Forget About Bunkai.

 The Bunkai Craze… It was taking off in the early 2000’s with books by Wilder and Kane, Iain Abernathy, followed by a whole slew of others that sought to capitalize on a niche market of books and seminars.

They were not wrong in their approach, it opened MANY doors, led to deeper thinking and tremendous growth, always a good thing.

The word ‘Bunkai’ means analysis, though, and does not refer to specific Applications of a Kata. Kaisai No Genri was, and is, the driving force behind the Wilder and Kane approach, but there is always something left out in open transmission of principles.

This is to give a taste in order to drive the seminar and private instruction market. Yes, it is a market, people have to make money in this world.

Wilder and Kane are great guys, but they are not stupid, nor was Toguchi Sensei, who held more knowledge back than he let on in this regard.

The Bunkai Craze seems to have tapered off a bit and many within this niche have become homogenized in their approach… Perhaps it is because there is not a lot more that can be said other than ‘get to the floor and train.’ 

Maybe, maybe not.

In my limited exposure to Ti I have come to realize the practice of Bunkai is rather surface level and specific Bunkai really do not exist.

Forget about Bunkai. 

There is a flow, a line, which can be applied at varying distances in a fight, striking, grappling, throwing, an underlying dynamic strategy that can be understood if one looks to footwork rather than stances… If one really knows how to apply Body Mechanics as the driving force rather than the normal stop-and-go we find in Karate.

Wilder and Kane did touch upon this aspect by pointing out the 1 then 2 aspect of training that a Karateka should overcome… Points rather than lines, jerky robotic motions rather than flow.

Static drills might be okay in the beginning, but these have continued into the higher belt ranks. Even when one explores various aspects like Hikite and their Kata change to reflect this these are still, ultimately, stop-and-go Kata driven from one point to another.

Dachi do not exist, Tsuki do not exist, Geri/Keri do not exist, Uke does not exist…. Bunkai does not exist.

It is said that someone who knows can tell if a person truly understands how to utilize something by watching their Kata.

The same thing is said in Ti. When a Ti Practitioner views the Kata of another they can tell if they know any Ti and, thus, can apply what they are doing just by how they move.

Tenshin is central… Perhaps the oldest Kata is Training the principle of Sankaku Tenshin. Where do you move in relation to your opponent? At what distance? How do you enter and close the distance? How do you set it up? What is the end game of your strategy? How do you get there?

It has nothing to do with stylized movement, nor does it really have to rely on Kata… Such things are meant for TRAINING in a way that allows for the principles to sink in.

Original Okinawan Martial Arts HAD NO KATA and, thus, NO BUNKAI.

Forget about Bunkai.