Tag: bunkai

The Martial Arts Paradox: By Russell Stutely

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Russell Stutely

I received the following posting from Russell Stutely as I’m signed up to his newsletter. I what I’ve been saying for years about martial arts being dumbed down, so I decided to share it with you. It emphasises the point that I keep trying to make about learning your kata bunkai and understanding what the moves are really for. I hope you enjoy it.

“The paradox of making the MA simple yet incorporating a lifetimes of study. How can it be achieved? Has it been done before? What will happen to our system?

Of course this has happened before. It has happened with every single MA out there. Every single one has been simplified from where it was, made easier than it once was. Continue reading “The Martial Arts Paradox: By Russell Stutely” »

Endorsement By Shihan Kousaku Yokota, 8th Dan Shotokan Karate

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Shihan Kousaku Yokota is an 8th Dan at Shotokan Karate with a special interest in uncovering myths and getting to the truth (hence releasing his own book, Shotokan Myths on the subject).

I am therefore very honoured to have received the following endorsement by from him on his Facebook page, about my DVD, Inside Bassai Dai.

“Over the holidays I had a very pleasant experience watching one Shotokan bunkai DVD. It is called Inside Bassai Dai created by Sensei Charlie Wildish, UK. I found the bunkai in it to be realistic and easy to learn. He demonstrates how some of the techniques are applied. I was particularly pleased to see the application for double uchi uke (inside forearm blocks). He interprets them as a uke followed by a uraken”.

Continue reading “Endorsement By Shihan Kousaku Yokota, 8th Dan Shotokan Karate” »

Bunkai For Shuto Uke (Knife Hand Block)

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This video was supplied by Chuck Philips of International Martial Arts Management Systems. In the video is Sensei John Kerker performing an interesting application for Shuto Uke (knife hand block). I haven’t seen this particular application before, but I like it. It is slightly Wing Chun like, deflecting, sticking, trapping and countering. But as Karate was largely derived from Kung Fu, then this should not surprise us.

You can find out more about Chuck Philips at www.IMAMS.com and I would like to thank him for submitting this video. Continue reading “Bunkai For Shuto Uke (Knife Hand Block)” »

Kata Bunkai for Nujishiho (Niseishi) Part 3

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In the last video Keith I posted on this blog, we looked at the rather odd sequence near the end of kata Nujishiho (Niseishi), where the movements do not fit the usual way of generating power in Karate (or at least, not the Shotokan way of doing this kata) and the chambering position of the reaction hand is unusual too. If you haven’t seen that post, then it might make more sense to read that one first, then come back to this one. Continue reading “Kata Bunkai for Nujishiho (Niseishi) Part 3” »

Kata Bunkai For Nijushiho/Niseishi (Part 2 )

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Nijushiho is one of my favorite katas. I passed my 2nd Dan with it more years ago than I care to remember. I posted about it’s opening sequence in September. This time we look at one of the sequences towards the end.

The version of the kata that I describe is the Shotokan version which of course may be performed differently in other styles. In the Shotokan version, this is an unusual sequence as we step into horse stance and perform an upper rising elbow strike at approximately a 45 degree angle, shuffle sideways and perform a punch (in direction of shuffle) at the same time as our reaction hand comes back to our ear (instead of the hip), then we shuffle back and perform a lower block.

The elbow strike is obvious enough, but why the shuffle/punch? Continue reading “Kata Bunkai For Nijushiho/Niseishi (Part 2 )” »

Kata: Training Beyond Technique

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Much is debated and demonstrated about the fighting applications within kata (patterns/forms), myself included. But not too much is spoken about the mindset, or mental approach you should take when performing your kata. Yes we all know that we should concentrate and focus, but beyond that . . . . what? Continue reading “Kata: Training Beyond Technique” »

Wing Chun’s Chum Kiu

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Following on from our last video on bunkai from the kata Nijushiho, Keith takes the lead and we take a look at similar applications from Wing Chun’s second form, Chum Kiu.

Usually we do things mainly from the Karate perspective and look at similar Kung Fu moves, but this time we start from the Kung Fu perspective (about time too). Sorry to all the Kung Fu people out there that its taken us so long to do it this way round, but Keith is a bit shyer in front of the camera than me. He’s not so shy in other ways, I would explain that this is not kind of blog 🙂 Continue reading “Wing Chun’s Chum Kiu” »

WOW! An Endorsment By Geoff Thompson!

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Geoff Thompson is co-founder of the British Combat Association and a pioneer for reality based martial arts training. His experiences as a martial artist (now 6th Dan) and working as a bouncer gave him a great insight into what does and does not really work when under pressure. He put this experience into his own teachings and was polled as the number one self defence instructor in the world by Black Belt magazine USA. From there he has become the author of thirty-four books, five multi-award-winning films (two BAFTA nominated, one BAFTA winning), two stage plays and hundreds of published articles.

It was with a little trepidation (and quit a bit of cheek on my part) that we sent my new DVD, Inside Bassai Dai to Geoff Thompson for review. We are delighted and honoured to have received the following endorsement from Geoff: Continue reading “WOW! An Endorsment By Geoff Thompson!” »

7 Questions to Enhance Your Bunkai

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This is an intersting article from www.ikigaiway.com which is very relevant to the aims of this blog as well. I hope you enjoy it:-

“Without bunkai (applications), kata is little more than pre-arranged dancing. The hands can be flowing in exciting and vibrant ways but if we never discover the meaning of the motion then our time would be much better spent hitting a heavy bag or sparring.

Bunkai is the key to developing useful and effective techniques preserved for us by those individuals who developed and tested them in fierce, life protection situations. Over the course of time much of the true meaning of these movements has either been lost or purposefully disguised. If your desire is to unlock some of the skills of our predecessors, you’ll need to know the right questions in order to find the best answers.

The following are seven things to ask yourself that might illuminate your kata in a different (and hopefully productive) way. These are in no particular order and are not prescriptive. Use some when you can and invent others. Continue reading “7 Questions to Enhance Your Bunkai” »

Kata Bunkai For Nijushiho/Niseishi: (Part 1)

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Here we look at the opening sequence of the kata Nijushiho (also known as Niseishi). In Shotokan in particular the usual interpretation of the slow forward moving “elbow strike” is that it applies an armlock under the opponents elbow by applying upward pressure. However, it seems to work much better if you apply the armlock across your chest. Have a look at the video and see what we mean. Continue reading “Kata Bunkai For Nijushiho/Niseishi: (Part 1)” »