Bunkai

[terryl965]

Is the bunkai really necesary for TKD people, is this really what we would use in a street fight? Why would we? See here the streets everything goes, pick up a trash can a stick or a club, have five people jump one.

I know I am being scarcastic about it but why is it we only believe what our teacher tells us, can we not experiment with application and find out what works for us and us alone? I mean alot of what I teach is my interpitition of the actual application, over the year I have changed thing to fit who I was at that time.

 

[BrandonLucas]

I always considered it a building block fundamental...not necessarily a by-the-book set of movements that must be stiffly followed.

I don't always have a text-book side kick when I spar...but that doesn't mean that it's not effective.

 

[hkfuie]

Unfortunately, I am a rebel.

My poor teacher, when he gave me the info I have learned from him, well, I then considered it MINE. Thank goodness he can respect that! And if not, at least he pretends to.

For me, I would be honored if my students did the same. If I could be part of one person learning to think for themselves, then that would be something I thought of with happiness.

But IMO that attitude must be balanced with the knowledge that we sometimes practice things we don't understand yet.

I am one of those people that just loves creative bunkai. Definitely some of them I have not made work for me. But some have. Some have made some weird move I always thought seemed useless suddenly make sense. I love that. That has breathed new life in my interest in martial arts.

I don't belong to an organization and I see some discussions about doing things because some guy in some other country says, well now this is the new way it should be done. But I can't relate to that. For me my martial arts is very personal now and I explore new arts as a way of adding to, evolving and finding new understanding of my TKD. It is like working on a puzzle box and every time I solve a little bit of it, well, that is just awesome.

Well, I think I have rambled on a long time. Not unusual for me. I don't even know if I stayed on topic or if I even understood what you were trying to say with your original post, Terry1965.

I agree with you, BrandonLucas. I think the traditional chambers, etc, teach good form and help you find your ability to increase power, but real use of the technique cannot be textbook, at least not for me. Maybe b/c I am so sloooooow. But I have to shorten everything up and just respond in the moment. When I decided to let things be ugly if they have to be, that was a decision that helped me improve in sparring and self-defense.

 

[SJON]

Unsurprisingly I do consider bunkai to be a necessity for TKD people, providing that what they are looking for is self-defence rather than just sport and physical education. This is for several reasons, among them the following:

1. What is taught in most TKD schools (in my experience) just doesn't work for self-defence. I mean the standard kick-block-punch interpretations of the patterns, the standard one and three step sparring and the sports material, which I believe will all get students hurt if they rely on them.
2. There is a tendency for students to get an entirely unrealistic picture of violence due to this K/B/P approach. I believe they need to be shown what a violent encounter is actually like, and what it takes in terms of specific technique and mindset to overcome it.
3. Good bunkai takes a large element (the patterns) of what is done in TKD classes and makes it practical.

Another approach would be to do away with the patterns and just teach realistic SD technique, but the fact that the patterns are present needs to be addressed, and people need to understand what they are for.

I agree that many SD situations involve weapons and multiple attackers. These can be addressed to some extent through effective bunkai, but the students need to understand the reality of the situation, and develop strategies for these scenarios, including running away, empty hand against weapon, multiple opponent skills and use of weapons.

 

[igillman]

I view bunkai in the same light as I view a kicking bag, it is a tool. Kicking bags or paddles are unrealistic because nobody is going to stand there and let you pummel them but they have other uses. Using the paddles and kicking bags we can get an idea of power, speed and aiming. The same is true of bunkai, in a real situation Taeguk Oh-Jang is not going to get you out of trouble. However, the concept of putting moves together and flowing from one move to another will. That is what bunkai teaches you, how to flow, how to balance, how to move from one technique to another without tripping over your own feet.

In my personal opinion some people take it a little too far and want blocks in bunkai to be exactly 12.2 inches from this point, 6.3 inches from another point and your thumb to be pointing upwards at an angle of 37.5 degrees. That sort of thing is not going to help you too much, however knowing that it is a good idea to tuck the thumb to the side of the hand is a useful concept, but whether it is at 37.5 degrees or 42 degrees makes no difference to the move.

Think of bunkai as a boxers footwork, it may not knock the opponent out but it stops you looking like an idiot and tripping over your do-bok.

 

[Tez3]

Bunkai as explained by Iain Abernethy ( for all styles) is absolutely amazing and is for fighting and defending yourself!! it's a real eye opener if you've never come across him before.

 

[myusername]

I totally agree Tez, Iain Abernethy is indeed awesome and has done so much for Katas and Patterns. Stuart Anslow also wrote an excellent book on ITF TKD patterns. When I was doing TKD I always enjoyed patterns and found them very useful for developing focus and muscle memory. Constantly repeating set patterns and movements helped me learn to instinctively move into the techniques when needed.

I was fortunate that I had an excellent instructor who was very self defence orientated in his classes and creative and spent a lot of time ensuring we new the applications of the patterns we were learning. I believe he was influenced by Iain Abernethy (and perhaps Stuart as a lot of his applications were similar to the ones in Stuarts book but I never asked him).

So in answer to the question, I personally believe patterns are a useful training tool.

 

[StuartA]

Is the bunkai really necesary for TKD people

As another has posted.. no for those doing TKD as a pastime to keep fit or a hobby, yes for those that want to learn and practice a martial art for what it is.. keeping it martial! As for TKD.. I see it as its next evolution.

, is this really what we would use in a street fight? Why would we?

I view boon hae (bunkai) in a slightly different guise to some others and whilst I agree some stuff can be used 'in fight' in my view, it is generally used at the very beginning of the physical side of the altercation as a fight stopper.. would it be used.. sure, if trained properly! Afterall, the whole point of many learning martial arts is to end a violent encounter as quickly as possible, properly practiced, trained and realsitic boon hae allow that!

I know I am being scarcastic about it but why is it we only believe what our teacher tells us

a) because we trust them b) cos they trusted who taught them c)d)e)f) etc etc. z) because usually they didnt know any better anyway! Times have now changed however!

can we not experiment with application and find out what works for us and us alone?

Of course.. isnt martial arts meant to be a personal journey. In the end, when its needed your teacher or association head isnt gonna be there to back you up and training how you see fit and the most beneficial way really strikes at the core of what martial arts were all about IMO.

I mean alot of what I teach is my interpitition of the actual application, over the year I have changed thing to fit who I was at that time.

Sounds like the Okinawan way to me

Stuart