“In karate, the most important thing is kata. Into the kata of karate are woven every manner of attack and defense technique. Therefore, kata must be practiced properly, with a good understanding of their bunkai meaning. There may be those who neglect the practice of kata, thinking that it is sufficient to just practice [pre-arranged] kumite [..], but that will never lead to true advancement.” – Kenwa Mabuni
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The key to the purpose of kata is the intent in its practice. Those who train in karate that don’t utilize kata so much, walking through it in the dojo, or for passing a grade, will tend to have a very limited understanding of them. If you see kata as a necessary evil, and not seeing the relevance to the karate you are practicing, then you will never truly understand your karate.
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A dojo instructor said to me a few years ago; “People don’t join our dojo to learn kata, they join to learn how to fight.”
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This reminded me of a quote from Albert Einstein… “Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
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Few have the inclination to delve into the depths that karate has to offer and even if they do, finding an instructor with the knowledge to help them can be very difficult. There is often a misunderstanding of the application behind techniques, which comes from just physically training in karate and not really studying karate to understand the principles. Many people do not understand that before you can move someone else’s body effectively, you need to learn how to move your own body effectively…. And there are a few who move like a taxidermists’ favorite exhibit.
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In our modern world the Youtube sensei rules and many students are utilizing the instant “knowledge” that the Youtube sensei gives you. Using this method to learn can be beneficial in helping you to remember “which direction to turn”, but to find the deeper meaning of karate techniques, you need a teacher who can help you to understand. 
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“Real karate is for self-defense and kata bunkai is the main tool for this.” – Yoshio Kuba 10th dan Goju Ryu, repeating a quote from Gogen Yamaguchi.
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 Photo Credit: International Goju-Ryu Karate-Do Sakura-Kai
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