Has anyone else experimented with slow motion? Most martial arts that have forms do them with at least some speed.

Tai Chi is probably the only exception, or at least the most iconic slow-motion(compared to almost every other) martial art. 

Does anyone else often practise their martial art’s forms in slow-motion like Tai Chi? What have you learned or discovered by doing that? 

9 hours ago, Spartacus Maximus said:

Does anyone else often practise their martial art’s forms in slow-motion like Tai Chi?

All of the time; since day one; it’s always been a part of our training, and of course, that training continued with my own students.

9 hours ago, Spartacus Maximus said:

What have you learned or discovered by doing that? 

You want to greatly refine your development and skills?!? You want to strength and flexibility?!? You want to increase your understanding of your techniques?!? You want to improve your focus?!? You want to enhance your “mind like the water…mind like the moon”?!?

Then incorporate training your forms in slow motion. Things can be missed that needs to be corrected when moving said form at the prescribed speed that was set by whomever.

Forms must be torn apart and put pack together over and over, and not training like an autonomous whatever.

I’m always speaking towards the importance of maturing in one’s techniques for the betterment of one’s martial art. Adding slow-motion to one’s forms training will benefit a great many things that need to be addressed appropriately.

I've done slow-motion forms two different ways in the past (not lately, though).

1.  Just doing the form slowly.  Like 3-5 seconds per move.

2.  Doing the moves slowly, 3-5 seconds, but with tension.  This one can really wear you out.

I tend to do my kata in one of 4 different ways:

- Slow motion, focusing on making sure each move is *just right*.  Trying to program new movement patterns into your brain.

- Normal/full speed, no power - Again, going through the motions, getting the flow down

- Slow speed, full power - Feeling how full power feels with each movement.  Hit every movement with full power, then move on to the next one.

- Balanced power & speed - the way you would perform the kata on a test or in a tournament.  Find the balance of speed/power/expression that works for you.

I find the slow motion kata to be an invaluable tool for letting your brain work through all the nuances of how a kata is supposed to look and give you a chance to get the muscle memory programmed just right.

I’d say that training forms in slow motion is akin to shadow boxing and what they both give the practitioners…focus and attention to detail.

I am not sure if it counts as slow motion, but I have done forms at different speeds.  Sometimes slowing down helps focus on the details.  As one instructor once told me, "anyone can do it fast and wrong," so slow down to make sure you got it right, then speed it up. 

51 minutes ago, KarateKen said:

I am not sure if it counts as slow motion, but I have done forms at different speeds.  Sometimes slowing down helps focus on the details.  As one instructor once told me, "anyone can do it fast and wrong," so slow down to make sure you got it right, then speed it up. 

If you’ve done forms in different speeds, I’m quite sure you’ve done them in slow motion. That’s how some of the best AHA moments come from.

The best instructors in my experience are the ones who teach forms that way. When a form is first introduced it is practised in “slow motion”.

Only after the entire choreography is learned and each step/move is understood(basic application with and without a partner ), is it done with power, speed and intent. 

With this training method, I have learned much more in a single year than in 4 using form-first-bunka-much-later-if at-all so common in most schools seen outside Japan.

In Kobayashi-Ryu Kodokan Naihanchi Shodan and the Pinangata should be performed deliberately. Which is to say, each move is done individually, with a focus on proper generation power and effective final structure. In that sense, the proper way to practice them is slowly, though the techniques should be powerful and dynamic. With regards to the Pinangata I do take this a step further with my own practice and with my students, and we practice the pinangata in a Taijiquan like manner. We perform the moves one at a time, and each move slowly, to ensure we have connected our waist movement to the technique, rooted one of our feet in a naihanchi manner, and maintained proper postural alignment through out. 

However, I do not find this approach useful with Naihanchi because the stance reduces the conscious effort needed, though does not eliminate it, to maintain good posture and rooting so one can focus on power generation. But with the Pinangata the complexity of the stance work makes it fruitful because the changes can cause slip ups in posture and rooting. 

I also teach the Rolling Bunkai (Our formal applications for gradings) alongside the Pinangata, so that my students can reference what they are hoping to achieve with the kata movements in terms of structure, foot work, and power generation. With kata practice I regularly have them do a move at a time, and then test their techniques with striking pads and tools. Essentially, I treat each kata like sanchin where the final posture and structure must stand up to scrutiny and pressure. This is also a useful way to teach proper breathing. Before we start I have everyone take a deep breath, almost like one is preparing to yawn, and expand the stomach muscles, and this helps promote diaphragm use. Then when running through the kata we can practice short exhalation and snatch breaths, which is the nature of breathing under fighting conditions. 

For myself when I rehearse kata I usually use the 3-2-1 method. Split the kata into three sections and do each three times. Then split the kata in half and do each half twice. And finally one final best effort. My own personal twist though is as follows: 

Three sections -   

1. First time through do everything deliberately. One move at a time, root each time I change stance, and use maximum waist movement for power. Using natural breathing, move as I breath out and hold the technique until I have completed a natural exhalation. I am examining and getting in my mind what the best performance is of each technique. 

2. Second time I flow through movements with the smallest amount of fixture between moves. I am testing how quickly I can achieve proper posture and structure, and what the minimum time is needed to generate good power. Basically, Bunkai/Combat speed 

3. Balanced between deliberate movement and flowing movement. Working towards the flavour of the kata. Kobayashi-Ryu Kodokan kata should be quite deliberate and "sticky" whereas the Naha Kata I know I try to work to that distinction between Soft and Hard Techniques. White Crane and Koshiki Kata which have a more Chinese influence I try to make flow more, although, with Kihon Waza I always prefer to do those deliberately when they appear. 

Two Halves -

1. This is where I tend to experiment. The first time I may run it in a slow manner trying to isolate mistakes and take my time to correct any errors as I find them. Essentially a reset back to the first run through in three sections where I am trying identify my best performance factors. I might run it at a reckless speed where I am just trying to get through it quickly, and examine what disappears when I rush. I may perform it in Bunkai informed manner, where I break the sequences down into my interpretations of a potential applications, and perform the sequences in a bunkai like way closer to shadow boxing than a kata performance. Depends on what I am working on for that kata at the time. 

2. The second time I will again worked towards a balanced approach reflecting the intended nature of the kata. 

Final Performance - This is supposed to be a best effort performance so I try to do the kata "straight" as it were. 

With regards to why Taijiquan practices as they do for the initial taolu, the best explanation I have encountered (In that it makes sense to me) is that it is because it is shadow wrestling. One is developing the proprioception to feel what is good structure when contact has already been established. You are maximising the connectivity of your body to push and pull effectively. If you move quickly and dynamically, that can be good for developing explosive power and striking ability, which is done in later Taijiquan taolu, but it will not build that foundation for sensitivity for posture. 

As I feel as though a lot of Karate Kata are likely examples of shadow wrestling, and are predominantly reflective of techniques for when contact has already been established, I have some what adopted this mentality. We practice slow for proprioception and structure, and fast for dynamic power. 

 

I've trained taijiquan for over 30 years, mostly Traditional Yang style, also Chen style, a bit of Sun and some Wu. All done slow, however my lineage of Yang style has 2 fast forms. Also in WIng Chun occasionally do Siu Lim Tao slowly. as well as Xingyiquan 5 elements. 

What it did for me was teach unification of upper and lower body, proper alignment, and how to get power to where I wanted it to be.