Kata and Bunkai

Articles on USAdojo.com about kata training and the bunkai that makes kata necessary in the martial arts.

Iain Abernethy

The Basics of Bunkai: Part 5

In this series of articles we've been looking at the basics of "bunkai" (kata application). The purpose of these articles is to introduce the...
Willie Lim Classical Dimension

Master Willie Lim Analyzing and Interpreting Kata

Master Willie Lim is known for his expertise at analyzing and interpreting kata and he has traveled around the world making a difference in our understanding...
The Illustrated Canon of Chen Family Taijiquan

The Torso Method Exercises Transform One’s Taiji

The last of a series of exercises developed by Jou Tsung Hwa at the Taiji Farm, the aim of these subtle, precise, and intensive...
Iain Abernethy

A Brief History of Kata

If you are interested in the effective and realistic use of the combative methods recorded within kata, it is important that you have some...
Nagamine Doing Kata

The Function of Kata Training

History An elaborate code of movements of the arms and hands, and a flowing posturing of the body, "kata", meaning form, model or structure, uses...

Bunkai: The Meaning Behind Kata

Okay! Bunkai (分解), literally meaning “analysis” or “disassembly,” is a term used in Japanese martial arts referring to process of analyzing kata and extracting...

Nage No Kata And Katame No Kata Part 1

Kata? Not in this dojo. We only do fight'n Judo here. It's bad enough you have to learn some of it just before ya...
Iain Abernethy

There is Nothing Peaceful About the Pinan Kata Series!

In this article I want to challenge some of the commonly held beliefs about the Pinan kata series or the Heian series of kata....
Practicing Kata

Katas: Closing the Skill Gap

Although they are often derided by the uninitiated for their perceived lack of practicality, the katas are the key to ensuring karate remains a...
Hwang Kee founder of Tang Soo Do

Quest For The Truth: The Origin of Tang Soo Do’s Forms

Hwang Kee, founder of Tang Soo Do, claimed to have brought the art's Pyong Ahn forms back from China in the 1930s. That was...