Most people have been shown a bunkai/oyo for the start of Saifa... you're grabbed by the wrist so you use both hands for strength, pulling across and drop into sumo stance to pull the 'attacker' in before you break the grip and backfist to the nose... I don't like this one since it requires some amount of weight and strength.

Try this on for size...

1. grabbed by the wrist from front. step up and to the outside of the attacker (keeping your elbow in tight). If they hang on their wrist is bent outwards, your free hand grips onto their wrist and you can use leverage instead of strength to pull free of their grip, from here an arcing backfist is easier than the upright one.

This format for Saifa can be seen in goju version. And this all takes <1 minute to demonstrate, plus there are some refinements which aren't strictly necessary but are a bonus if you get them

2. being struck at from the front. sidestep into sumo and parry with both hands, rear hand grips the arm of the striker and drop a knee/shin into the back of their calf, taking them to the ground.

3. being grabbed by the wrist (another). free hand is used to control their grip, step underneath the attacker's arm in your sumo, your elbow comes under their arm, rotate their arm outward and raise up to lock their elbow joint.

4. being grabbed by the wrist (another another). free hand is used to control their grip, step alongside the attacker's arm, your elbow comes over their arm, rotate their arm inward and use your sumo to drop weight onto and lock their elbow joint.

That oughta be enough, for starters


Mick

Heres one we did in class one time - quite by accident!

Attacker grabs right wrist from front on (Heiko Dachi)
Right arm is raised, step forward as left arm comes over and hits their elbow, bending the arm and weakening their grip.

Right hand grabs attackers wrist between (your) thumb and fingers, then follows through (the "backfist" move) bending attackers arm over the defenders left forearm. Left hand grabs right forearm making figure 4 arm lock.

Right hand continues upward motion forcing attackers elbow to bend. Defenders right leg placed behind attacker. Motion of arms continues upwards taking attacker down over right leg to ground.

Not quite the textbook moves, but after we did this a few times someone called out "hey, thats saifa".

Application of kata in actual self defence techniques.

At the end of Saifa, you step back into cat stance whilst supposedly twisted your opponents head. Does anyone have any idea why this is done? Is it to move back to your original starting position, so it looks good?
Or is there a practical element to this? Does adding backwards momentum to the twist move add power to it?
I think in other styles of Karate its done whilst standing still.....
This has been bugging me for quite a while, so If anyone has any hints...........

I've always thought that "neck snap" bunkai to the last move a little far fetched. Please don't come back with the "But you told me that!" reply! I was a little less enlightened back then!

In the Goju version the "standard" application is very different: Attackes throws a punch, you step to the side blocking mawashi uke (not the GKR version - think open handed uchi uke and you won't be far off) and simultaneously strike with a haito to the head/neck/ribs as you pull them towards you and down. The two handed push can be added to push them away, but from cat stance after the mawashi uke, with their head down, a mae geri to the face would probably be a more favourable finish.

Many of us believed the exact same thing once. After all, as younger and more gullible students it is what we were told by our instructor.

Some of us started to question it either because we started to think and couldn't accept someone just standing there waiting to be grabbed or began questioning it for other reasons.

The truly sad part may be that this is still being taught by senior ranks in the GKR and they have closed their minds that other possibilities exist.


Mick

I used to think of kata moves as static responses to certain attacks, asking the question "What's that move for?" and expecting one definitive answer. Now, rather than that I look at the principle that the move shows you. When you do that it opens up a whole range of possibilities, some of which resemble the actual kata more than others, but all of which are held within it. When you look at a move in a kata, think why it works and how that principle can be applied. Look for alternative uses and deviations from the exact pattern or sequence. This often gives you a greater insight into what's really there.

Thanks Markp. That makes a lot more sense.

It's not unlike... if you have a template for drawing a circle, then one day you need to draw an egg. Can you not use your circle template in drawing the egg?


Mick

Maybe if you were making scrambled eggs...

(sorry )

I think you could use your template as a starting point, and work from there.

i.e. ,person is in this position, instead of doing this to them, they might do that, so you could do such and such

In the start of Saifa we see movement (advancing), sumo stance (dropping the weight or lifting), and a pulling back and a sorta circular motion of the hands (a release, a restraint and/or a counter-strike).


Mick