[Martin H]

I am no tournament fighter. I have never had the right "killer instinct" for it.
But I think you can pretty much ignore kata if you are going to train for tournaments. Not because kata is worthless for kumite, but because it has very little to do with tournament rules kumite. Kata, the few times bunkai´s are given, have more to do with street situations than knockdown tournaments. They dont start at long distance with a judge saying "hajime" -instead they usually start in swinging range, usually with the "badguy" grabbing your collar or arm in preparation for giving you a good trashing. They dont ban gappling, face punces, eyepokes, strikes to the spine/joint/throat/kidney or attacks to the groin. Instead they actively teach those things.
Not that good bunkai is taught... well basically anywhere. And kata without bunkai is just aerobic/mental exercises. Not fight training.