The Basics of Bunkai – Part 1
Kata (formal forms) were regarded as the cornerstone of martial arts training by the past masters. However, many modern karate practitioners question the value...
Kata Naihanchi – Karate’s Most Deadly Kata?
The kata Naihanchi (Tekki) is practiced within the majority of karate styles. The word 'Naihanchi' is said to mean 'sideways fighting' due to the kata's...
Neihanchi Kata: A Half-Century Musing On The Kata Of Okinawa
In this essay I will share my observations of the Neihanchi kata of the Isshin Kempo and Isshinryu systems. I discuss Kiko and its...
The Martial Artist a Lethal Musician
One cannot learn how to make music without understanding how it functions much like one cannot practice martial arts without understanding martial arts forms...
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...
Old Karate is About Interpreting Kata
I prefer "old karate." I mean this in three different ways.
When I first used the phrase, I had been training for about ten years....
The Torso Method Exercises Transform One’s Taiji
The last of a series of exercises developed by Jou Tsung Hwa at the Taiji Farm, the aim of these subtle, precise, and intensive...
The Pinan / Heian Kata Series as a Fighting System: Part 2
In the first part of this series we examined how the Pinan / Heian katas represents a complete fighting system that contains techniques for...
Nage No Kata And Katame No Kata Part 1
Kata? Not in this dojo. We only do fight'n Judo here. It's bad enough you have to learn some of it just before ya...
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 /...
The Wall of Silence: Vital Points in Kata
Prior to WW II there were several publications which discussed vital points and how they could be used to knock out or kill a...
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...
The Four Stages of Kata Practice
Practically all karateka practice kata; however, most only practice the initial stage and therefore they do not develop a rounded and more complete understanding...
The Basics of Bunkai: Part 5
In this series of articles we've been looking at the basics of "bunkai" (kata application). The purpose of these articles is to introduce the...
Chuck Merriman on Kata and the Meaning of Bunkai
"The kata are the essence of karate; without them karate would be the mere learning of various fighting and self-defense techniques, expressing nothing and...
Kata and Old School Karate
Many of the past masters knew and perfected one, two or a handful of kata. Now many practitioners know (or half know) many kata....
