Practical Kata Bunkai: Leg Trap Takedowns and Throws

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This is a little bit of raw footage filmed while I was teaching in my dojo in April 2013. The acoustics of the hall are not great and I apologise for that. Hopefully you can all work out what is going on. We had been exploring various ways to trap the leg so that the opponent was unable to move it and hence regain their balance. A few of these methods come directly from the kata and could be applied in a self-defence situation. As usual, we also continued to explore the underlying principles of the example provided by the kata. In this case, we moved away from the context of self-defence to look at leg trapping takedowns that would be better applied in the context of fighting, some combat sports, and dojo enjoyment.

The reason the other takedowns are not really suitable for self-defence is that they deliberately leave you in a vulnerable position should there be the possibility of third parties getting involved. They are however effective in situations which are guaranteed to remain one on one i.e. one-on-one dojo fighting, etc. As always, it is the context that ultimately determines whether a technique will "work" or not.

I am of the view that there is also much benefit to be had in rounded martial arts training and, so long as one is always careful to define and understand the context of application, it is beneficial and enjoyable not to limit training solely to one aspect. It is for this reason we looked at a variety of methods for a variety of contexts. I hope you find it of some interest.

All the best,

Iain

Alternate throw from the second position explored:    • Ground Work and Valley-Drop Takedown