FORMS: USING THEM IN A ACTUAL FIGHT & SPARRING

[Son Goku the monkeyking]

okay I just want to know how to use a form in a fight. I know you are taught it to learn your moves but how do you fight with them. I have seen them used in video games like Jet Lee rise to honor or in movie like Kill Bill vol 1,2 can someone please tell me how to use them in a fight AND IF ANY OF YALL HAVE USED THEM IN A FIGHT ( ESPECIALY FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO ARE BLACK BELTS AND BLACK SASHES) THIS IS REALLY FRUSTURATING ME PLEASE RESPOND

 

HOLLA

[SevenStar]

break them down into individual movements and drill them repeatedly. Not all of them are applied exactly the way they are done in the form - ask your sifu to show you the applications. IMO, this is something that should be done from the first day you begin to learn a form.

[Squawman]

From teaching TKD for 6 years I can tell you that forms shouldn't even be thought about when fighting. The only reason we teach them is because the WTF requires them for certification. I tell students that forms are the art portion of martial arts then there is the practical side of martial arts.

[italian_guy]

Ah here we go again with the debate on the usefulness of the the forms... my opinion is that if they teach you the applications properly, forms have useful self-defence applications... and probably they are also usefull in turnament style fighting (in this I'm less confident anyhow...).

[gheinisch]

Forms themselves are not used in a fight but the techniques found in the forms are. And there is never just one application to a certain technique in a form. Forms(Kata) are great ways to learn proper form to apply techniques and for your body to be able to react to certain situations(muscle memory). When the time comes that you need a technique it will be there and you won't have to think about it. No time to think, you must react!

[Rich67]

Don't get frustrated. Just keep in mind that forms are purely what their name implies....FORM. They teach proper technique and execution. In and of themselves, the actual movements and positioning don't enter into a fighting situation, but the techniques and flow they use can help you APPLY those techniques in a real sparring/fight situation. They teach you proper FORM, stance, and delivery of the techniques. Don't watch movies and expect them to reflect real life situations. The fight scenes you see in Kill Bill, for instance, are heavily choreographed, and each participant knows what technique will be coming at them next. In staged fights like those, you can use forms because IT IS NOT REAL LIFE. IT IS A MOVIE. Remember that. When you spar in real life, you must constantly change your tactics and moves based on what your opponent does. Gheinisch put it well when he mentions muscle memory too.

[Nick_UKWC]

We use our forms to practise 'real' techniques, as applied when fighting. It also builds the muscles, and muscle memory for these techniques.

 

You wouldn't get into a fight and then just bust out the Su Nim Tao lol

[wingchunner]

I studied Karate for about a decade. When I visited my current instructor he sparred/fought the way he trains with the forms. It made sense. In the karate school I was at, we/I trained one way and sparred/faught another way. It didn't seem to have much consistency. Now, everything I do makes sense.

 

Marty

[battousai16]

oh come on, didn't you ever see karate kid 3? THAT'S how you're supposed to use forms in a fight!

 

first of all, you should certainly be getting more from forms that just technique, rather you should be learning principles and the like too. i'm with sevenstar, if it's in your form, there's probably a way to work it, just perhaps not the way you'd initially think.

[ncole_91]

As forums, do you mean Kata. I think you aren't supposed to or porb cant use a full kata in a fight becuase it is so unpredictable. But I think it is a mans of learning and practicing different blocks, kicks, punches etc... in a organized way. It would be the most efficant way to practice in my wa of thinking. Of course this is my opinion right now and it might change over time becuase I just started MA.