The Basics of Bunkai – Part 2
In this second article, we'll be looking at the basic application (bunkai) for the knife-hand block or "shuto-uke". As we established in The Basics...
Willie Lim Unlocks Martial Arts Truths
Willie Lim likes nothing better than to unlock martial arts truths. He is demystifying martial arts, shattering illusions that many would like to keep...
Willie Lim: The Rebel Master of Kata Bunkai
Totally Tae Kwon Do magazine recently spoke to Master Willie Lim, a pioneer of the art in New Zealand and a revolutionary in the...
Kata Training: Practice Kata Correctly
This translation originally appeared in Vol. 29, No. 1 of the Hiroshima University of Economics Journal of Humanities, Social and Natural Sciences.
Translator's Introduction
Over the...
The Other Way of Sanchin Kata
Many karate systems teach the Sanchin kata as an external training method to strength-condition practitioners with a series of breath-controlled tensions. This mainstream understanding...
Discovering Bunkai in Kata
By Bill Burgar ~ Today kata are practiced for a variety of reasons. Some people use them as good exercise, some to practice technique,...
Taisabaki No Kata – The Body Movements of Form
By Dr. William Durbin ~ It has been acknowledged by most authorities, at least those who actually train in traditional martial arts, that Kata is...
Bunkai: The Meaning Behind Kata
Okay! Bunkai (分解), literally meaning “analysis” or “disassembly,” is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to process of analyzing kata and extracting...
Willie Lim Kata Training is Outside the System
When I was training in TKD I was young and eager, an like so many others, interested only in the free sparring. In my...
Returning To Classical Kata With Willie Lim
A true understanding of karate is to found by returning to classical kata. Unlike modern karate, it is forms which hold the key to ancient...
Kata: Why Bother
There are many differing views on the value of kata. Kata is regarded by some to be the very 'soul' of the martial arts....
The Pinan / Heian Series as a Fighting System: Part 1
The Pinan / Heian series are often the first katas taught in the majority of modern dojos. This can lead to the Pinan /...
Kata: Lock or a Key
In this article I'd like to briefly discuss some of the ways in which we can view kata, and how, if we adopt a...
Tegumi – Karate’s Forgotten Range
It is believed that the native wrestling art of Tegumi, along with the Kempo systems brought to Okinawa by the Chinese, were forerunners of...
The Role Of Kata For Contemporary Fighting Martial Artists
When many people see the name of the system I study, Progressive Protection Systems, they instantly think of a modernist system, which abhors the...
Martial Art Subtleties: The Lessons Kata Teach
The kata were created in such a way that they required careful learning, training and much repetition to acquire the skill and learn the...
