Remembering forms

[lapulid2]

anyone have any memory exercises or tips for a beginner? the pace of the classes im taking is faster than i expected and im having trouble practicing my forms when i get home

[Menjo]

i had the same difficulty what you can do is seperate the katas in sections, i do so in sets of usually 5-7 or when there is a noticible change in the kata practice that part until you feel comfortable and move on. Another method is to just do the kata with only foot work its difficult at first but very rewarding afterwards.

[MasterH]

anyone have any memory exercises or tips for a beginner? the pace of the classes im taking is faster than i expected and im having trouble practicing my forms when i get home

Do you have an open floor after class? Hit it for 5 minutes, don't wory about teq. just memorization. Can you film someone doing the forms for you?

[Menjo]

o yea you might want to get some books if you wanna mae the investment

[MasterH]

o yea you might want to get some books if you wanna mae the investment

Make sure you get your instructors recomendations before making the investment. In TKD we have at least two seperate unique styles. I'm not sure if its the same or even worse in with H.

[Rateh]

all beginner forms ive seen have a basic pattern/flow

learn that and the rest is easy to remember

when i was first learning kata, i remember doing musical notes...

like one move would be a lower "do" and then the next move would be a higher "do"

sound stupid, but it actually helped me

so for instance...kehon1/taekioku(yes i cant spell for my life)...

low blocks are low sound, punches are high sound, and when u turn there is a longer pause between the sounds, because it takes a moment to do the turn...

so it comes out to...

low do, high do, pause, low do, high do, shorter pause, low do, high do high do high do, pause, low do....etc

like i said, sounds stupid, but it really helped me remember the patterns for my first two or three forms, after that it gets much easier and i didnt need to do that...

good luck

[Rateh]

sorry for the double post, but i just hadda thought

i teach a lot of young students their first form, so there are a few ways that help them

one, is i teach them the pattern of it, you might want to ask your instructor or anotehr student if there is a pattern, and to tell u it, or maybe try and see it yourself...

second, i say the name of everything as i do it, because some people learn bettey by hearing it, and that way they both see it, say it, and do it

so for the beginning of our first form, its...

crescent step backwards, pivot, lowblock

crescent step, center punch, scissors turn low block, crescent step center punch...etc

another way is to break it up into sections, like someone else mentioned

i find with the youngest of the students, this is the only way i can teach them

do the first few moves, then begin again, and continue doing that till u have that part memorized very well, at least three times

then add hte next few moves, etc

eventually (over the course of like 45 mins for the young ones :S), you will have the whole thing

another thing to always do, is as soon as u know a form, do it over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over....need i go on?

it doesnt matter how good the technique is, it only matters that u do the correct moves in the right order

another thing to make sure u remember it well is speed running

you run the form as fast as you can (so there is no pause at all, just continual flow from one move to the next), once again this does not need good technique...anyways run it that fast, and if u can make it through from beginning to end without messing up, then u know it well, if u mess up, u need to practice it more

thats all i can think of for the moment, hopefully at least one thing i or someone else said will help...sorry again for the double post

[lapulid2]

thank u all for your help! the open floor after class idea and the book and the musical approach are all things i will definately try. thanks again!

[frightmaster]

Alos what I do when I learn a new form is practice it in steps. First I work my legs and head turns and make the turns as if doing the form. Then I will work my hips into the turns. Then I will add the arms. This allows me to do the form with different parts of my body and really feel myself doing each move correctly.

Reading books is VERY important in learning your art. I try to understand EVERYTHNG about it I can. In fact I was told by my girl friend that I am overboard with reading about it. HEHE

[Enviroman]

I agree that books can provide some assistance but I'd recommend just practicing the form repeatedly. Maybe 1-2 times a night, 6 days a week (you probably want to give yourself a break at some point).

Freight, where do you study in town?