Korean Forms vs. other styles'

[scottnshelly]

I’ve studied Martial Arts for 15 years, mostly Tae Kwon Do. In my Moo Duk Kwan Tae Kwon Do class we learnt pal-gyes and tae-gyuks (sp?). In my other class we learnt the Chun-gi patterns. Forms wasn’t ever our emphasis, just something we did in between one-steps and takedowns and what not.

 

When I read some of the topics on this forum (especially in the Karate forum) I see that some other styles/schools put a large emphasis on katas and the application of the techniques and the breathing and all.

 

Why is it that most Tae Kwon Do classes don’t put much emphasis on forms while most Karate schools do? Is it because the katas are relatively newer, or don’t contain the ‘hidden secrets’ that the Japanese, Chinese and Okinawan styles contain?

[tommarker]

Depends on the instructor's feeling towards forms. There are plenty of karate folk who also only do the kata because it is required.

 

TKD tends to be more sparring oriented. If you follow the logic that most of what the forms teach you (takedown, locks, knee breaks, etc) is not applicable to the point-sparring arena, then it's easy to see why some instructors may discard form training.

[Shorinryu Sensei]

Not meaning to be smart here either, I would suggest posting this in the Korean Martial Arts forum, as that's where the people that most likely could answer this question better hang out.

 

I have a lot of TKD friends as instructors and have talked to them at length about the bunkai/meaning behind the movements inb their forms. Outside of generally one simple, obvious application per movement, they don't seem to be aware that there could be multiple meanings or techniques for5 each.

 

Maybe in TKD forms...there aren't?

[ovine king]

just a guess......

 

i think it might have something to do with general choi's work with tkd.

 

his tkd was designed for the korean army (for his division) to boost/promote fitness and to boost morale.

 

it might've been derived from fighting arts but fighting wasn't always their main focus.

 

(they were known to have performed for a whole range of people).

 

it seems logical to me, that this aspect simply took over from the actual 'bunkai' as it were....

 

again, in case you missed it:

 

just a guess.

[monkeygirl]

I'm going to move this to the Comparative Styles Forum, since it is indeed comparing the way two styles do things.