How I learned what Bunkai meant

I am very far from an expert on the Sutrison family version of Shotokan that he taught.

His father, a doctor, was drafted into the Japanese navy in Indonesia in the 1930’s, which then was controlled by Japan.

 

As doctor’s had to be officers, he was required to attend the Japanese Naval War College, and there he also studied what would become referred to as Shotokan, under Funakoshi Ginchi. There he also trained in early aikido from an instructor trained by Usheiba Morhei. Those studies and his own training in his native Indonesian Tjinamde I believe influenced his Shotokan he later taught on Indonesia, beginning after the war.

 

When I trained with Tristan Sutrisno, he shared many things, though I was never his student. Over 10 years he clearly explained what bunkai meant in his tradition.

 

Formally study of bunkai was not a kyu studies, there were many other subsidiary studies in place of this. First years building the skills used in the bunkai studies.

 

Bunkai was a dan study. It was based on the kata of Shotokan. Essentially their bunkai tradition was not exactly using the kata and learning how to apply those movements. Bunkai were a very different way to think of kata movements points as a beginning. An entirely different string of techniques to be used for defense. They had nothing to do with the kata per sae, or little to do with the kata.

 

I interpreted this to mean one could not know the kata and anticipate what the Sutrisno adept would ever do. For such training was meant to be private.

 

Then for each of their 5 dan levels, there was an entirely different bunkai to be learned and mastered. Which encompassed a huge number of possibilities.

 

I was not a student, and this was just generally shared with me, at his choice.

 

However one Sunday morning, when he had brought some of his students up to New Hampshire to visit me, he decided to teach them the first level bunkai for kata Bassai Sho.

Previously he had taught me this kata, though not these bunkai.

 

To make the point the photos that follow are from that training. Just one movement, and the bunkai follows.

 

Over the years I did learn a little more about his approach to bunkai, such as the 3^rd and 4^th level concentrated more on takedown and grounding potential within his system.

And I got some clues, that I have reason to believe the 5 level was involved in getting the greatest response with the least amount of movement used, but that is just speculation on my part.

 

When he explained bunkai to me, the term was not openly used in karate circles in the NorthEast. About a year later the magazines started using the term, then everyone began talking about bunkai. But from my studies, nobody else ever meant it the way he demonstrated it to me.

 

The possible exception was in the 1938 explanation on how kata technique could be used, was somewhat similar in a limited, very limited way.

 

 

So here goes, the opening bunkai (level 1) to Bassai Sho.

 

Allow me to insert a note here.

The bunkai version of the kata does not necessarily

follow the original version originally studied.

 

What follows is the first level bunkai for that movement.

I have left them at full size.

 

Remember this is just one movement bunkai from Bassai Sho.

There is much more, and more involved in the dan study

than just acquiring the knowledge or the bunkai.

 

For one must then master those applications,

only then when they were fully understood, for each of the system kata,

would the dan be prepared to begin NiDan study.

 

So being a Dan became a real commitment to train, and train and train.

Of course there was much, much more too.