Many practitioners talk about kata interpretation, or bunkai as an element of their karate practice. And many of these practitioners say the movements aren’t practical, they wouldn’t work for real, kata is useless, no-one comes to my dojo to learn kata, etc, etc……. and you know what? That’s true, for the way most people practice and teach them.
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The problem is, a lot of practitioners are being taught complete BS. They then go on to teach it to others, and people then see it and believe; “kata is useless.” And the cycle continues on to the next generation.
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You have to ask the question; who taught this stuff?…… In my case it goes back to the Japanese instructors who travelled the world in the 60’s. Those instructors were focussed on sport Karate, this was taught in many countries and became the norm, and kept by more recent generations.
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I think a lot of students “osu” their way through their learning and are so used to being spoon-fed what the instructor is teaching them, they have trouble thinking critically of their training, or (gasp) contradicting their sensei.
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The solo representation, kata, was created as mnemonic tool. Its inherent benefit to be able to practice on your own, when you have no training partners….. but ultimately the kata provide a set of fighting principles and strategies (with application examples) for self-defense. The mnemonic is to help the practitioner remember the principles, not necessarily the techniques. Kata is not a replacement for partner work, but an adjunct to it, and it gives you the content to drill.
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I’m of the view that EVERYTHING in traditional kata is meant to be applied to self-defense. I don’t believe that’s true of many modern interpretations and practices.
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Where it goes wrong quickly is when you try to apply kata to karate attacks. NO ONE outside the dojo is going to attack you with a lunging straight punch. NO ONE is going to grab your wrist and stand there while you apply a lock.
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There are plenty of instructors out there who aren’t that well-known, who also have a great practical, pragmatic approach…… but bad bunkai is out there too. It’s up to us to make sure we take the right approach, understand the differences between sport and self-defense, to question, think with common sense….. then interpretation and understanding of kata will continue to improve and advance…… It’s about time isn’t it? 
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Chojun Miyagi (founder of Goju-Ryu) wrote in his ‘Karate-do Gaisetsu’ (outline of karate-do), “Through sparring practice the practical meaning of kata becomes apparent.”
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