Quote:
Originally Posted by aku aku
Hello,
This was never made clear to me in my limited exposure to kung fu. When you do kung fu for real, either for sparring or self defense, how closely are your movements expected to match the moves in the forms? The question might seem silly but a lot of the kung fu I was taught seemed kind of choppy and not as quick and flowing as I would expect a fighting art to be, are the forms supposed to show the 'proper' movements that you should strive for or are some of them exaggerated to illustrate certain principles or what?
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In self-defense, if you are worrying about your movements matching forms, you are having the wrong mentality. It is true that forms help you develop the proper stamia, strength, and execution of technique. But forms are for you to instinctively unleash that power and techniques; forms are not a strait jacket that you have to follow to the exact pattern when it comes to a real fight. Nor should you be thinking about it. It should come naturally and you should be focusing on attacking or defending yourself in the most effective matter in that situation.
Here is a Shaolin Monk's take on forms:
Forms vs. Fighting
Forms are forms, and fighting is fighting. In a real fight, there are no stances and no routines - just the single goal of knocking out the other person as quickly as possible. In the ring or on the street, your opponent will not oblige you by getting into the position or stance you learned to deal with in class.
That is not to say that forms practice is a waste of time. Forms help you develop your speed, power, harmony and reaction, for those are the attributes that will best serve you in a real fight.
-Shi Yan Ming