What is Bunkai?

Kata, would simply just be something to look at without bunkai. Bunkai is the definition of the moves in a kata. Bunkai is how the moves in a kata would be used in a possible life situation. When you study bunkai, you are breaking down the movements in a kata and applying them in a practical situation. Each move in a kata however, has multiple different applications and therefore different interpretations of bunkai. For example a block can be more then a block it can be a strike. The same goes for a strike, it can become a block. What you see in the kata is only the skeleton, it is only the very top layer, once you begin to learn more about bunkai, the applications change. One move can mean many different things. Bunkai takes time and hard work to master, but practice everyday and you will get better, things will become easier and you will be able to see the different applications. Bunkai takes great amounts of focus and time, but when you begin to understand what that kata really means everything begins to come together.