Ray, very interesting.
Coming from the era where there were no applications studied for kata, both in my own art and at many other schools I trained with, and moving step by step to understand kata's potential I observed the rise of new terminology such as 'bunkai'.
Your list covers many interesting examples, but i wonder about all of them. I was just reading Pat Nakata's post on Terminology at
http://karatejutsu.blogspot.com/2007/12/guest-post-terminology.html where he wrote "As soon as I started learning from Chibana Sensei, I noticed that he used very little terminology, choosing to demonstrate instead. Discussing this with Chibana Sensei, he pointed out that in the old days (when he was a student), there were no set terminology. Teaching was done with standard conversational Hogen (Okinawan) or Japanese. Actually, there were very little explanations, because as much as possible all techniques and movements were demonstrated."
THis seems consistent with numerous other instructors's observations on Okinawan training in the older ways.
Personally I have nothing against how anyone is trained or which answers they use, but as I've been restricted to mostly logical analysis of kata technique from friends sharings of their arts (at times rather deep) and my own efforts I don't think most of those terms touch the surface..
I once had a visiting Japanese English teacher explain to me that in normal japanese bunkai is not understood as a martial term. He had studied Shorinji Kempo through university and had no idea what I was talking about till I did quite a bit of explanation.
The way the average Japanese would understand bunkai is to take your car to a mechanic and have them bunkai the car (take it apart) to fix it.
Now as it developed in martial circles bunkai does take things apart, but to study and practice their usage, quite a different use of the term from standard Japanese, he concluded.
I even questioned Mario McKenna about how Mabuni used the term bunkai in his 1933 'Goshin Karate Kempo' and he checked and explained the full usage was
Mabuni used the term "bunkai setsumei" or "breakdown/apart and explanation".
In my undersanding any technique may have uncountable potential uses. Over 20 yeras ago I was looking at Seisan Kata's opening section from over 50 different application potentials, all of which follow the kata and work. Later I studed a little with Sherman Harill and in that brief time saw 800 applications from Isshinryu's 8 kata (all of which I have documented) and that was not everything he would approach, just that which he shared in a series of open clinics.
Is it the case that the use of such specific terminology actually focuses on just a small part of karate's potential. Not that that's bad either, just a question.
