The Unlocking Principle

 

I received my Black Belt in Isshinryu back in January of 1979.

Then my April of that year I was on my own. Charlie Murray returned to the USAF, and I was without an instructor or anyone really caring about what I did. No one to direct what I would do; I was on my own to continue my Isshinryu studies and make a way to use them.

Although before he left Charlie did force feed the remainder of the Isshinryu system, as he knew it, into me.

Then I continued working on my own.

Realizing I needed more I began competing in the Pennsylvania and nearby stages tournaments. I woke up early and began running at 5 am. I was finding time to train for hours a day, often at the YMCA where my wore worked.

My job at Northeastern Bank came with a full lunch hour. Then I would go outside and walk around Scranton. I noticed how many girls dance studios there were around town. That inspired me to begin a youth karate program at the Scranton Boys Club, Competitors and Instructors I met around the state all thought I was crazy to teach kids. I tried to tell them that was the future for their programs and none of them really believed me. But I was not looking for advice and made my own way.

I read every karate magazine I could find, noticing how all the Okinawan instructors in those magazines would show applications from kata movement.

I had not learned such from my Isshinryu instructors, from my studies in Tang Soo Do, or at any of the other karate schools I ever visited. I never heard anyone back then discuss Bunkai at those schools or at tournaments.

But I kept thinking about those magazines and what they showed.I find this an interesting could not stop thinking about it. Then one morning while running it came to me.  I had worked up my own analysis of what a complete karate technique was back in 1980.

I referred to it as my unlocking principle:

I called it the Unlocking Principle for me. Basically, it stated that for any movement a block/strike could have a strike following and whichever combination was used resulted in a downing of the opponent (explosive striking, locking or takedown).

Then having a principle, I could understand I slowly began to find ways to explore it.

Over the next few years, I learned a definition of Bunkai from my studies with Tris Sutrisno. I learned his definition was unique to his family's system, but in actuality his definition did not violate my Unlocking Principle.

Once Bunkai began to be mentioned in the karate magazines about 1984 or so, it seems everyone started using the term. But after having watched thousands of YouTube videos showing Bunkai, none of them (effective or not) were similar to what I learned from Tristan. And as time passed what he shared became the only definition of Bunkai that I used.

Over more time I began my own studies and much more. Always my Unlocking Principle underlay my efforts.

Yet I while informed I was not an expert in the Sutrisno Shotokan system.

I did not feel comfortable using the term Bunkai so I worked up terminology that made sense to me. This occurred step by steep over time.

First, I worked out understanding how any application might be used, the study of kata application works to define the difference between:

1. Application potential – the study of a movement’s full range of potential

Through much work what followed was a larger study.

2. Application effectiveness – the study of the movement against all possible attacks

Then the 3rd section was a much larger study. Much more intense effort.

3 Application realization – the combination of the physical, mental and spiritual skills required to make the technique work.

I see no short-term answers, just continual work and effort to move forward.

It would be a decade after I had worked out my Unlocking Principle after training with so many different people in different styles and observing what they were doing. I read uncountable karate magazines, books and when they became available viewed so many videos.

Only at that time in the late 1980s did I begin work out how my Isshinryu kata techniques could be applied. Though that is another story.