” It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, Of all things physical and metaphysical, Of all things human and all things super-human, Of all true manifestations of the head, Of the heart, of the soul, That the life is recognizable in its expression. That form ever follows function. This is the law.” Louis Sullivan, American architectural innovator of the late 19th century
Finally, after many pages of preparation, we have reached the point where we actually start addressing “bunkai”. The term “bunkai” as it is commonly used in the western dojo means “learning applications”. Typical of western culture, we have failed to learn the full translation of that word and have settled on the very simplistic definition of “applications”. The true translation of the word “bunkai” actually infers a process of analysis of any subject by detailed dissection or dis-assembly of the whole. In fact, bunkai could include all the possible study methods of kata that we have already discussed. On the other hand, kata bunkai most definitely includes potential applications of individual techniques or sequences found within the kata.
Of primary importance when considering kata bunkai is the concept of Ri-ai. Ri-ai, as defined by Donn Draeger in “Japanese Swordsmanship”, represents the blending of all elements of performance and intent to create a meaningful combative action sequence. Within the context of kata bunkai, this would suggest that the techniques, sequence and embusen would be applied against a realistic attack in a realistic way to give an appropriate result. We have already touched base on this topic in the last chapter: against a street-real attack the defender must intercept/ suppress-dominate- incapacitate using techniques that could be applied under severe acute combat stress.
The title of this thesis is “Kata Follows Function”, which, it should be obvious by now, is a play on the old quote “form follows function”. The phrase “form follows function” originated from the studio of the sculptor Horatio Greenough, but was popularized by the master architect Louis Sullivan. The basic premise is that the form of any building should flow from it’s designated function rather than popular style. The buildings that were designed during this period were typically spare, with minimal ornamentation and maximal utility. Frank Lloyd Wright was probably the most famous of the students of Sullivan. I really like this term when I apply it to kata and kata bunkai. Kata should represent a pragmatic response to an attack. The emphasis here is that the actual techniques and combinations in kata flow from a real attack and should demonstrate Ri-ai rather than merely demonstrating a jumble of unrelated, illogical karate techniques that “look cool” together. This attitude and approach can be used directly for the creation of personal kata that might be used in modern “open” karate competitions (not my cup of tea, but to each his own) and indirectly for the interpretation of the traditional kata: if the imagined applications do not stand up under realistic conditions, you need to reconsider you application.
Before we start looking at applications analysis (let’s call that bunkai for simplicity sake), lets look at the traditional teaching methods of bunkai. The first level of instruction of bunkai is the simple, kihon application where a block is simply a block and a punch is simply a punch. At this level the student is taught the application as the literal label definition of the kata technique. The point of this training technique is to basically train kihon as kihon, but under moderate combat stress. Kanazawa sensei stated “kyu grades should be taught simple bunkai to develop a feeling for the kata. If they just practice the cold movements from the kata, then the feeling will not be right.” My own sensei, Rick Jorgensen, a seventh dan under Nishiyama sensei, emphasizes this approach, and I, for the most part have come to believe that this is the best approach for most karateka under brown belt level.
The point I must emphasize here is that “simple” applications need not mean “easy” applications. I come back to the drill that I have mentioned numerous times: the application of the first downward block in Heian Shodan against an unannounced lunging attack to the left side of the body. This drill should be very difficult: the attacker should be truly attempting to hit the receiver and the receiver should be truly trying to intercept the attack in it’s very early stages. Done correctly the “block” will be a pre-emptive attack which absolutely deflates and breaks the attacker’s momentum. The block should not be applied to a fully extended attack but against a half-completed (or less) attack. This action is very early sen timing or nearly sen-sen-no-sen timing. I have seen many seasoned kudansha be challenged by this drill; it’s merely a matter of finding the appropriate opponent to push them to their limits. The point of my sensei (and now MY point as well) is that you need to train the students to have great timing with good technique first before you start to teach them intricate applications that require both dexterity and timing. With timing any defense can be applied and it will work, without good timing no application, no matter how well trained it is , will be possible. For the self-defense oriented group that would really like to inject some “street” defenses into the mix, feel free to put a rubber training knife into the opponent’s hand and shorten up the attack into a shifting-in slash or stab: the early, pre-emptive nature of the defense then becomes absolutely critical.
Of course, teaching the detailed action of each technique is important; many of the transitional positions are pivotal in applying the grappling and joint manipulation applications taught at the next level of bunkai. On the other hand, teaching the final position of each technique such as a downward block has it’s benefits too. Consider the common natural reaction of anyone under attack: we flinch and usually throw an arm into the path of the incoming weapon. Tony Blauer, a Canadian combatives expert involved in training both military and police in unarmed defense, trains his students to use their natural tendency to flinch as part of his defense system. It is Mr. Blauer’s opinion that many of the well know kata postures such as the first moves of Heian Nidan (Pinan Shodan) and Heian Yondan are just variations of a natural head cover. The only difference from natural reflex and Mr. Blauer’s approach is that the defender moves into the attack, intercepting and smothering the opponent’s momentum early. If one looks critically at the kata, you hopefully will notice that most of the “blocks” are done while advancing rather than retreating: there is a theme here. The masters of old were emphasizing that we need to “smother’ each attack at it’s inception by early interception. There is also another point that should be made here: most of the applications well tend to be variations or manipulations of our own reflex reactions. This point, that bunkai should work with or complement natural reflex reaction can be considered one of the important keystones of kata applications.
The one major drawback of the first level of kata applications instruction, is that the students have a tendency to develop “label disease” Label disease is the myopic insistence that the only possible application of a technique is the named application: a block must block and a punch must punch. Even the most inexperienced neophyte must be told that every kata technique has a multiplicity of applications and that part of their training responsibility it to discover all the applications of kata techniques. One of the great beauties of kata (and possibly one of the great weaknesses of kata) is the plasticity and vagueness of the art form: kata can be everything and nothing to combat training, depending on how you approach them.
Once the student has mastered the basic applications and understands the importance of timing, the second level of kata training discards the named “labels” for techniques and starts to explore all the potential uses for the kata techniques. In his book “Cracking the Kata Code”, Tony Annesi repeatedly reminds us that “a block is a lock is a blow is a throw”. Besides being fun to say, this is clearly an exhortation to looking at ALL the possible applications and variations of our basic techniques. If you wish to really look at this subject (and I mean REALLY look) I strongly suggest that you read and re-read Rick Clark’s book “75 Down Blocks”. This pioneer maverick took a block that appears in absolutely every unarmed self-defense system in some form and he found literally 75 different ways to apply that one block. Mr. Clark really did find a block, lock, blow and throw within that simple action, along with many other applications few of us would even consider.
Now, in my classes, this level of application is very specific: the key elements of the kata technique and embusen may not be altered at all, merely the timing and true application. Going back to the first move of Heian Shodan: envision an attacker from the front who grabs your right hand with his left hand. Having trapped your dominant hand, his predictable next move will be a head shot with his right hand Your defense will be to drop (flinch away from the punch) extend your right hand slightly down and twist it against the grip of his thumb. As you do this swing left, chamber your left hand by swinging it quickly up to your right ear, passing through the center line and…. under his grabbing arm, peeling his grabbing arm off your right hand. Grab the wrist of the offending left arm as you roll it through the downward block chamber position (snapping your right hand back to the hikite position as you apply the release, thus aiding the release process and “loading” your reverse punch). Snap the downward block out as you drive into a front stance to the left. This action, while peeling the enemy’s hand off your wrist, also will snap-rotate the enemy off line to the left, mis-aligning his right hand punch and hyper-extending his grabbing left arm, unbalancing him and leaving his left rib cage and left back exposed to your reverse-punch. In this example I have at no point altered the traditional technique or embusen of the kata, but I have used a “block” as both a release technique and unbalancing method to pre-empt the attack while destroying the defenses of the opponent. You can play with variations of this approach (there is likely close to uhmmm….. 75 variations), and each one of them would be properly called “oyo” of the technique or examples of alternative applications. Here is a second important point for applications analysis: do not allow yourself to be blinded by labels: see all the possible “oyo”.
The next level of kata applications training would be “henka” techniques. I have found any number of interpretations for this term, but the translation is “hidden” or alternative techniques. Here is where the translation of the term should be discarded for the “spirit” of the term. My opinion (and I hope I have this correct) is that the applications used as “henka” techniques would be applications that are related to or flow from the traditional kata but do not necessarily appear in the traditional kata. The most common variations, and it is very debatable, would be the embusen.
The embusen is always a point of conflict. Kane and WIlder suggest that the embusen is not suggesting how the defender is actually moving, but how he is “entering” the fight in relation to his attacker. These authors suggest that in kata that have a turn to the left (or right) as the first movement, the message is not telling you that your attacker is to your left, but it is saying that your entry be at ninety degrees to the attacker. Kane and Wilder suggest that in every kata the attacker is always in front of you; the logic being is that common sense (and maybe Ri-ai) demands that you would always face a potential threat. The example I used above with the grip-release followed by joint manipulation would turn the enemy off his attack line and make your entry ninety degrees to that line. Another example of embusen alterations would be Schmeisser’s bunkai analysis of Tekki Shodan (Naihanchi, Nifuanchi). Sensei Schmeisser interprets the first cross step movement as a turn-in-place to avoid and intercept an incoming soccer kick. Most traditional Shotokan dojos teach the first move of Tekki Shodan to be an interception of an attack from the right. Schmeisser has altered the embusen from the traditional interpretation of the Shotokan school, but he has not necessarily altered the embusen from the potential applications under the demands of Ri-ai. I do not consider his interpretation to be “henka” in the least.
The debatable point here is “do embusen changes truly represent enough alteration of the kata to make it henka?” My reply to that would be sometimes yes and sometimes no, but it depends on the spirit of the change. I believe it would be henka if the timing/ strategy of the kata is altered. An example of this would be to have the first move of Heian Shodan become “step back to the right as you downward block to the left” rather than the traditional embusen movement of “step in left as you block left”. The henka alteration here represents a shift from early sen timing to go-no-sen timing and therefor a complete change of strategy (it still demonstrates proper Ri-ai though). The key point here, I believe, is to not get fooled by the embusen: look for the underlying strategy rather than just the movement.
Chinese styles such as Tai Chi Chuan have many “henka” movements and these actually form a large portion of their kata applications training. Many posture positions are actually meant to imply an attack that is not actually performed. I can give a few examples of this “code”, but there are many. Any technique performed in “cat stance” (neko ashi dachi) implies a front leg kick, usually to the groin. Any sequence that completes with a block but has the other hand poised in a striking position, such as Tai Chi’s “single whip” infers that the “single whip” hand would naturally strike nearly simultaneously with the block. Any posture that completes with both hands going in disparate directions suggests a simultaneous block and attack (sen timing). Any posture with two hands together may imply a grab or joint lock, but if one hand is “hiding” behind the other it may represent what is called a “hidden hand technique”.
An example of a hidden hand technique in karate could be the augmented blocks seen in Heian Nidan (Pinan Shodan), Heian Yondan, or Heian Godan. In all of these kata there is at least one posture ( H4 has three movements like this) that finishes with an inside to outside augmented block. In performance the augmenting hand ends up with the meaty palm proximal to the little finger wedged against the inside forearm of the blocking arm, palm facing upwards, elbow braced against your abdomen. Traditionally we call this position an “augmented block”, but consider this: if you are using early sen timing as the stepping in action suggests, in what situation are you actually going to need to “augment” those blocks? How big is the guy you are fighting and really how poor is your timing? You should never need to augment any block if you are applying correct timing. On the other hand, what else could that augmenting hand imply? Perhaps the creator of the kata is suggesting the time-honored and kumite-proved strategy of using a pre-emptive block to either intercept a lead-hand technique or move a lead-hand guard and then have a powerful reverse punch sneak in behind that block. If you actually try this strategy in kumite, you will find that you will have to have the reverse punch already in motion as the “block” moves the guard out of the way if you want to be successful. The reverse punch hidden behind the block would be the “henka” technique here. Of course, anyone with any grappling experience will see an arm bar hidden within the augmented block, but this would not be “henka” as it does not require any modification of the kata to be applied: it would be ”oyo”.
One key issue here is that “henka” truly represent “added on techniques” that should be explored only once the student has a firm grasp on the traditional, existing techniques. Henka applications should never be used to explain any sequence for which you cannot imagine a viable oyo: if you cannot find an appropriate applications for the kata as it stands, then you need to reconsider the attack against which you are defending. Often incomprehensible kata passages become patently clear if you alter the attack technique or direction; it is rarely necessary to substantially alter the kata itself.
Some authors would suggest that there is yet another level of kata study: “kakushite”. As I understand this term it means “secret techniques”. Historically, these secret techniques were taught by the master to only a select few, trusted students. The martial arts are filled with stories of “kakushite” which were only passed on to the “one” who was chosen to succeed the master, often transmitted once the master was nearly on his death bed. In his Internet articles John Vengel refers to the Chinese “gates” system through which the student slowly learned all the various “secrets” of the system as they entered each subsequent higher level of “gate”. The gate system was prevalent in any number of schools: Musashi actually refers to this system in the fourth book of Go Rin No Sho (Book of the Wind, as in “hot air”). Musashi derided any school that operated under a “gate’ system and repeatedly said that there are no real secrets.
Modern day authors such as Tony Annesi repeat this admonition: there are no secrets. In ” The Principles of Advanced Budo” Annesi makes many excellent points (some of which fit my specific definition of “principles” and many of which fit my definition of “details”) but one of his best points is that there really are no true secrets in martial arts. Martial arts hide everything in the open and it is the duty of the student to see the ”secrets” which are clearly there. Truthfully: all humans have about the same abilities and about the same limitations, and this little pearl of common sense dictates that there really cannot be anything hidden. Anything discovered or invented by one person can be found and contemplated by another. To me, this is a very important point: far too many students train complacently, considering their chosen sensei to be the only true source of instruction and expecting their sensei to spoon feed the “secrets” to them with absolutely no effort on their own part. Over the many years I have trained I can do nothing but credit my various instructors. Each has done a superb job in their own way to help me find “The Way” of karate, but some of the best instruction can be found in what they did not tell me. Self-discovery of the kakushite is perhaps the most important quality to be found in kata bunkai. If you question this approach consider the opinion of Kanazawa sensei: while kyu grades should learn and apply the simple bunkai of kata, students Shodan level and above should be able to find proper oyo applications independent of their instructor. Dan ranked karateka should look for guidance from their instructor but not wait for be shown everything.
I want to quickly list some of the points made here for quick reference:
1.Every application should demonstrate Ri-ai as defined by Donn Draeger. It should demonstrate a meaningful combative sequence.
2.Simple applications should be taught at beginner levels, but the emphasis should be on the application of timing with excellent technique. Timing is of paramount importance.
3. Applications should work with and complement our own instinctive reactions such as “the flinch”.
4. Do not become infected with “label disease”: look for all the possible applications of every technique both by itself and in combination with the rest of the kata.
5. The embusen may impart both directionality and strategy. Perhaps the attacker really is “to the left” or “to the right”, but perhaps the kata is merely telling you how to approach the attacker who is standing right in front of you.
6. Look for both implied technique and hidden techniques. They do not necessarily appear in the kata and they should not form the foundation of the basic kata applications, but they should not be ignored ever. Never use “henka” to explain yourself out of an inappropriate application; it is better to reconsider the nature of the potential attack.
7. There are no such thing as “secrets”. All secrets are merely oyo or henka that you have yet to discover. It is the responsibility of the dedicated karateka to independently study and find these oyo and henka.
And now, after much ado about nearly nothing, it comes time to start looking at the code of kata and how we may be able to decipher or “reverse engineer” kata.
