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PLAIN
KATA PLEASE, NO SUGAR
Less
is more
It
is probably fair to say that next to kihon (basics) most
dojo's today focus the vast majority of their time and
energy practicing kata.
This
is great, and as it should be. After all kata is
considered to be the "soul of karate", and what
would Shotokan, or for that matter any other style of
karate be without a soul.
Now
even a soul has to have a "heart" and for most
practitioners the "heart" of any kata has to be
the bunkai that is hidden within it.
Now
to me bunkai is defined as, "the missing link"
or in broader terms "the deeper meaning and purpose
that lies hidden just below the surface of each
individual technique, and or movement, that is found
within any kata, regardless of style".
To
some students, however, bunkai might simply be defined as
the answer to that basic question, "what is the real
meaning for all this weird stuff that you have me
practicing, just what the heck am I suppose to be trying
to do here"?
Now
I suspect that no student would ever be so impolite as to
ask their instructor this, or any other question, in
quite that manner, (ok some would), but no matter how it
is phrased at some point the question of just why we do
kata, and just how bunkai fits into the over all scheme
of things, is bound to come up.
The
real question of course for any instructor is not what
you tell your students, but when you tell them.
If
the question comes at you out of the blue during class
then no matter what a students individual rank is, if
your answer is going to help them to grasp a particular
aspect of their kata that is giving them some difficulty,
and doing so keeps them on the right path, then by all
means now is the time to tell them something. Even if you
should happen to think that for their rank the timing of
such a question is a bit premature.
The
answer could be as simple as explaining that the move is
a down block, that could be used to block a kick at gedan
level, or that the technique is used to block a punch at
chudan level. In either case curious minds want to know,
and in most cases they want to know "right now".
The
sheer number of possible answers of course, as any
experienced instructor knows, will take a lifetime to
explore. So for this reason, and for many others, the
sooner an instructor starts the ball rolling, the better
off their students will be in the long run.
Now
make no mistake, I am not advocating that you start
explaining bunkai to a new student on their first day,
their first week, or even their first month of training.
There does, however, come a time when the subject of
bunkai should start to be explored with some regularity.
For me that time is usually when a student has reach the
rank of 7th kyu (red belt). At this point in time a
student will usually have been training at least three
times a week, for the past six to nine months, and be
somewhat familiar with at least three or four katas. The
trick here, however, is to start by giving the student
only the most basic application for each of the moves
contained in the various katas, nothing fancy, while at
the same time doing so in such a manner that they are not
mistakenly directed down the wrong path.
By
that I mean, it is critical for every student to
recognize at the outset, that performing any kata, and
performing the bunkai for that kata, are two distinctly
separate events. The last thing you want to see all of a
sudden is the student trying to inject the "explanation"
for each movement into all of their kata where it never
use to exist before. This is especially true when it come
to the student practicing alone, performing their katas
at gradings, or when doing their kata at a public
demonstration.
So
what if it does, you might say?
A
great deal, I reply.
Kata
is, and always should be, solely an expression of the
pattern of the kata itself with appropriate technique,
kime, and spirit.
Not
the movements underlying purpose.
Because
once you start to try and "explain" what you
are doing in every movement in your kata, by adding extra
shifts in movement, or an extra hand movement or two in
order to try and convey a specific meaning, then you are
fundamentally changing the original purpose of the kata
its self.
The
purpose of training any kata, is to train the kata.
Nothing omitted, and without any additional additives if
you please.
Each
individual kata is designed to fit an embusen (pattern)
specific to that particular kata alone. The singular
movements, the combinations, the timing, and the kime,
are all meant to be performed without the benefit of any
"displayed" explanation. This is simply not
needed.
Not
during individual practice.
Not
during gradings.
Not
during public demonstrations.
Bunkai
you see was never meant to be exposed to the clear light
of day.
In
the early days in Okinawa, in order to protect the
purpose of their movements, many ryu's (schools) would
even go so far as to disguise their katas by performing
them incorrectly, or for that matter not at all, when
ever strangers were present. Since the reputation of each
school and that of the sensei was often based upon the
"secrets" they possessed the deeper meaning of
a kata and it's associated bunkai was ultimately only
taught to close family members, or those few truly
dedicated students who had proven themselves over long
periods of time.
Simply
put it is not important to know the bunkai of any kata in
order to perform the kata well.
For
the most part we are fortunate today that the katas found
within the Shotokan Karate system have maintained their
strong traditional heritage, and are taught pretty much
intact as handed down to us by Sensei Gichin Funakoshi.
As such it is our duty to hand them down unaltered to the
next generation.
Remember,
while knowing how bunkai fits in to a kata can help a
student to progress, it can also forever change how a
student performs their kata, and not always for the
better.
So
whether you are the teacher, or the student, always try
to bear in mind that "bunkai may be the heart of
karate", but it is not the "soul of karate",
that is kata.
If
you can learn to keep the two separate, while at the same
time using your new found knowledge of how bunkai fits
into the overall scheme of things to improve your skill,
then you are truly well on your way to a greater
understanding of all that karate can be.
Pleasant
journey.
Remember
Knowing
what a student needs, and knowing when to give it to
them,
is
the secret to making them better than they thought they
could be.
- Part
the clouds - see the way.
-
- "The
objective of karate-do is to contribute to the evolution
- of
the human spirit through physical and mental training."
- Sensei
Peter Lindsay
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