(Approx 2 minute 45 second read)

Can you think of another pastime, hobby, sport, or functional defensive practice where there is so much ambiguity?
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If I was teaching you advanced ‘blue-lights and siren’ driving skills (I used to), and I answered a question that was so plainly incorrect it would put your life and the life of others in danger. It wouldn’t happen, right? Because, in those high-pressure moments, you need simple, clear responses, not endless options.
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Recently, I received a comment about bunkai. The commentator said, “I despair with over-analyzing bunkai. Could it be this? Could it be that? Is this block really a block or a disguised ninja finger lock? Self-defense needs to be simple—if one is presented with too many options, the pressured brain is overwhelmed with courses of action. Keep it simple, then practical application of kata might just stand up to scrutiny in a self-defense context.”
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He has a point. Why? Because this is what is taught in many dojos today. Practitioners are searching for endless techniques instead of focusing on the movement itself.
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And that’s a problem. In a highly pressured scenario, you need simplicity – something that triggers your gross motor skills. Let’s face it, the fine motor skills we train in the dojo just won’t work when the body is coping with an adrenaline dump, panic, and fear.
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When karate moved to the mainland of Japan, everything had to be named – from the style of karate practiced to the individual techniques. This has given us an encyclopedia of terminology and named techniques to follow. On the surface, this might seem like progress. But what it also did was introduce complexity – something that can make karate seem like a never-ending puzzle of technique and applications.
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I’ve written about the importance of simplicity in karate before. But as we see from the comment above, karate has become far from that ideal.
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People are chasing endless techniques, trying to figure out where they fit. A ‘chudan uke’ does this, a ‘gedan barai’ does that, a ‘haito uchi’ does this, instead of truly understanding the movement and principles behind them. The focus is no longer about adaptability, but memorization.
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Instead of accumulating techniques, you need to focus on understanding the core principles. The fundamentals of movement which can be applied to countless situations without needing to memorize a vast catalog of techniques.
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When you truly grasp these principles, the movements themselves become adaptable, and you don’t need to stress about having the “right technique” for every scenario. There is flexibility to fit many contexts, without being bound by rigid technique.
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And the guy is right. Many people have become too bogged down in overanalyzing every technique – you’re missing the point. Bunkai is not about finding one specific application for every technique. The real value lies in the movement itself, not the endless search for the “right” technique.
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If we’re being honest, when it comes to self-defense, simplicity should always be the goal. You can’t afford to waste precious moments analyzing what block you should use for a certain type of attack. You need to rely on core movements and principles that are ingrained in you through consistent, deliberate practice which is adaptable in the moment and which is far less likely to go wrong.
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And let’s be real: you’ll never be able to predict every situation, but the simpler we keep it, the more effective it becomes in the chaos of self-defense.
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In the end, the commentator’s words ring true, even if they are a tad sensationalized. Application, in its essence, is not about an encyclopedia of techniques. It’s about understanding simple effective movements, and how to adapt them in the heat of the moment.
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Written by Adam Carter
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Photo Credit: Stockcake. A representation of the opening movement in Kusanku kata.