This video looks at the bunkai of Sochin kata (Shotokan version). It starts by looking at the opening sequence and shows how the three repeats can be put together in a drill which has you doing the movement forward, when taking an angle to the enemy, and when the enemy tries to put you back online. This is not a “combination” to be applied “as is”, but a way to drill the sequence in a quick way that covers the key variations.

The video then moves on to look at the bunkai for the series of knife hands. It is my view the sequence is teaching a combination of limb-control (trapping) and cutting angles in order to maintain dominance.

Finally, the video gives a few examples of how the limb-control of the kata call be applied in a free flowing in order to get past the enemy’s limbs to the target.

As always, this short summary clip cannot convey all the details of what was covered; nor can it cover the wider methodology. This video is not intended to be instructional and is no substitute for direct learning. I nevertheless hope you find it interesting.

All the best,

Iain

PS The YouTube link can be found HERE