Fighting vs Forms

[Alan Armstrong]

Fighting vs forms, are you equally matched in proficiency with both, or do you lean more to towards one than the other?

Does being a good fighter help with your forms, or does it for you work the other way around?

Do you have good form when fighting and not so much when doing katas?

Does your fighting match or resemble your forms?

Be formless, does this apply to you when fighting?

[Fat Cobra]

Fighting and Kata (forms) go hand-in-hand.

Kata is an exercise in habit. They teach you muscle memory on body movement and technique.

However, there must also be fighting practice. Solely practicing Kata is not enough. One must learn to hit solid objects...and learn what it is like to be hit.

So, they both complement each other.

[Littleford65]

I prefer forms myself.

I believe they have help my stances immensely, but I always feel stiff when sparring.

I do well sparring, but I feel like I'm not flowing enough and not quick enough.

Ok, I'm not in my 20's any more ( or even my 40s), but I am always trying to work on my fluidity.

The rigidity of forms may actually be keeping me from being more fluid.

Just a thought.

[sensei8]

Fighting, if ever, rarely duplicates forms. Sure, during fighting, the techniques of said form are present, but even then, they don't duplicate said form. Why?? Applications!!

Applications aren't used often when fighting, except the surface techniques; kick, punch, strike, and block from their basic cores. The applications aren't always awakened in the practitioner for a many reasons: Fear, nervousness, uncertainty, believe, effectiveness, lack of conformity, and so on and so forth.

Anything and everything is dependent on the practitioner and NOT the style!!

If forms don't duplicate fighting, then fighting don't duplicate forms; we humans just aren't built that way. In our mind, our fighting is fighting, and forms are forms; they are of separate mindsets.

I mean look at kicking, for example, kicks in forms are focused and crisp, whereas in fighting kicks are sloppy and an afterthought...that's seen in tournaments, and even worse of all places, in the dojo/dojang/school of MA.

We don't stand or move or turn or like anything found in said form when we fight. The forms birth fighting, but side by side, one doesn't look the same as the other. Even watching Senior Dan's, their fighting doesn't imitate their forms and vise versa.

Perhaps, one doesn't compliment the other as it should!!

Imho!!

[JR 137]

It’s like science class: forms are the textbook and sparring is the lab. Nothing in the lab ever goes exactly as it does in the textbooks. Too many variables.

Edited May 1, 2019 by JR 137

[sensei8]

It’s like science class: forms are the textbook and sparring is the lab. Nothing ever goes exactly as it does in the textbooks.

Solid post!!

[Alan Armstrong]

The reason for this post, might be of interest for some.

As I swim in a pool and sprint on a track.

My form when swimming is closer to drowning than moving, whilst sprinting I'm likened to a greyhound dog on a race track.

Which brings up the question to myself, why my form so obviously bad at one and good at another.

Where as participation in my last TKD tournament in my ancient past history, my kata didn't reach past the first level whilst in sparing I won the gold.

Which raises the introspective point or question, at why such a great difference between my form and sparing abilities; or anyone else's for that matter.

As there are those that specialise in forms and others in fighting.

[Littleford65]

My form when swimming is closer to drowning than moving, whilst sprinting I'm likened to a greyhound dog on a race track.

Have you tried the doggie paddle?

Seriously, those are two entirely different movements and use your muscle groups in very different ways.

[Alan Armstrong]

My form when swimming is closer to drowning than moving, whilst sprinting I'm likened to a greyhound dog on a race track.

Have you tried the doggie paddle?

Seriously, those are two entirely different movements and use your muscle groups in very different ways.

If I run like a greyhound it stands to reason that I would be great at doggy paddle LOL

If only doggy paddle was an Olymic event, then might have a fighting dog's chance in the swimming world; Woof! Woof!.

But seriously, I have recently ripped a muscle in my shoulder while doing the breast stroke, so, that is why all the fussing about this aspect; Ouch!! Really didn't expect that to happen, thought swimming wasn't strenuous; wROnG..

[bushido_man96]

I feel I've always been better at my forms than my sparring. With the way TKD sparring is set up, I don't really get much in the way of forms to transfer over to my sparring.