Human beings are emotional creatures. In the battle between emotions, common sense and logic, emotions win, always
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I prefer to look at my karate from a logical and common sense perspective, with a view to developing functional combative skill.
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Logical thinking is a process of exploring different solutions to a given problem.
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Common sense is the ability to choose and apply the most appropriate solution for the problem from the list of explored solutions.
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Once you have reached a good level in you martial arts training, you should start to understand what you are doing and begin (hopefully) to think for yourselves. This is when you should look at your techniques and ask the question; “would it work?”.
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To help with this process, I usually ask my students to step away from their karate training for a second, imagine they know nothing about the martial arts, and simply think in a logical manner.
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As an example. Recently I watched a video of an instructor using Bunkai to the kata Jitte, to block a “Bo” (six foot staff) with his bare arms and hands. Being attacked by two assailants, both armed with a Bo, from front and back.
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So, my question. Is this reality? (It’s a rhetorical question)
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Step outside your training. Pick up a piece of oak (many Bo are made from oak) and swing it wildly. The speed of the tip of that weapon will be traveling at enormous speed, with the weight and mass of solid oak. Do you think you could block it without injury?
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If you remain in the emotional, perhaps referring to what your “sensei” or association tells you, maybe you too will believe you can successfully avoid injury this way.
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However. What does logic tell you? What does common sense tell you?
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I’m of the view that analyzing things from a logical perspective makes a compelling case for the best way to approach your techniques and kata.
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There are many approaches to kata application and many competing theories all claiming to be the “right one”. From my perspective the “right one” will be the right one for the individual and their training goals. Not everyone practices the martial arts with a view to developing functional combative skill; some people practice for artistic, aesthetic or cultural purposes, and hence the “right one” for them may be different from mine.
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I’m totally okay with people choosing an approach based on personal preference. However, when claims are made about which is functionally the best approach, the discussion moves away from personal option, because what works best…. is what works best. 
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With thanks to Iain Abernethy
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