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Leigh Simms
Leigh Simms's picture
Practical Karate Seminar - Birmingham, UK.

On Sunday 22 November, I will be teaching a seminar in Birmingham on Pracitcal Kata Bunkai, looking specifically at the fighting principles found in the Kanku/Kusanku Kata. Please see details on the poster :)

  
Leigh Simms
Leigh Simms's picture

Seminar Recap

The seminar started off with a simple punching drill that looked at straight, hooking and raising punches, that even today, are sadly missing from a lot of Karate Groups.

We continued the warm-up by looking at some alternate tools of impact such as striking with the finger tips, palm of the hand, back and side of the fist, knees, elbows, head and even the shoulder. We finished the drill by adding on a round kick for good measure! 

After a short discussion on attached and detached striking, we move into the core of the seminar which looked at various sequences that can be found in the Kushanku/Kanku Dai/Sho Katas. To describe them in detail would be tedious and difficult, rather I shall explain some of the core concepts that were covered.

The first drill (using the opening motions of Kanku Sho) looked at how we can take the initiative with a pre-emptive strike and then what to do should the enemy “block” our attack.  The theme for the bunkai today was  “to capture and/or control”.

The Second drill (using the opening motions of Kanku Dai) looked at how we can regain the initiative should we be attacked by the enemy first (in particular from a perimeter attack).  We then used continued, by using examples from the katas, to look at various ways of seizing, trapping, joint-dislocating, opening & locating target areas(aka “mapping” on the enemy.

The Third drill (using a core sequence found in Kanku Sho) looked at dealing with an enemy who uses a straight attack. Similar to the above, we then used this as a base to explore further concepts including; kicking, locking, advanced trapping, further “mapping” and simple takedowns and fail safes.

After the break, we took one of the standing joint-locks taught earlier in the day, and looked at potential ways the enemy could escape and how to deal with that. We also looked at  some follow ups to the lock (which included an application for the 360 jump found in Kanku Sho).

Next, we looked at some simple Kanku Dai/Sho applications to deal with what happens should we end up on the ground and the enemy standing, as well as an anti-grappling technique for breaking free from a clinch against a much stronger enemy.

To finish the day and bring everything full circle, we looked at how some of the trapping principles used in our very first drill can be used during ground-fighting.

PS We did a groundwork choke too! Just because it’s fun!

Iain Abernethy
Iain Abernethy's picture

Sounds like a great session! Thank for posting the recap. Did you film any snippets?

All the best,

Iain