Intense forms

[rabbit]

My instructor wants us to increase the intensity of our form. He wants 100% effort.
I notice when i increase the intensity of my form my techniques are worse. The technique is not done correctly. How do i fix this?

I notice the first part of my form is good but the second half is not that good becuase I get tired. how do I finish my form without slowing down at the end? What type of exercise can I do?

 

[FieldDiscipline]

Practice practice practice!

Don't confuse speed and intensity.

 

[rabbit]

I know not to "muscle" my punches and kicks.I try to rely on speed. I still tense up too much. I can relax but my intensity goes down.

We were told that we should be out of breath by the end of the form. When i tense up i am out of breath by the time my form is done but I
think its the ugliest form.

 

[Sukerkin]

FD beat me to it :lol:.

Do you know what the reasoning is behind the requirement to be out of breath?

To me that sounds quite wrong, indicating that breathing within the form is not being done (or being allowed to be done) correctly?

 

[rabbit]

Do you know what the reasoning is behind the requirement to be out of breath?

Thats what i was wondering. I do know If i mess up my form, I will not pass my testing.

 

[BrandonLucas]

The form should be performed with precision and intensity. Not speed.

The best way to be able to perform with full intensity and accurate precision is to practice...and alot of it.

It just takes time...you'll see the form shape up, and if you have to miss your testing because of that, then it's worth missing...you want everything to be right before you go up for testing.

Just be patient.

 

[miguksaram]

IMO, when you run a form correctly you should be out of breath. Not grasping for life's air, but definitely panting, as if you just ran a sprint. Now this doesn't mean you need to run it as fast as you can. Depending on your form there should be times of tension and times of speed. You just have to practice (Hmmm...that sound familiar).

 

[igillman]

I think they mean to but a bit of effort into it. I have seen people do forms like it was some sort of dance routine, no power and lots of pretty twirls. Make your blocks look like blocks, don't slide the arm into place, move it slowly at first then snap it into place. Make your punches and kicks start out slowly (not too slowly or you look like Steve Austin) with a snap at the end, a slight pause to hold the kick followed by a slow retraction. The slow out and in shows concentration and discipline, the snap shows power.

 

[Laurentkd]

My opinion is your form will never look as "good" when you put in 100% speed and power. For example, I can give you a really good looking form, with my arms stopping at just the right point, my stances exactly so, etc. But when I really put everything in to the form, as I would in real life, my inside block often goes beyond the point where I normally stop it when doing a "pretty" form, and my walking stances often end up with my back foot on the ball of the foot. Is the form sloppy? No. But is it going to look like a picture perfect form? again no. It depends on what you are going for- and I think you should know both.
Also, I wouldn't say that I am completely out of breath after one form, but I am definetly breathing heavy. And when I do all 8 forms with this intensity I am TOTALLY drained (and end up letting out some sort of kiyop on almost every move).

 

[IcemanSK]

The folks that have already posted have hit the nail on the head.

I want to tell you something to illustrate this point. I was once told by my instructor that after you do your form once you should be sweating like a pig.

I went to the Hanmadang in Anaheim, CA in July. I befriended GM Suh, the 1992 US Olympic TKD coach, & KKW 9th Dan. He was competing in forms at the event. He's in excellent shape for anyone my age...let alone for a man in his 70's! He told me to watch him do his form (Il Yeo, 9th Dan form) 10 times in a hour. From the 1st time he did it, he was dripping with sweat. He put enough effort into each performance as if he was in Gold Medal contention. He trained that way so that when he did perform it in front of judges, he'd have the strength to perform it well.

I wish you the best in your training.

 

[level7]

yeah, I know what he's talking about. That's how I practice my forms. I'm sweaty after doing 2 basic forms for warm up.

Intensity as... your uniform should be snapping when you punch and kick. As already stated, intensity comes from the delivery of the punches/kicks/blocks and not so much the execution. It's the last few inches of travel.

If you're getting weaker then you need to cardio train more. Start with the basics, pushups, sit ups, then do front kicks (hitting a bag if you got one). I also weight train. It sounds like you're just lacking conditioning. My favorite is straddle stance, in front of a bag, focusing on the power of delivery of mid/high punches. If you're doing it right, you'll start sweating in no time. Do that for a while and you'll build up your endurance.

 

[SA_BJJ]

The form should be performed with precision and intensity. Not speed.

The best way to be able to perform with full intensity and accurate precision is to practice...and alot of it.

It just takes time...you'll see the form shape up, and if you have to miss your testing because of that, then it's worth missing...you want everything to be right before you go up for testing.

Just be patient.

Well said sir!

 

[karatemom]

I think they mean to but a bit of effort into it. I have seen people do forms like it was some sort of dance routine, no power and lots of pretty twirls. Make your blocks look like blocks, don't slide the arm into place, move it slowly at first then snap it into place. Make your punches and kicks start out slowly (not too slowly or you look like Steve Austin) with a snap at the end, a slight pause to hold the kick followed by a slow retraction. The slow out and in shows concentration and discipline, the snap shows power.

You know it's interesting we're taught to do our forms, hard, sharp and fast! I've competed against some of the twirly girls b4 and they got medals WTF? (it was all male judges and this same girl did her free design form to Michael Jackson's "Pretty Young Thing" ) we (the ones from our school) were like :xtrmshock

I agree you should not confuse speed with accuracy.
Practice, once you have the moves down then you can add the snap and power.

 

[terryl965]

You need to do all for in the manner everyone has said.

 

[granfire]

Well, the form is not means in itself, it's a combination (hopefully in a logical succession) of single elements such as blocks, punches and kicks. One should perform each element as it was meant to be.

A block with no energy will not block, a lackluster punch will not connect.

 

[punisher73]

My instructor wants us to increase the intensity of our form. He wants 100% effort.
I notice when i increase the intensity of my form my techniques are worse. The technique is not done correctly. How do i fix this?

I notice the first part of my form is good but the second half is not that good becuase I get tired. how do I finish my form without slowing down at the end? What type of exercise can I do?

The best exercise is the activity itself.

Also, you need to define "intensity". Sanchin kata is an intense form, but it is done VERY slowly with dynamic tension in some styles. Does he mean with "intent"?

I will give you a training progression that will help with everything you are going to need for your form.

1) Go 1/4 speed/power and while doing this you want to be as perfect and precise as possible and picturing what you are actually doing. Picture the attack coming in and your opponent's reaction to him when you block/strike etc.

2) After you can perform it at 1/4 speed perfect then increase it to 1/2 speed/power. Still picturing

3) After you can do it perfect at 1/2 speed, increase it to 3/4 speed/power. Still picturing

4) Perform it at 90-95% speed/power. When you "try" to do it as fast as possible, you will be putting stress on your performance and it will degrade under the added pressure.

5) Do it as fast as possible and then make notice of the areas that were not the way they should be. Either transitions, balance etc. Then work on these areas at a slower speed until perfect and keep increasing the speed.

There are no short cuts to it. There is no such thing as practice makes perfect. But, there is Perfect Practice makes Perfect. Another method to speed up the process (still have to go through the process) is to use visualization. Picture yourself doing it perfectly, picture those trouble spots as perfectly executed. If you can't see it, you can't do it. Your mind/body have to know what the goal is to achieve it.

 

[MasterWright]

I also think that breathing may be an issue here. I have watched people hold their breath and the form picks up speed near the end as a result. As others have said, practice helps.

 

[jfarnsworth]

There is a misconception by many who think they can go fast from the beginning after learning the form. Most don't put forth the effort to actually perform it correctly before adding all the speed. A martial art form (of any art) can only be done as fast as the entire body can move in sync together. That doesn't mean the lower half moves at 2 mile an hour as the top half moves at 30. The human body has to train together as one complete unit not seperate entities.
There's a saying that comes to mind
"You can only execute a form as fast as you can do it properly".

Keep that in mind the next time you practice any of your forms or katas.

 

[Gordon Nore]

Forms are not a big thing for us, but we do practise them. I find over the years I've developed a bit of a game face when it comes to kata.

This came after years of watching my sensei demonstrate. When he does the opening salutation and announces the form, he's got this really icy cold stare going. Honest to God, if looks could kill. There's an authoritative approach that he takes from the beginning that seems to bring intensity to it. It' very commanding.