“Unfortunately, many experienced karateka, having learnt numerous kata, mistakenly believe they have mastered them when, in truth, they are merely dancing. To ensure kata are what they should be, you must completely understand the significance of the movements.” – Masutatsu Ōyama
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The principal purpose of the movements and techniques in kata is to disable an attacker in an actual physical conflict. Kata should not be seen “as a whole” or as a continuous combat scenario against multiple opponents. If you try to see kata as a confrontation against numerous opponents coming from every direction, you’ll not only lose its meaning, but also it’s practicability. That’s, in my opinion, one of the main reasons why people see kata as being unrealistic in real life.
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Understanding the applications of kata isn’t particularly difficult if you have an understanding of the nature of combat and have a grasp of the ‘language’ of kata. Indeed the active study of the kata (as opposed to just practicing them) is something that all karateka should engage in.
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To practice karate as a pragmatic system, kata needs to be actively studied, as opposed to just ‘practiced’. Gichin Funakoshi considered the practice of kata without learning to apply them in live situations to be “useless”.
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Numerous other masters were also very critical of karateka who only emphasize the aesthetic performance of kata, or just practice them to pass a grade. To my mind, without in-depth study of ‘bunkai’, kata practice loses all meaning. We should always keep in mind that kata were created to record fighting techniques and principles, and not just to pass a grade. 
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“Every kata move is designed for use in combat. It is important to understand that all movements within the katas are designed for use in real fights.” – Iain Abernethy
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“Every movement in kata is significant and is to be used in application.” – Lawrence Kane; Kris Wilder. ‘The Way of Kata.’
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