Technical Information « Wokingham Karate Club
Instructor: Leonard Sim (7th Dan)
Instructor: Henrieheta Sim (7th Dan)

Woosehill Hall, Emmview Close, Woosehill, Wokingham, Berkshire, UK. RG41 3DA

News

  1. GKI Summer Gasshuku August, 2005
    14 members attended this Gasshuku, led
    by our own instructors and Sensei
    Arnold De Beer 7th Dan, from South
    Africa. Philip Edwards achieved

Events

  1. 2006 Goodwill Martial Arts Festival - Capetown
    The Gasshuku and Tournament will
    celebrate 40 years of Goju-Ryu Karate
    in South Africa, founded by Sensei
    James Rousseau, who contributed so

Technical Information

Development of Capability

Learning of karate skills should follow a path of ever increasing knowledge of techniques towards the development of creativity. A karate-ka should seek for clear, deep understanding and instinctive performance at each of the following stages.

  • Basic Form
  • Application
  • Variation
  • Improvisation
  • Free Form

Good karate is built on a strong foundation of correct technique, which is only achieved by many repetitions, ideally supervised by a master. The GKI Karate Grading Syllabus is structured to encourage a student to develop technique and knowledge in this way. There is little scope for variation, improvisation and freeform in kata but this flexibility shoild become evident in bunkai as performed by seniors.

Kata Applications – Kihon, Hiden and Oyo Bunkai

The depth of technique available from the study of just a few moves from kata is enormous. The original purpose of kata was to allow karate students to learn how to perform techniques properly while keeping the meaning of the more advanced techniques obscure . These secret or “hiden” techniques were only taught after a long period of training and after the master was convinced of the students sincerity. Kihon (basic) bunkai are obvious in many cases, but many advanced techniques can also have a Kihon bunkai. Oyo means variation, but personal variations should not be sought until the kihon and hidden bunkai are mastered. In our club we use kihon bunkai to link with Randori (collaberative free fighting development).

Some Useful Training Drills and Bunkai

The following drills ahave all been taught on GKI Gasshukus..