What are the best Martial Arts Books. Looking for Bonkai?

Question

SenseiRob. I enjoy your answers. Looking forward to you input.

Answer 1

I like Zen in the Martial Arts by Joe Hyams and A Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi

Answer 2

First, look at the Wikipedia definition and short article.

Then look at the references to "bunkai" in a Yahoo search.

Buy books if you want, but it's harder to learn bunkai out of a book than it is to learn bunkai from a good sensei.

Learn the most obvious bunkai.

For instance, does your karate "style" include the pinan / heian / geian kata? Movement 1 of pinan 1 is a turn to the left, to defend against a mid level punch. Or a mid level kick.

Do the obvious defense multiple times, or imagine that single defense to the obvious attack every time you perform the kata.

Then look for the less obvious bunkai.

For instance, can you spot the front choke defense, in the same movement 1 of pinan 1? It's there.

Can you spot the defense to a front double wrist grab, in the same move? It's in the kata, and doing the defense correctly results in a takedown of your attacker.

Find the not so obvious defenses, just one at a time, and then perform the kata, thinking about the defense.

Do that with every move of every kata. Build up your knowledge base.

Practice.

Then practice.

Then practice.

Answer 3

You might also try Bonkarm, Bonkhead, and Bonkesophagus.

Yuk yuk yuk.

Answer 4

win chun kung fu book. got pressure point stuff etc