Caveat: Please make note that this article/post is my personal analysis of the subject and the information used was chosen or picked by me. It is not an analysis piece because it lacks complete and comprehensive research, it was not adequately and completely investigated and it is not balanced, i.e., it is my personal view without the views of others including subject experts, etc. Look at this as “Infotainment rather then expert research.” This is an opinion/editorial article/post meant to persuade the reader to think, decide and accept or reject my premise. It is an attempt to cause change or reinforce attitudes, beliefs and values as they apply to martial arts and/or self-defense. It is merely a commentary on the subject in the particular article presented.
This article is mine and mine alone. I the author of this article assure you, the reader, that any of the opinions expressed here are my own and are a result of the way in which my meandering mind interprets a particular situation and/or concept. The views expressed here are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not in any way represent the views of other martial arts and/or conflict/violence professionals or authors of source materials. It should be quite obvious that the sources I used herein have not approved, endorsed, embraced, friended, liked, tweeted or authorized this article. (Everything I think and write is true, within the limits of my knowledge and understanding. Oh, and just because I wrote it and just because it sounds reasonable and just because it makes sense, does not mean it is true.)
Why bunkai? Well, it provides us information but the real question is what information and to what purpose? What the hell is this guy talking about, again, on bunkai? It is my contention that the purpose of bunkai and its study makes or breaks the relevance and applicability of bunkai.
Some say it lends authenticity to the study of martial systems. Some say it is an academic endeavor to understand the system and those kata within those systems. Some say it is to learn how to apply combat tactics. Some say it is about teaching. On a semi-regular basis I most often hear that bunkai teaches you how to fight and are the answers to using martial arts for self-defense. Is this or any of it true?
What I have come to conclude is that bunkai is about social connectedness in the dojo. It is about adding curricula to a bloated syllabus to give an impression of substance, depth and breadth of a system of teaching. It is a lot about self-delusions toward a mind-state of power and ability that will likely never be tested or proved outside of sport and the dojo environment.
Most who profess and work on bunkai have never been in a fight, nor combat and never had to apply anything in self-defense. One of modern times great things is most will never have to worry about or encounter the type of conflict and violence that requires one fight and defend. It is easy to carry the delusion when you will never have to test them or apply them in a self-defense and/or combative situation.
In one karate system proponents brag about how many kata and how many kata bunkai they know. It is like having the large quantity of knowledge means you are a great martial artist and that may be true in a vary narrow band, i.e., the Way of karate as a self-improvement and enlightenment system that never has to fight or defend, ever. Knowing this and accept this is the distinction over a defensive system be it martial arts or something else altogether.
When one says, “I believe I practice karate, a form of empty handed combat … ,” with no experience in combat, in the fight and in self-defense with absolute no experience or training or practice in reality based adrenal stress flooding conditioning then I feel like I am hearing a self-soothing proclamation of knowledge, ability, proficiency and experience that does not exist.
Bunkai simply gives a lot of folks something to talk about, something to fill in those long and boring hours of practice and something that provides a sense of accomplishment that in reality is nothing more than filler. How many of them learn, train and TEST those bunkai in a real fight, i.e., the social monkey dance all the way up to the predatory process/resource violent encounter? How many of them even simply test thoroughly their bunkai from a position such as a sudden, aggressive, surprise attack from behind or from the side rear zone that puts them into a crowded, unbalanced and structurally disrupted position where the OO bounce grabs you and places you into a repeated loop, i.e., the freeze?
Mostly, in most places I have participated including many of my own dojo teaching sessions, I see them go through the motions of this technique has this bunkai and then expand on how many variances that are achieved to present other applications and techniques that never get used and never get tested in any real and realistic way. Who actually has the experience to test and validate such bunkai and then think, do we really need to know and practice all those distinct and separate bunkai? Are we not merely flooding our minds with stuff that the brain, neither human or monkey or lizard, can make hide nor hare of in a clench let alone under both situational and adrenal stresses and effects?
Is the truth of bunkai an answer to something we fear deeply and want to truly avoid by flooding our minds with trivia in the form of bunkai so we delude ourselves into believing all of this activity keeps us out of harms way?
Isn’t it about time we truly consider that our practice of karate is NOT a practice toward empty handed COMBAT or FIGHTING or DEFENSE but rather a means of social bonding, clubbing with friends in a dojo environment, etc.?
Hmmmmmmm, something to think about, something to consider and something to test and validate toward a more appropriate and relevant endeavor. Then again, who really is going to give a shit?
In closing, I believe bunkai are important. I believe bunkai can and does teach how to fight and defend. I believe wholeheartedly that to study and practice the model called bunkai takes a more realistic and reality based validation process not found in many systems. I do believe that there are dojo and martial artists out there doing just that, teaching reality based adrenal flood conditioning bunkai. I also believe that more important than bunkai is our goals in self-defense. Like principles, goals will get-r-done faster than a lot of bunkai, etc., as principles are better than techniques so are goals better than bunkai and so on. I do believe I have come to understand the differences and distinctions. I believe bunkai are tools, tools to teach at the novice levels but don’t necessarily transition into a more progressive level of teaching, practicing and learning - think shu-ha-ri.
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| Thanks to Mark Cook, this display is for entertainment purposes and training, it is not used as an example for my article, merely a window dressing. Cook Sensei's book of Oldman Bunkai/Boobishi is a comic relief serious work that I would highly recommend be added to the martial artist library of all practitioners. |
The following lyrics, simply replace “WAR” with “BUNKAI” :-)
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