Analysis on forms

[Balrog]

To me, forms are a way to practice basics. Forms should look like you're in a fight - there should be balance, focus, timing, and above all, power. It's just another tool to use to challenge yourself and improve.

 

[hoshin1600]

the problem with forms is peoples understanding and definition of what a form is. like the blind person analogy about touching the elephant. each person touches a different part and comes away with only a partial comprehension of what an elephant is.

is a form a solo exercise... no. for some people yes.
is a form a catalog of technique.... not always
should a form look like a fight or an abstraction of a fight....depends.

what ever you think a form is, someone else thinks differently about its purpose.

 

[JR 137]

the problem with forms is peoples understanding and definition of what a form is. like the blind person analogy about touching the elephant. each person touches a different part and comes away with only a partial comprehension of what an elephant is.

is a form a solo exercise... no. for some people yes.
is a form a catalog of technique.... not always
should a form look like a fight or an abstraction of a fight....depends.

what ever you think a form is, someone else thinks differently about its purpose.

That’s a big part of why I like forms so much. They’re different things to different people, and they’re even different things for each person.

Look at Sanchin (without even discussing the variations of the movements between styles/schools). You can use it to develop coordination of breathing and movement, strengthening, posture and alignment, body conditioning, and so on. And that’s all without getting into any bunkai at all.

Look at a kata such as Unsu. It contains some pretty difficult movements that require a great degree of kinesthetic awareness, flexibility, athleticism, etc. Training that kata diligently without any bunkai will increase a lot of fighters’ attributes.

Look at Kyokushin’s Kanku and Sushiho (a heavily modified Gojushiho). They’re like a marathon session of basics that’ll get your heart pumping, strength and flexibility from the stances, etc. And that’s not including the bunkai aspect.

While the emphasis should be fighting application of every kata, there’s a lot of additional benefits of kata. A lot of people train kata for the above benefits almost exclusively (and to a fault). Others often do the opposite though - they get hung up on what every movement means to the point of ignoring or not seeing the sheer physical benefits of going through a kata like a workout-type dance (for lack of a better phrase).

The best analogy I can think of is hitting a heavy bag. Some days you really concentrate on form, some days you get technical and slow down and work on combinations and footwork, some days you work on power, some days you you work on cardio. Other days, you just go all out on it. And everything in between. Forms can be the same way.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

A form is like a text book. It can help you to teach and to learn. How to train your form is a completely different issue. Let's assume the following 9 moves form is the one that you train.

1. downward block,
2. side kick,
3. back kick,
4. spin back fist,
5. groin kick,
6. face punch,
7. hook punch,
8. back fist,
9. uppercut.

The above 9 moves contains 2 combos.

- combo 1 - 1, 2, 3, 4.
- combo 2 - 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.

Whether you train your form 10 times or train combo 1 10 times and then train combo 2 10 times, you will get the same training result. If you change your form as: 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1, 2, 3, 4, you are training the combo 2 first and combo 1 afterward. Again, that change won't affect your training result.

IMO, the best way to train form is to divide your form into combos and drill those combo N times non- stop. That number N depend on your ability. For example, you may want to drill

- 1 move solo 200 time.
- 2 moves combo 100 times.
- 3 moves combo 67 times.
- 4 moves combo 50 time.
- 5 move combo 40 times.
- ...

To drill your move 200 times non-stop is good training.