Do you always agree with...?

Well, why WOULDN'T I agree with them "if the things that they teach are good and street wise"? If it works, I should like it, right?

Fact is I disagree, in part at least, with just about every teacher I've encountered. In Abernethy's case, his stuff makes more sense to me most of the time than most other applications I've seen. Doesn't mean I "always" agree with him, but in general, I think he's got a better idea of what he's doing than most.

"Always" is an absolute, and absolutes generally don't hold true for anything.

I see some things that are practical, but not for me. by that I mean that some things just don't fit my mindset or physical skill set. In any situation there are multiple things that will work well. If I find good Bunkai that is not a good fit for me, I just do something different. As for Abernathy, I like some of his Bunkai, but find some overly complicated. I have seen others that have, what to me, seems more natural and practical for me. That is the beauty of martial arts. There are multiple good techniques that can be used in any situation.

There are always things that an instructor teaches that falls into the "believe" or "disbelieve" category.

There are also things that fall into the "applies to me" and "doesn't apply to me" category as well.

However, I'm very open minded about what I'm taught, despite that I believe in something or not, or whether it applies to me. The reason is that I also teach, and I would expect that my students don't always agree with me.

As long as there is a foundation for rational discussion and critique about a fact, it is irrelevant whether the fact is true or false, or whether it applies to anyone or not. The mere discussion is worth the learning, and is more beneficial than being given a fact that is indisputably true but not discussed.

Always question what you know. Once you get a satisfactory answer, question it again. It doesn't have to happen right away - it can be years later.

For example: you are taught to block a strike.

"Why block?"

"So you don't get hit"

...years later...

"Why block so I don't get hit when I can use the block as a strike instead - and still not get hit"

great answer by callsign

there will always be something i dont agree with, regardless of how practical it is. i dont agree with my own instructor all the time either.

to me bunkai needs to be three things, it needs to be practical, it needs to make sense and you need to own the technique.

his bunkai makes a lot of sense to me. i do change it to fit me more quite a bit like i do everyone else, some of the initial bunkai i was taught never made sense to me, for example the standard one for jutte where you catch a bo, why would i want to risk breaking both my wrist to catch a bo swing at my head.

Callsingfuzzy has pretty much hi the nail on the head, I don't agree with everything Iain says, but I agree with 95% of it, like callsignfuzzy says, his stuff makes more sense than most of the other stuff you see.

There is no practical kata

No such thing