Do you know that the LHBF basic slow form has 66 named skills? How do you like “Water Running in High Mountains”, “Stop the car to ask for directions”, “Push away the cloud to see the sun”? I am not kidding you. 🙂
Having classic names add authenticity and poetic feel to the experience but has nothing to do with the original primary purpose – combat.
If you try to describe someone’s attack, you will say something like “He did a low rear leg kick while grabbing my forearm ….“. You will also describe how his body is angled relative to you, his weight balance and how he is affecting you. If you can describe moves like that, it may use more words but is simple and universal – a kick is a kick and a hit is a hit with a certain line of trajectory.
Techniques from forms are ‘sequenced set plays / prepackaged moves’ with specific assumptions and scenarios.
If you use form training to drive how you fight, its limitations and shortcomings show quickly – your opponent never cooperates, they use different movement patterns and they change their mind too midway. In fights, if you cannot flow and adapt quickly, you will be down. Training with names and skills that are too specific develop bad habits, the brain attempts to match imminent attacks to the closest choreographed scenario but before you know it, the attack either landed or changed again – you will get your butt kicked!
As compared with “prepackaged” moves, if your body and brain processes all moves as INDEPENDENT LINES, MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES with no fear of being wrong or outside the syllabus, you enabled yourself to be adaptive, to survive and be human.
Exercise:
– It seems like I am dissing the use of forms but in fact, forms can be made useful in training. How?
Comments are closed.