ignorant people frown on forms

[uki]

some ignorant people like to deride the use of forms, yet practicing forms has been established and continued for thousands of years even still to this day... why on earth should we believe that forms have suddenly become obsolete in the face of modern McMartial Arts???

[SoCo KungFu]

For thousands of years the Etoro of New Guinea believe you're born with a limited supply of semen and boys perform oral sex for men to receive their sperm for later use in life. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean its correct. Only an idiot blindly follows tradition.

[uki]

Only an idiot blindly follows tradition.

so MMA is the new tradition, eh??

[Syn7]

so MMA is the new tradition, eh??

do we reallly have to do this again???

[David Jamieson]

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Pharisees have spoken, take your places and make your bets!

[uki]

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Pharisees have spoken, take your places and make your bets!

bah... the pharisee's have a temple that has been torn in two.

[David Jamieson]

bah... the pharisee's have a temple that has been torn in two.

...or possibly three, maybe 4, but who's counting?

[uki]

...or possibly three, maybe 4, but who's counting?

good question.

[David Jamieson]

For thousands of years the Etoro of New Guinea believe you're born with a limited supply of semen and boys perform oral sex for men to receive their sperm for later use in life. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean its correct. Only an idiot blindly follows tradition.

There's a tribe of pedo bears?

[uki]

There's a tribe of pedo bears?

he is obviously an expert on the subject.

[David Jamieson]

he is obviously an expert on the subject.

vacation planning is all the rage I hear...

[uki]

vacation planning is all the rage I hear...

it's all about quantity and not quality...

[Hardwork108]

For thousands of years the Etoro of New Guinea believe you're born with a limited supply of semen and boys perform oral sex for men to receive their sperm for later use in life. Just because something has always been done a certain way doesn't mean its correct. Only an idiot blindly follows tradition.

There are hundreds of thousands of people being "hurt", or killed by modern medicine and medical practices, not to mention scientifically developed food additives.

That does not mean that "only an idiot" would follow modern science!

[RenDaHai]

Anyone who thinks forms are useless has never really trained them.

In old forms (from the north) the movements are EXTREME. Why is this good? Because when you first practice the move, you can't do it at all, but because its in the form you keep working at it until you can do it quickly. This increases the RANGE of movement available to you.

Many of you spend hours increasing strength, and thats great. but most people increase strength over a small range of movement that they were already strong at. Forms force you into contorted positions quickly. They increase the RANGE of movement for every group of muscles in the body.

If you have ever Really practiced forms, and i mean REally, you will notice the difference next time you spar.

Because of increased waist flexibility you will punch one inch further, and that makes all the difference. When you duck you will duck that much lower, and faster. IT effects every move you make.

What I find amusing is many of you who bash forms have probably never even tried them properly.

Lastly southern forms and northern forms are very different. Some southern ones are just hand moves and a less useful, but northern forms require the whole body movement. Require SHEN FA. Some norhern forms have remained largely unchanged for 1000 years. THis is not true in the south where the age is closer to 300. SInce china has been closed off for so long most of the kung fu we have in the west is from isolated pockets like hong kong and taiwan. Most of you have probably never even seen real northern kung fu.

ANYWAY, DONT KNOCK SOMETHING TILL YOU TRY IT.

Do 3 months of modern wushu (sine it is form only) or gymnastics and see how much it improves your ability in sparring. I guarantee you won't be dissapointed. AGILITY IS EVERYTHING! Muscle is function specific and range of useful motion is more important than being strong over a small distance.

I agree some katas the way you guys do them may not be so useful but most ancient form in northern china is more like this;

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XOTI2NDYxODg=.html

(Shaolin Da Hong Quan)

[YouKnowWho]

Anyone who thinks forms are useless has never really "trained" them.

I have always consider myself as a TCMA guy but I don't train forms. I was taught that "form is for teaching and learning only, it's not for training."

I have leaned more than 50 forms in my life (I learned my 1st form when I was 7). After I have repeated my forms many times, and I know that I can remember my forms for the rest of my life, I dion't do my forms any more. I only train "drills" after that.

Here are drills that I train daily when I don't have partner:

- right hook punch, right back fist, left upper cut.
- right front kick, left roundhouse kick, left side kick.
- leg twist, leg lift, leg block.
- ...

I do feel it gives students a piece of the history, something to pass down to the next generation, etc.

I have a student who has been with me for 8 years now. I have not taught him any forms yet. I told him that the day he will be too old to compete in tournaments, the day I'll teach him forms (so he can pass it down to the next generation).

A friend of mine taught his students all the Yang Taiji moves in the form as drills. But he had never linked those moves from the 1st move to the last move. He told his students to link those moves anway they prefer.