Kung Fu forms

During the Saturday class we had the opportunity to experiment with using techniques from our forms within our sparring. It was challenging and made you spend more time thinking than you would normally do while fighting. The normal state is your body reacts through the training with whatever technique is most appropriate at the time based on your position, the location of the opponent, your weight distribution, momentum etc. When you have specific techniques in mind to use it throws your whole approach. So I guess that is the first lesson, you just can't enter combat hoping to use a certain technique as it restricts you so much.

Certain techniques lend themselves very easily to sparring, 'the tiger plays with the ball' move and 'cranes wing' movements where you are moving to one side and striking the flank worked very well and are great reminders to move fluidly around the opponent and attack exposed sides. Others were more questionable, mainly ones that move your body weight far forward and strike with both hands; for example the opening move of snake where the palms of both hands are together and you are in a very low stance. After attempting this you find yourself in a very vulnerable position with no hands available to defend yourself and no easy way to shift back into a defensible position.

So why is so much time devoted to learning forms? This is a big criticism I have encountered so far to the approach to kung fu training. My father-in-law observes my form practice with an amused expression and can't comprehend how that could possibly have been useful in the bar fights he grew up around in Reno. To look at people would see it as no different from learning a dance. Unfortunately many people practicing kung fu share this and treat it as no different from dancing - these people are easy to spot. There are 2 key elements I have found make a good form (there are likely to be more as increasing layers are exposed to me during my training).
1) You need to imagine that you are fighting an invisible opponent, each movement is performed as if you were to save your life. Every move has a purpose, it is important to understand what it is you are doing (intention).
2) You need to capture the spirit of the form, get in the mind set of the form. If you are performing tiger, move with the ferocity of a tiger. If you are doing a snake form, stay low and fluid and strike with a terrifying speed. You can tell when some when is going through the movement of a tiger strike compared to someone who is filled with the kung fu spirit of the tiger and striking forward as if to tear the opponents face off. The energy projected from the strike is enough to strike fear and uncertainty into the opponent.

So why are we practicing forms? I have found it serves many purposes. It teaches us how to move. Our muscles have proprioceptors that detect the movement and position of our muscles, bones and joints in space. These have memory. The movements train the memory to move in a certain way so that when it comes to combat we unconsciously move correctly and strike correctly.

Even the strangest looking moves have a purpose. Mantis hands for example make sense when applied in combat situations, just like we all learned in the Karate Kid - 'painting the fence' is useful when applied in the right situation.

Also I have found it enables us to grow internally as a kung fu student, to capture the spirit and energy of the movement. The kung fu masters have studied the movements of these animals and developed a system of fighting. It is through the understanding of these movements we can grow mentally and reach our fullest potential.

Nick
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