Bunkai

Last night at karate was an interesting exercise in bunkai, the interpretation of the moves in a kata. That is, when you do a kata you are normally by yourself, or in a group of people performing set moves in a sequence against invisible opponents.

In yesterdays session we covered Taikyoku Shodan and Heian Shodan katas in groups of two or three people, where one person would perform the kata and the others would take the part of the opponents and demonstrate what the kata actually means.

Now, it's an interpretation so you don't need to stick to the kata exactly. Something that looks like a block, e.g. an upward-rising block (Age Uki) could be interpreted as a strike under the chin.

After acting out the bunkai we returned to just performing the kata. Everyone in the hall, about 15 adults and 20 children, performed the kata together. I was able to imagine the opponents in front of me and what they were doing. It really made a difference! Instead of: Gedan Barai to Oi Zuki to Gedan Barai to Oi Zuki, etc it was GEDAN BARAI!!, OI ZUKI!! (I'm not sure if the difference comes across in text)

I hope that we do bunkai again for other katas. Watching my video of katas and bunkai isn't the same as physically performing it with others!