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Post by malk103 on Jan 28, 2013 21:55:59 GMT
Learning Kata, do you think it's better to teach plenty of applications or just the basics and leave it to the students to learn more later? Obviously by applications/bunkai/principles I am thinking of when you break the kata down and fine tune the technical points you go into more detail about what each move could be used for. I guess a lot of people have been taught Kata over the years and haven't a clue what they are doing other than the most obvious or basic application. I'm constantly revisiting Kata that I learnt years ago and have since practiced hundreds of times but often come up with new (to me) ideas or blinding flashes of the obvious!
Is it best to be shown some and explore the rest on your own?
As an aside, I hate it when I hear things like "this move is for that" as if that's the only application and its because my Sensei said so attitude.
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Post by Paul Bedard on Jan 29, 2013 5:06:51 GMT
Personally I like to have the student focus on the move & the refinement of the move while doing the kata, the way that it is done in the kata. To me most bunkai is an adaptation of the move or using that spot of the kata as a principle. So we have two different things here. 1. Make technique. 2. Use technique. When I have my students go through joint manipulations, wrist locks, arm bars, figure 4 locks etc,, We focus on them & when we get good enough I`ll show them, o,k this wrist lock might be in Empi, or the arm bar might be in Heian Godan, or the figure 4 lock might be in Heian Yondan, but for the most part when we do the kata, we do the kata. Bunkai we will take on small piece of the kata & work on the application that I lead them through. Always I tell them that this is one idea. Their imagination & experience will allow them to find many ideas. Also when I go through the principles of throwing then show them where they find some example in kata, ( First kiai in Heian Shodan, for example). However kata training is kata training & bunkai is bunkai. They are related but should be seperate. Too many people get hung up on bunkai & don`t learn to do the kata well.. IMHO
Osu
Paul B
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Post by nathanso on Jan 29, 2013 8:13:09 GMT
The best approach is to teach in a way that gets the students to your goals. If your goal is to have kata be a performance of technical prowess, what I consider to be the JKA appraoch that I was taught, then (realistic) bunkai is not only irrelevant it is a detriment to that technical performance. I know an Okinawan stylist who practiced essentially the opposite approach. He taught the application of techniques using first programmed and then free partner drills, and only then taught the kata that those techniques/applications were in.
I think that applications make the kata come alive. I don't teach beginner classes, so when I teach kata it's to students who are at least green belt and usually brown or black belt. If they are just trying to learn the form, I will usually say that a given technique is done so that it looks like you are doing whatever happens to be the most obvious application, even if it is silly, but will either mention a more reasonable application or at least tell them that there will be more practical applications that they will learn later.
One approach that I sometimes use is to pick a sequence, and have the class partner up and tell them to come up with 1-3 different applications of that sequence that could be used in a realistic scenario. I then have the class come back together and ask for volunteers to demo their applications and ask the class what they think.
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Post by kyshotokankaratedo on Feb 5, 2013 19:09:54 GMT
I will say that most of my years training have been in a JKA like atmosphere. With that said some application training is good. I feel for me an my students the best balance is to except the idea that kata is the perfect fight. Your hands and feet ( and opponents) move exactly like they are supposed to move. This means a focus on correct movements first. After a level of proficiency only basic bunkai is taught. After basic bunkai is internalized, time is given to students to begin to make the kata their own by creating their own applications. This way I teach first and they later expand my teaching into their karate.
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