Kata, the book that
changes its story every time you read it.
I
initially started training in martial arts in 1984 with Selby Shotokan Karate
Club in North Yorkshire under Kodokai Karate federation (Shotokan Karate
InternationalFederation). Sensei Sadashigo Kato who was the head of our
organisation based in Cheshire.
Since
moving to the North East I have studied karate at Newton Aycliffe Karate Club
and attained the grade of Yondan. This was a difficult transition as I had to
learn all the Wado-ryu based kata, under the Anshin-ryu karate system whilst
still keeping my Shotokan karate knowledge alive.
Anshin-ryu Karate
is not widely practiced. It was founded by Sensei Keith Bell back in
the early 80’s in the North East of England. Keith Bell was a Yondan (4th) Dan
in Wado Ryu and also trained in Shotokan under Sensei Kanazawa. He decided to
establish a system that incorporated the best from both styles. “Anshin Ryu”
(translates as “Peace of Mind” or “Heart and Mind”). The style is predominantly
Wado-ryu, except that the stances became lower towards the Shotokan style, but
not as deep. This had the effect of making the style look more powerful like
Shotokan, but still retaining the speed of the Wado system. The kata in this
system are the pinan and advanced kata, such as Kushanku and Chinto, up to and
including first Dan from Wado, but then the system changes into the Shotokan
advanced kata, such as Unsu and Nijushiho etc.
Information obtained from Kodokan Martial Arts web page who are based at
Darlington. http://www.kodokan.org.uk/karate/anshin-ryu-karate/
- Pinan
Nidan
- Pinan
Shodan
- Pinan
Sandan
- Pinan
Yondan
- Pinan
Godan
Since
first starting Karate over 30 years ago, it is only in the last 10-15 years
that I developed a greater understanding of the use of the blocking techniques,
Uke and Barai within kata and the importance that the hikite plays in
combination these techniques.
Firstly
let’s look at the translation of these words.
Uke.
“Uke.“
Translation is “to receive”. Commonly misinterpreted as “to block”. An excellent analogy of this misunderstanding
can be seen in the article below which illustrates
this using a conversation between an Iaido Sensei and his pupil.
“He looked at me and grunted. “Uke…” was all he said.
“Hai Sensei!” I
replied thinking that I’d blocked his sword wrong.
We repeated the process again with another ‘clang’ and another terse “uke”
from Sensei…
On the third occasion an exasperated Sensei asked “what do you think uke means?”
“Block Sensei,” I answered. I had taken my original schooling in
Karate where the word uke had
invariably been translated as ‘block’ so jodan
uke was ‘head block, and so on. I had trained in many different
Karate schools and had never heard it described differently
“Ahhhhh……. Now I understand why you keep hitting my iaito” he
said. “Uke means to
‘receive’ – the opposite to ‘block’…. With uke you invite the opponent in to your space to deal with
them. In fact you shouldn’t really even touch my blade, your blade is a
guard as you turn under my cut and simultaneously cut me.”
Once you understand this concept, you
understand that the so called blocks within Karate Kata become so much more
than just blocking a kick or a punch, which is so often used to explain the
Bunkai (Application) of these moves within the kata. Again I have fallen into
the trap with my explanation of what Bunkai means. It is often said to us that
Bunkai is the application in a practical sense of the moves within a Kata. Its
actual translation is to take apart in order to understand (Dissect), but for
my purposes it is enough to say “application” and I will continue to use this
meaning throughout this paper.
Berai.
Another “Block” used throughout the karate
kata is “Berai” as in Gedan berai.
Again this is thought to be blocking a
kick such as Maigeri, front snap kick. I am wincing to myself as I type this,
as many Karateka will know, directly blocking a powerful kick such as this
using your arm is only going to result in a very bruised if not broken arm and
possibly shattered ribs as the block will probably be ineffectual and still
enable the attacker to hit their intended target.
This again is quite often misinterpreted
as “Downward sweeping block”. This is almost correct in its translation apart
from the end. Gedan means lower level or lower body and Berai means to sweep or
brush away. There is actually no mention of block at all in this technique. It
actually describes the motion of the arm during the technique rather than what
it is actually doing to the attacker.
Hikite.
Now to look at Hikite. This again is often
described as a pull back to the hip. It is often explained that this helps with
power of the punch, by increasing the torque and thus the force of the attack. Although
I do not dispute the fact that it will do this, if this were the case then why
is it applied to a majority of techniques within the Kata that clearly are not
striking/hitting an opponent and therefore do not require the added power
generated by this torque.
The translation of Hikite means “Hiki” –
Pull and “te” – hand. This does not mean to pull your hand back but to pull
your opponents hand, i.e. to control that hand.
To
underline the point, I refer to Master Funakoshi’s own description of Hikite in
his book: ‘Rentan Goshin Karate Jutsu’
first published in March, 1925. In the section entitled: ‘Hand Techniques.’ he
describes Hikite as:“Here the meaning
of hikite, or pulling hand (my emphasis) is to grab the opponent’s attacking
hand and pull it in while twisting it as much as possible so that his body is
forced to lean against the defender.”
By controlling the opponents hand and keeping
them off balance it enables the defender to apply various techniques to
immobilise the attacker thus making them unable to follow up their assault with
other blows.
Without the use of hikite in this manner, the
application of the Uke and berai techniques other than direct blocks becomes
almost impossible as without the control of the limb that this technique
offers, an attacker would simply be able to move away or follow up with further
strikes before any defending or countering technique could be applied.
The use of these techniques within kata.
Due to the limitations of this short paper it
would be impossible for me to go through every technique within the Kata of the
Anshin-Ryu Karate system, which is based on Wado-Ryu with influences of
Shotokan. So what I intend to do is concentrate on the first few moves of the Pinan
Nidan Kata or Heian Shodan in Shotokan.
The Pinan kata are split into 5 and are
developed from Kusanku (Kankudai – Shotokan).
The Pinan kata series was introduced
into the Okinawan School District karate program as gym training from 1902 to
1907 by Ankoh Itosu.
Direct translation can either mean
“Peaceful mind” using the Japanese Heian or the Okinawan dialect Pinan means
“Safe from harm.”
Notice that Nidan (Second level) is
before Shodan (First level) in the order they are taught to pupils. This is
primarily because Funakoshi Gichin made this name change. His philosophy was to
teach Pinan Nidan first because he felt it was an easier transition into the
Pinan series. i.e. the application was more advanced in Nidan but it was
physically and technically simpler to perform.
Within Shotokan Karate they changed
the names of the kata to avoid confusion. Which, as a Shotokan Karateka, now
studying Anshin Ryu always causes me to slip up when teaching, but it then
gives me an opportunity to explain this name change to the students in the
class.
My understanding of Bunkai has been
partly influenced by other Karateka such as my fellow Karateka whom I train
with Sensei Steve Wilkinson, 4th Dan Anshin Ryu and Senior Karateka and Martial
artists such as Sensei Rick Hotton, 5th Dan Shotokan, Sifu Willie
Lim, Sensei Scott Langley, 6th Dan Shotokan, who completed the
formidable JKS Instructors course and author of the bestselling book Karate
Stupid, as well as Sensei Iain Abernethy, 6th Dan Wado Ryu, whom is
widely renowned within Martial Arts circles as one of the leading voices on
Bunkai, Iain has dug deep into the texts of the great masters (Gone to the
source so to speak) in order to develop his understanding of kata as it should
have been from the beginning. A lot of karate practitioners and teachers
explain kata as a series of techniques to defend against multiple assailants
attacking one person, and that person defending with basic blocks and
countering with basic punches and kicks and other strikes. Iain takes the
concept of breaking a Kata down into smaller scenes, if you will, that can be
used in isolation or combined to suit the situation.
I would love to be able to say that my
early Karate instructors have influenced me in the same way, but this was not
the case and my Bunkai was very much limited to the basic examples I have
mentioned previously. This may have been because in the early days of karate
there seemed to be some secrecy and mysticism about the art and without trying
to sound to critical of the Japanese instructors, whom I respect and admire, we
were treated almost as children with regards to how much we were shown.
Another reason may have been that
meaning may have been lost through poor translation when in the early days of
Karate within Europe, Japanese instructors had to rely on a limited vocabulary
of the local language.
Or it could have been the case that
some of this knowledge was not passed on as Karate was watered down in order to
de-brutalise the techniques so that it became more acceptable as a sport, thus
enabling it to be taught across the world to children and families.
I say de-brutalised because a lot of
the techniques with the Kata are brutal and decimating, leading to broken
limbs, loss of consciousness and death. They were to be used in extreme
circumstances where people were being robbed for their possessions and needed
to quite literally fight for their lives. They did not need to restrain someone
for the authorities and a humane manner, it was a case of do what needed to be
done to prevent them from harming you and if that meant a broken neck or
dislocated elbow then so be it.
As mentioned previously initial teachings of Kata within the UK relied
on the precept that an individual person was being attacked by multiple
assailants one after the other from either the front, at a 45 or 90 degree
angle or behind, and also that the whole Kata was one continuous confrontation.
The thought that an individual can successfully defend sustained attacks
from 3 or 4 people even with the skills taught over a number of years is
unrealistic. In these situations the assailants would normally attack on mass
without the etiquette that we show our colleagues in the dojo. The ensuing
fracas would be chaotic and very difficult to predict.
The way I am going to explain the bunkai of these techniques makes a
karateka look at the kata in a whole new light. Each series of moves within a
kata can be thought of in isolation with a single aggressor being defended
against at any point. Even in a situation where there are multiple attackers
you can still only deal with one person at a time, although you would be aware
of the other people involved. The idea is to immobilize one decisively before
attempting to tackle another, if this is not done, then you will prolong the
encounter to the point where you would be injured and not able to defend
yourself or too exhausted to continue.
Within each technique there will be numerous bunkai, some of which may
be familiar and some of which may not. When a Karateka says that he knows the
bunkai for a kata, what they are probably saying is that they may know one or
two examples, which may or may not be same as you have been taught. This does
not mean they are wrong. As long as they have been applied and work, then they
are acceptable. Bunkai must be practiced and drilled regularly as this is the
basis of karate. If we do not do this we lose the essence of karate. The kata
are the heart of a karate system and if we do not practice and apply the moves
in a combative situation, we are not practicing a full martial art. If you are
just interested in competitive kumite or kata then this is not a criticism. I
myself enjoy competing but you need to be aware that that is only a small but
still enjoyable element of karate.
To expand on this on give food for thought I will take Pinan Nidan and
look at the first few moves.
Pinan Nidan bunkai.
I have sourced the diagram
illustrating the Kata Pinan Nidan via the internet and can take no credit for
these. (See attached image on the blog).
Lets looks now at the techniques within the Pinan Nidan Kata. The first move I
will discuss is number 4 on the Pinan Nidan diagram. This is a gedan berai
starting from a chudan junzuki punch in dari zenkutsu-dachi (Lunge punch to the
stomach area in left front stance). Then sweeping around in a clock wise
direction 90 degrees and landing in gedan berai, again in dari zenkutsu-dachi
(Downward sweep in left front stance).
This move is normally explained as blocking a mae-geri (Front snap kick)
from an appointment behind you, directly after punching another appointment who
is still in front of you. So we now use our psychic ability or catch a glimpse
of this person in a reflection somewhere and miraculously turn the long way
round to block a kick that would probably hit you as this move would be to slow
to block a full speed and power kick.
Instead of using this bunkai methodology, we need to consider that this
series of moves is dealing with one adversary. So on striking the person as in
move 3 on the diagram, we use the hikite move to control his hand. (There is
obviously a move before this that gets you into position, but I am only describing
this one move in the kata that illustrates the point of this paper.). This
prevents the person from moving away and enables you to keep close contact and
control. The opponent is in left stance with left hand out, either punching or
try to grab the defender. The defender then brings their right had across the
back off their neck striking them with the forearm across the side of their
head, which would momentarily stun and disorientate the aggressor. This same
had is then used to grab under the chin and then the gedan-berai motion along
with the turn would pull them off balance causing them to fall to the floor.
If done with suitable force and speed it could even cause a neck crank,
which would mean severe injury. Again this illustrates the seriousness of these
techniques, and that even at such an early stage within karate training
devastating injury could be caused using basic techniques. You can therefore
understand how the bunkai has been simplified as teaching this to children
could have seemed horrifying. What we have to understand is that these were
very effective methods of defending oneself against a mugger or a ruffian and
that these kinds of defenses were necessary in order to possibly save your
life.
“1. Karate is not merely
practiced for your own benefit; it can be used to protect one’s family or
master. It is not intended to be used against a single assailant but instead as
a way of avoiding injury by using the hands and feet should one by any chance
be confronted by a villain or ruffian.”
Most of the take downs within the kata follow a strike of some sort. The
strike is not aimed at ending the fight, but if it does so much the better,
then there is no need for the follow up. What the strike does is two things. It
disorientates the individual and allows time to follow up with the technique
that should end their involvement in the altercation.
The next move is move eight on the Pinan Nidan diagram. There is a 90
degree turn to the left into dari zenkutsu-dachi with a left hand gedan-berai.
This technique again follows on from a chudan junzuki punch in dari
zenkutsu-dachi.
The basic explanation of this is that a person is attacking from 90
degrees to the left, you turn your head, see them and as they throw a maegeri
kick you block with a gedan-berai turning into the kick, which relies on
excellent timing and the fact that you have arms of steel.
In the explanation I give for this technique the opponent would be in a
left stance of some description with their right had forward. Notice I am not
saying that the opponent is punching at all, as this is very rarely the case.
The description is normally from a grab or may be at most some form of haymaker
type hook technique. This is because we need to assume that the aggressor is
not a trained martial artist and would not throw a text book junzuki punch.
The aggressor is partially subdued with a punch and control is gained
using a right hand hikete holding on to their right arm, keeping them close in
order to further control. From this position, the left arm movies up across
your body so that your elbow rests on their collar bone, then from here move 90
degrees to the left into dari zenkutsu-dachi at the same time sweeping the left
arm down, gedan berai. The pressure on the collar bone and the downward turning
motion whilst holding on with the hikite causes the opponent to lose balance
thus falling backwards onto your left knee, again causing severe injury to the
back and immobilizing the aggressor.
After looking at these techniques in this way, the simple moves within
this first kata of many no longer seem as such. There are some devastating
techniques that are taught, but due to our naivety when we first started to
learn this kata we were accepting of the simplistic explanations. I do not
think it is a bad way to start to get an understanding of the techniques as
when we first start our karate it gives us some focus as to what we are doing
without making the explanation too complex. The worry is though that we keep
these explanations and don’t expand on them when we move through our grades to
the more practical examples.
There are many articles, websites and video casts on Bunkai and the
internet has been a fantastic medium for sharing knowledge and thoughts.
Sometimes though it is hard to see the wood for the trees and you must develop
your own opinion on the techniques demonstrated and come up with your own
thoughts and ideas by practicing them and seeing what works for you. This will
also help improve your own understanding of the principles within the kata and
how to apply them to real situations.
Author:- Andy Bailey, Yondan
Newton Aycliffe Karate Club.
