Quote:
Originally Posted by Brazilian Berseker
I don't think that kata is really usefull for fighting. Maybe is because I'm not in a high level in kyokushin.
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Osu!
I don't mean to single you out BB, but this seems to encapsulate the thinking on kata for most who've studied Japanese karate, particularly anything that's derived from Shotokan karate, which of course includes Kyokushin. No matter how high you climb in Kyokushin you will still be approaching kata as a an enigmatic dance; something practiced for character development, crisp striking, breathing, balance, timing etc. Another approach is to recognize the hidden technique and try to reverse engineer the bunkai.
I believe no reverse engineering is required. It will, however, require going outside of Japanese karate to find out what the dance moves really mean. For example, Okinawan and Chinese training methods, particularly with regard to joint locking, grappling and throwing will give you insight on what's going on in the Pinan series of kata.
A couple resources you might find interesting are Practical Chin Na (Zhao Da Yuan) and Bunkai Jutsu (Iain Abernathy).