Given some of the comments on the Unsu bumkai clip, I thought I'd start a new thread on what rules of thumb do people use when evaluating or analysing bunkai.

Rule number 1: Find a good teacher.

Realistically usable.

Very funny guys...

Take a page out of your byline... put up or....

1. Think real, real, hard.
2. Draw cartoons about them so people think you're an expert.
3. Avoid resisting opponates at all cost.
4. Sell cartoons to true believers and unsuspecting kids.

You guys don't know do you?

But when it comes to critique on other's videos, we're all FULL of criticisms aren't we....

Okay try these. Attacks come from all angles, not just the front. To interpret kata look at attacks from different angles and see what you get. Stacked hands imply grappling such as keylocks. Crossed hands imply grappling. Elbow strikes are not always strikes. They can be interpretted as elbow spikes to enter the clinch range. Especially if preceded by a kick or a punch. Crossed legged stances such as kosa dachi implies a knee strike, kick, or tai sabaki, or all three.Many techniques in low stances such as horse stance or front stance are throwing techniques. Many turns in kata are throws or unbalancing techniques. The chambering hand should be holding or trapping something when it chambers. A step can be a kick with the shin to a downed opponent or a knee strike to the thigh. These are just a few and some of it depends on your particular style and kata.

well, I'm still learning, thanks to my current instruction which is specifically about what your asking....

basically, these are the first questions to ask:

1. range - what is the distance from opponent you are interpreting? (the Unsu kata clip you mention was sparring range. not likely the range kata addresses.)

2. direction - where is the attack coming from? (the Unsu clip showed the person always turning toward the direction of attack. too slow.)

3. Does it address multiple attacks ie: combos? or are all the incomming attacks a single straight punch? (Unsu clip was with totally complient uke)

4. Where do the sequences start and end? (the clip showed nothing more than the kata being broken up into single block/strike sequences)

there are more, but hey...it's not mine to give away...

refer to these articles written by Giles Hopkins that deal specifically with your question and the hints I put up:

article: "The lost secrets of Okinawan Goju-ryu: What the kata shows," Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Vol 11, #4, 2002.

article: "The shape of kata: The enigma of pattern," Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Vol 13, #1, 2003.

article: "The teaching of Goju-ryu kata: A brief look at methodology and practice," Journal of Asian Martial Arts, Vol 14, #2, 2005.

you can get them here:
http://www.goviamedia.com/journal/issues.html

in general, if I see kata application that is against a long-range attack from 2 perfectly timed opponents striking at the same time in opposite directions, defending with just their arms while not even able to see the other opponent....yep, I'm gonna pick on it.

If I could articulate it I wouldn't have to draw the cartoons.

I would love to have an instructor that was well informed on the topic but I don't. In fact I have at time been ridiculed for pursuing the practice at all.

I am primarily a visual an kinesthetic learner. I am many time able to "see" and imagine things others have a hard time with. As with any creative or investigative approach in the beginning I had alot more bad/ineffective conclusions than effective approaches. There are books that lay out priorities or rules to consider. I couldn't do them justice.

One rule?

Things are not just what they seem.

A chair is not just a chair. It can be used a step stool, a doorstop or a pony depending on who is looking at it and what their needs are.

to paraphrase Victor, "it's all movement" and I don't know what the heck a fractal is. I'm sure I could learn faster with a great teacher or a different art, but I'm enjoying what I'm doing now and I try not to be too envious of others and their knowledge or arts.

Actually, I believe it is what it seems. It can also be other things as well.