maybe it's the bunkai?

I don't teach bunkai to children, because I dont teach Kata to children.

we only teach fundamentals- Kihon. We will experience the use of those techniques with a partner, so I guess we teach the Kata process, just not the combinations of movements. Each movement is seperate. Example the inside block (Uchi-uke in Shotokan). Block for movement in air. Then with a partner. Wrestlers call this move an underhook. It is a way to grab the shoulder. The 'block' actually happens behind the opponent. Funakoshi called it a 'hooking block' in his To-te jutsu book. The action happens in conjunction with a front kick and reverse punch in Heain-Nidan (Shotokan). When we teach kids, we don't teach the full combination chain. Just the hooking block for positional control.