how do kung fu forms help you?

Question

i am curious why at my kung fu classes we only do forms how do they help you in a real fight

Answer 1

Forms help in many ways:

~It teaches basic to advanced techniques.

~Hidden in the forms are immeasurable amounts of applications.

~Your body develops muscle memory allowing you to move and react subconsciously.

~It conditions your body in the aspect of martial arts.

~It's training your body and your mind.



Many stances teach strength and flexibility. Though you may not use such low stance work in a real fight, by training your body to be able to, your strength and power are multiplied several times over. The same holds true to your whole body, not just your legs. People who train and condition their body beyond conventional means will always have the upper hand against someone who hasn't.

Answer 2

Forms won't inherently teach you how to fight. If you just do forms, it won't carry over into fighting. How you train will affect how you perform.



However, I do not believe forms are useless. Forms contain the concepts and ideas of a fighting style, which the style is based around. It is a mistake to focus on the exact techniques of a form. Instead, focus on what those techniques illustrate and the ideas behind them.



After taking a concept or idea from a form, apply it to other movements and scenarios freely, without the form. The form is only a training tool, not the point. It is only a means to an end, but is not supposed to be the core of your practice.



Actual traditional martial arts were an equal mix of sparring, physical conditioning, ability training (such as Iron Palm, forearm/shin conditioning, non-form exercises for generating power in striking and throwing) and forms/weapon training. A mistake of modern martial artists who do traditional arts is focusing almost completely on forms.



Do not treat your form like an Olympic Floor Routine or a Wushu Demonstration. Some of the best fighters in history had somewhat sloppy forms or rather forms that weren't tailor made for a judge's eye, but they were practical. Trust me, Mas Oyama would have laughed at how some people fret over their forms now.

Answer 3

Forms are the living library of any style from a time when most people couldn't read or right, so the only way to pass on the wisdom was through movement so these complicated routines were created.

Forms contain all the blocks, strikes and stances of a style as well as its pressure point methods. Firstly you need to learn the form properly, then break it down, for this you need a good sifu who really understands the hidden secrets within a form.

Forms only seem impractical to those who haven't had a thorough grounding in their system, they are in fact the key to everything but like in the Da Vinci Code they have to be decyphered, the old masters hid and encrypted their wisdom layer by layer.

Answer 4

There are some good answers here regarding the usefulness of forms, but it should also be mentioned that a school which teaches nothing but forms is probably training you for performance rather than real fighting. You need to be aware of each technique's application. And even then, being able to use a technique (especially a complex one) in the heat of combat takes lots of practice. This is usually taught through sparring, an aspect of the Chinese martial arts which is neglected far too often.

Answer 5

If you don't know the forms of an art, you can not say you practice that art.



For instance, if you say you do "karate" and you don't know any Karate Forms, you DON'T know karate.



It determines the art you are studying.



Many kids here say "I want to make my Tiger Style stronger!"



Ths means they are just throwing random "Tiger Claw like" swings in the air and never stepped into a school to actually learn Tiger Boxing.



You cannot have a "tiger style" without learning it from a teacher who learned from his teacher, etc.



There are specific reasons why it is called a "Tiger" or "Dragon" Boxing.



BTW, "boxing" in Chinese Arts is the word "Chuan/Quan".



The forms teach you specific techniques characteristic of the Tiger, or the Crane, or Monkey.



For instance, in Monkey Boxing, if you notice, the practitioner is always moving his head to look. That's because Monkeys look in this manner. The Tiger's mouth is determined by the span of the hand. His claws include four fingers and the thumb squeezing to lock the prey where they grab.



Crane exposes talons resembles a Tiger Claw but the difference is in the thumbs. Your hands act as Talons of a bird.



Then there's the actual application of the technique.



Many things appear similar but the results are characteristic of the Animal/Intention.



These characteristics have been configured to be applicable against the arms, hands, body of an attacker.



Proper training is what helps you to be able to apply it without conscious thought... like a habit or just a reflex reaction.

Answer 6

They don't if you never spar.



Doing only form in kung fu is like learning only penmanship and no grammar in English. You could write beautiful letters, but not be able to write a meaningful sentence to convey a thought.



Forms are necessary at the beginning, but without sparing they are completely useless in a real fight.

Answer 7

1. cardio.



2. muscle power



3. nerve pathways



4. muscle endurance



5. technical execution



6. line familiarization.



But a form is not a fight. Eventually, you have to do some kind of live sparring.

I would think about taking boxing or judo to supplement your kung fu.

Answer 8

Repeating forms helps in familiarizing yourself with the shape and feel of techniques, up to the point where they become second nature to you. But the true value of forms is in what the Japanese refer to as 'bunkai', the analysis and disassembly of a form to extract methods of application. I don't know how this is specifically implemented in your school, and when or if it will be included in your training; but basically the forms you practice are not simply a random set of moves strung together as a simplistic training tool.



Actually, this question: https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20100827203918AATY2LQ is a great illustration of what I tried to explain above...

Answer 9

I have to go with contributor J. Forms teach movement and muscle memory, balance and reflex. Forms help inculcate complex patterns into your body and mind and they look really cool.

Answer 10

Katas? I remember in Kenpo Karate they said its the basic foundation of all fighting. You take bits and pieces from your kata and grow from there in self defesnse aspects of a fight. I never understood the whole concept until I got into a fight back in college and found myself using my Kata footwork.

Answer 11

Wax on, Wax off?! Paint the fence?! They helped Daniel son.

Answer 12

i hear the horse stance allows you to crap standing up