Hi guys,

I have just moved clubs from a sport focused shotokan club to a more traditional, self defense based Shotokan Club.

However, we are never taught bunkai, we are shown but we are hardly ever taught, and our sensei's justification for that is "it is not the Sensei's job to teach bunkai!".

I personally strongly disagree with that statement because I believe kata is where true Karate lies, and bunkai is the key to unlocking that knowledge, so if our sensei will not teach us, then how can we learn to defend ourselves?

This is a source of much frustration for me, has anybody else experienced a similar issue? What were your thoughts about it?[/img]

Edited June 3, 201610 yr by Shotokannon

It is a Sensei's job to teach the process and concept of "Bunkai"; to give the student the tools by which to analyse a kata. This can include potential applications, or suggested applications for kata movements, however, it is up to the student to develop their own understanding and use of said kata movements.

To qoute Mabuni Kenwa; "If one sufficiently and regularly practices kata correctly, it will serve as a foundation for performing - when a crucial time comes - any of the innumerable variations."

That is to say, it is the practice of the kata, and understanding the kata principles, that matters over any individual drill or application. Applications are a dead end to an extent; rather, developing the ability of Bunkai for yourself is what matters.

I will finish qouting Mabuni Kenwa again; "Even if you practice the kata of karate, if that is all that you do, if your other training is lacking, then you will not develop sufficient ability. If you do not also utilise various training methods to strengthen and quicken the functioning of your hands and feet, as well as to sufficiently study things like body-shifting and engagement distancing, you will be inadequately prepared when the need arises to call on your skills."

The vote at the top of the post is missing some important options, mainly an option for "After learning a new kata". Not only does it help solidify the knowledge of the moves in the kata, it can also be a fun distraction.

Right now where I train the white belts are learning the bunkai for one if their very first kihons immediately after learning the kihon itself.

My vote: to train bunkai, applications, techniques - whatever you want to call it - from day one of training.

Reasons:

1. We have inherited a fractured, and incomplete study from which our own teachers worked hard to find answers. To NOT pass along information is to ensure that one's school/dojo/style is always starting from the beginning and never evolving.

2. Considering the modern student and fast paced society, in order to retain intelligent students exposure to bunkai from day one engages them mentally.

I personally believe that withholding kata applications is a terrible idea. It weakens karate, as a whole, and holds your students back. To a degree, yes, every student should develop their own personal approach to kata applications. That said, they won't have the underlying knowledge to do so if the instructor hasn't taught them the process of bunkai, and taught them a variety of examples.

I believe that your Sensei is saying that the Oyo Bunkai is where you are teaching yourself other Bunkai's. If that's not what he means, well, LEAVE THAT DOJO!!

Kata isn't a dance, therefore, we have to learn the who, why, when, where, what, and how of each said Kata taught. It's vital, without exceptions!! If not, then why even learn the darn Kata in the first place, or for that fact, why learn the style of MA at all. I'd rather learn bowling!!

We teach all levels of Bunkai from 10th Kyu to 8th Dan, with no exceptions.

We start learning bunkai as soon as we have our first kata. The bunkai start off basic and evolves as more experience is gathered though.

I think that the instructor's job is at least to start and guide the process. After all, that's what an instructor is there for!

We teach Bunkai on 3 fronts. Curriculum, kyogi and Kata Bunkai.

1) Officially part of our curriculum we test bunkai from Green belt and above (seniors) and black belt up (juniors). Gekesai Kata is the first bunkai to be tested upon.

2) Kyogi is for 1st Kyu and above where we demonstrate our own explanation of kata. Junior 1st Kyu has Saifa Kata & Senior 1st Kyu has seeiunchin kata. For Juniors they have to demonstrate 10 kyogi and seniors 25 kyogi. You can pick a single technique (or part thereof) or multiple techniques in each one.

3) we have the Taikyoku Kata prior to the Gekesai Kata. As such we teach them the kata then what they teach.

My instructor says bunkai is reserved for black belts, but in practice he teaches the basics of it to everyone. I think he means black belts are supposed to take on a systematic dismantling and study of each move of each kata while everyone else just learns the basic purpose of each movement as they're learning the kata.

If I ever get my own class, I'll probably teach a bit more application along with the kata study. My current school moves people from one kata to the next as soon as they get the movements down decently and can do it without stopping to think. We also tie belt rank to which kata you're working on and don't have time limits in each rank, so kids especially (but also adults) rush through each kata to get that next promotion.

I think I'd like to get away from that "gotta catch em all" mentality of just learning the kata well enough to get by and then moving to the next one. I'd like students to spend some time with it, grow in it a bit, learn some bunkai, etc.