Bunkai-Jutsu Review

Bunkai-Jutsu by Iain Abernethy.     READ THIS BOOK! IT IS AMAZING!!!

Bunkai-Jutsu is amazing. I Devoured this book. With a captial D. This book covers just a little bit of everything, all the best parts, but not quite too much, leaving you wanting just a little bit more, like the sprinkles on a cake.

Ok, seriously. First, I have to say I really like how this book was set up. I really enjoyed the chapter on the history of kata. It was very informative. It's really good to know the history and purpose behind what you study.

From there Abernethy moves on through a logical progressions of tools and techniques you will need to know in order to decipher your kata. He constantly stresses that kata is NOT a dance, it is not meant to be pretty, Kata is designed to beat the shit out of the poor bastard who tries to jump you on your way home from work.

Abernethy gives examples of some of the principles you will use to decipher your kata and there are a large number of pictures in this book to follow along with as well. I think reading the book and using the DVDs as well will give the reader/viewer a better grasp of the material.

There is so much I want to say about this book, all of it positive. I don't have the book on me right now or I would give a better summary of the contents. Suffice it to say that this book should get bumped to the top of your reading list if you haven't already read it. I think between this book and Way of Kata, which gives you a similar perspective but different information on deciphering kata, any Martial Artist will be well on their way to understanding what the Masters really intended to impart to their students when they made the kata. You will be well equipped to sort through a lot of the garbage being taught in many dojos today.

I give Bunkai Jutsu by Iain Abernethy 6 out of 5 stars.

Review: Way of Kata

Way of Kata covers the largely untold truth about Kata. For anyone looking for a deeper move involved Bunaki for their kata or for anyone who feels that some of the applications taught by their Martial Arts school seem to be missing something, this book is for you. Even if you are a beginner, this book will give you a unique perspective and definite advantage as you begin your journey in the Matial Arts.

This book covers

• a brief history of karate and kata.
• strategy vs. tactics
• 15 guiding principles to follow
• 8 rules for interpreting kata
• what happens during a violent encounter, physically and mentally. Types of criminals, things you should know about fighting and what will happen during a fight.
• How to bring everything together to make your knowledge and practice effective.
• Kata examples with checklists from Goju Ryu kata.

Along with extra goodies at the end, there are some great glossaries/appendixes at the end; excellent reference/resource material.

First, there is a lot of information in this book. A LOT.  It's almost overwhelming. However, everything is arranged in a logical order with a progression that builds through the book. Everything in the next chapter builds on the chapter previous so they don't throw you in the middle of everything. 

I found Chapters 3 and 4 to be the most useful/beneficial to me. If you have not read anything else by Kane and Wilder or by Rory Miller, then Chapters 2 and 5 will be very interesting and information packed as well. If you are familiar with other works by Kane, Wilder, and Miller, then they will be a bit of a review, but still worth the read. 

Chapter 6 covers great classroom ideas as far as drills go and ways to practice what you learned. Chapter 7 is an extensive checklist of Goju Ryu kata and applications. This gives some really great examples and helps you understand the fundamentals of what the authors are talking about. I think this list would be invaluable to any Goju Ryu student. If you study a different school, like I study Shotokan for example, it would be helpful to look up the kata on YouTube to get a better idea of what the kata look like so you can see the techniques in motion.

The only complaint I have with this book is that it is a little on the dry side. It can be tedious to read through sometimes, as if you are reading through a text book, especially towards the end, chapters 5 through 7. I think this is just due to the sheer amount of information packed into this book. HOWEVER, even if you have to put the book down and come back to it the next day, I highly recommend pushing through it and finishing it. 

I think it is very important for Martial Artists to be educated on what they practice and/or teach. If you are teaching someone self defense, (which is in essence what Karate was designed for by the Okinawans) then you need to teach them something that works, not something ineffective that could get them hurt if their lives ever depended on their understanding of their techniques and kata application.

I think this is a MUST HAVE book for any Martial Artist or dojo library.

Abernethy Seminar Review

This last weekend Sensei Nick and I had the chance to go to a seminar in Missouri hosted by the Blue River Martial Arts Club. (Thanks to Eric and Sarah Parsons for putting this together, it was awesome!) They brought Iain Abernethy over from the UK for a weekend of Bunkai.

Friday night was a brief introduction to Funakoshi's 9 throws. Which was pretty nifty. There are a lot of people who say there are no throws in karate, but there were definitely some built into the system. Iain broke them up into 6 practical and 3 frivolous throws. After getting to practice all of them, I agree. But it was still cool to go over them. Iain taught us all 9 with the precept that even if something is not practical or would probably not work in a fight, you should still learn it anyway because it is historically interesting. As an instructor it is good to learn all of the techniques, even if they don't work for you (your body type, etc) because if you only pick the ones that work for you and discard everything else you are cheating your students out of a complete education.

Saturday was Bunkai for the Heian Kata. (Heian Shodan, Nidan, Sandan, Yodan, Godan). Some of the applications were surprising, but usually once Iain explains them and goes through how it works, it makes a lot of sense.

The more we went over the more it became evident that Iain REALLY knows his stuff. He has clearly spent a LOT of time in the martial arts. Not just practicing, but researching and studying the history of the forms, the founders of the systems, the language, and the applications. I tried to write down everything I could, and Sensei Nick and I have been going over some of the Bunkai and sharing the information with our students, but I would certainly jump at the chance to study with Iain again.

Some things we are currently sharing with our students that we picked up at the seminar are:
- Bunkai is something you do to an enemy, not with a partner.
- Do NOT help your partner back up, this is because you can get into the habit of it, as Miller often states what you do in training you will do in real life. There have been studies of military men doing drills where they disarm their partner, and then hand the gun right back to them. When they are in the field, they have disarmed their attacked and simply handed the gun right back to them out of habit. We never want to get into this habit.

Some of the notes that I took that morning before getting into practicing the Bunkai are as follows, they are a mix of wisdom from Iain and the karate founders/masters:

• Karate is not intended to be used against a single adversary. It is a use of hands and feet to defend oneself should one need to against a ruffian or vagabond.
• Kata is self defense, it is NOT a fighting system. There IS a difference. Kata takes place at fighting distance, which is not as most people think the same thing as sparring distance. Sparring distance is two people standing with their arms outstretched and their fingertips touching. Fighting distance is actually standing close enough that you can touch your opponent's shoulder. Iain refers to this affectionately as 'kissing distance'. 
• It is better to be the hammer than the anvil. Which is also to say it is always better to hit or strike than not. 
• Always strike for the head and neck for this is most effective.
• Karate is self defense. It should not be used for fighting. 
• There are three contexts Martial Arts can be used in. When practicing, you should always set the context and practice in that context.
• Martial Arts - a formal setting, this is done because it is fun, we like it, it is fun, it feels good, etc. Martial Arts and a hobby. 
• Fighting - a fight to a conclusion. This is a mutual decision to fight, whether a sparring setting or a monkey dance/bar fight.
• Self Defense - practical. I DON'T want to fight, but since the situation is absolutely unavoidable,  the FIGHT is totally MINE. If someone jumps you, you can't hesitate, you have to take the fight to them. Their limbs, their jaw, etc, its MINE. 
• Never have a dead hand, both hands should ALWAYS be doing something. 
• Even monkeys fall out of trees: even the best of us mess things up sometimes. It is always better to hit them than not. 
• Start with raw skill and refine as you get better. If you start out practicing and aiming for very very specific targets, your training will not come through in an adrenaline rush. Work on getting the basics down first and then refine.
• Always take the path of least resistance
• Cheating is ALWAYS allowed.

Sunday we went over advanced kata, including Tekki Shodan. I have not (or at least am not supposed to be learning Tekki Shodan just yet in the grand scheme of my training. Since Nick does not have an actual karate class going right now, only Aikijutsu I can learn the kata in any order I want. When I was talking with Nick before I moved to Oklahoma, he sent me videos of all the kata. He sent me the 5 Heian kata and Tekki Shodan. After watching all of them I told Nick I wanted to learn Tekki Shodan. "That one! That's my favorite!" I was completely tickled pink that we got to go over the Bunkai for Tekki Shodan. It was GREAT! I really liked the Bunkai and I feel like I picked it up pretty quickly, especially for not having officially learned the kata yet.

To sum it up, I took a lot away from the Seminar, far far far more than I actually wrote down here. But I think one of the things that I was most impressed by was how knowledgeable Iain was. I have been wanting to read the history behind a lot of this Martial Arts stuff and the people who have been monumental in making it what it is today. Iain knows A LOT of that kind of information and its infectious. If I wanted to know before, I REALLY want to know now. The desire to be as knowledgeable as Iain is, as well as to be as proficient in the Martial Arts is burning strongly. The best way that I can explain it: some people have idols and heroes they want to be like, sports players want to be like Brett Farve or Jerry MacGuire, or whoever. (I know NOTHING about sports). Architects and artists look up to Frank Loyd Write or Picasso or Monet, etc. Martial Artists want to be like Abernethy and Wilder and Miller. Including me. Nick is always quoting Basho "Choosing not to follow in the footsteps of the masters, but rather seeking what the sought". So its not like I want to be an exact Abernethy replica, but I certainly want to know the things he knows and be as good as he is, I just have to get there my own way. 

Abernethy is all around a great guy. He has a great sense of humor, a personable disposition and is helpful with instruction and pointers. Again, I cannot stress how knowledgeable he is. If you are ever in the UK or if he ever comes back to the states, I HIGHLY recommend attending one of his seminars or talking/studying with him if you get the chance. You can find information about him via his website. Check it out. His Bunkai is pretty damn awesome. 

Kata Practice

Sensei Nick is out of the country currently. I am able to attend the biweekly Aikijutsu classes as he has a senior student to teach them. However, since he was mostly teaching kids (as I understand it) there is no one work on Shotokan Karate with while he is out of the country. Well, I take that back. Some of his friends are experienced Martial Artists and could work with me on this, we just haven't been able to set up a time to actually get together and work on anything yet. But there are no actual classes that anyone is teaching at the moment.

Alas. Much sadness abounds when your instructor is out of the country. 

However, Sensei Nick DID give me Heian Nidan to work on while he is away since kata is something I can practice on my own. We haven't gone over ALL the bunkai yet, but I do have the whole form down and I am supposed to be doing the form at least 10 times EVERY DAY.

I am ashamed to admit I have slacked off a little bit. Which is particularly sad as kata is something I desperately want to excel at. I've had a few projects I'm trying to finish up for cash and I'm still trying to nail down a job. But I am always thinking about it in my head, and I know I should be practicing more. 

I ready Felica's blog post today and she had a link to another post she had written about a specific kata practice technique. It's a good post, give it a read. Go on. You know you want to.

Honestly, its not that I wasn't motivated before, but it just helps renforce, I NEED to be practicing! Only through lots of practice and hard work can I become the martial artist I want to be.

To myself I say "Self! MAKE TIME! No excuses! Get up and practice your kata!"

To all you I say "All you! Go practice your forms!" or if Martial Arts isn't your thing practice whatever it is that YOU want to excel at. Only through devotion of time to your art (be it drawing, writing, singing, cooking, miniatures, whatever) can you obtain the level of competence and proficiency that you want to achieve. Even if its a few minutes a day, spend some time every day doing what you love. After a while, that cumulative time blossoms into real skill, understanding, and mastery. 

To Felica I say "Thank you!"

Have a good week all, practice practice practice! ^.~

~Samurai Girl Sahara