has no chance of conclusion, imho. However, if techniques 1-3 are successful, then technique four is quite solid and effective.

Technique five, stomp to the face, is effective providing techniques 1-4 are successful.

I have used that same drop into the low stance to defend against throws in judo randori, including against suplex attempts, and it has worked quite well for me (although every now and then I have had to hook a leg). From that stance I can stomp on feet and when I bring the hands back I can elbow the bicep or the ribs (depending on how they stand) either of which could help loosen the grip. If I can't break the grip of your two hands with the use of my two arms then you are pretty darn strong and there would be no point in me even attempting to break the grip or lock your arm, but most people's instinctive reaction to being grabbed is to grab the arms and so that is the position I started my application from. If I stopped the initial throw but couldn't break your grip it would be time for me to do a lot of backward elbows along with leg hooks and clinching to try and turn myself in your grip so I could apply more direct techniques.

As far as the reverse elbow goes, I wasn't saying that it was a sure thing--I think in the video I said something like "if it hits his head, that's great" (I can't watch it again at work, but I remember saying something like that) but mostly the "elbow back" is to get your arm between you and the attacker in order to wrap him up and perform the subsequent throw, which is very similar to throws I have done in judo and so it feels natural to me.

In closing, a resisting opponent will prove quite a challenge for you in both of your Bunkai, imho. For me, to many uncertainities exist. Do your presented Bunkai have possibilities? Yes, they do. Yet, some fine tuning will be required before I see them being quite effective against a resisting opponent.

That's what I think.

Thanks for all the input, sensei8--I really do appreciate getting feedback from those more experienced than I am! These are applications I only recently developed and haven't had much chance to work, in their entirety, against fully resisting opponents, so I will readily admit that I may very well not be able to get them to work in those situations, but I have been able to make parts of them work (the crash, the clinch/knees, and the throw, for example) against resisting opponents. As with anything, I will be continuing to practice them and develop them, and I may even change them entirely if they don't work for me. I would also like to, at some point, record video of me practicing them against a resisting opponent so I can share my failure or success and make tweaks and changes based on my experiences and the feedback I receive.

P.S. I would like to add, since you said things like "wouldn't work on me", that I would never presume to be able to make anything work on you! You've been training longer than I've been alive, haven't you?

[sensei8]

Wastelander,

My feedback's only intent was to help and not to insult your Oyo in any shape, way, and/or form.

It's YOUR Oyo Bunkai, and I respect that. Being you've just started to develop these applications, I know that it's a work in progress. Been there, done that...still!!

P.S. I would like to add, since you said things like "wouldn't work on me", that I would never presume to be able to make anything work on you! You've been training longer than I've been alive, haven't you?

I'm ashamed to have worded it the way in which I did. Possibly I should've said..."Might or might not work on me." I'm assuming a position that I do not possess...unbeatable. Please forgive me for my poor choice of phrases/wordings.

Please give me no thoughts at all!!