the true meaning of the forms

[sooner_sadiq]

hello everyone,
while recently training in a different style it was brought to my attention that the true meaning of my forms was left out in my training (i do the palwge forms). for instance there could be a 100 different uses for a downblock other than a kick. such as the movement against a takedown attempt or the application of arm bars. i have also recently found out that the places that we touch ourselves in these forms are generally the pressure point areas. all this was left out in my training and i would like to go back and disect each form and find the true meaning and application of them. if anyone has any idea of where to start or how to do this i would greatly appreciate the help. i would like to know more than just the superficial knowledge of our forms.
with great respect,
robby hedrick

[KoshoBob]

Look at each move and see if it can be used as a block, parry, strike or throw against a strike or grab. You should be able to find many applications for each move. It may take a while; but, that is part of the exploration.

[wab25]

You have just found the key to martial arts. The moves you learn work in more than one situation. In fact, the better you become at martial arts, the more "new" applications you will find for that move.

I just had a really great training session last night. I tried a new dojo, and it turned out to be just the sensei and me. In our form of jujitsu, we do many throws, a lot of ground work and a few strikes. Last night we were trying to fit the few strikes that we have into our throwing and ground work katas. All of a sudden, there is a lot more going on than just a throw or an escape.

I feel that too many people jump to the conclusion of cross training and forget to look at their own art outside the little box they put it in.

Doing katas or forms or whatever you want to call it, is about teaching a principle and developing certain motions in your body. It was never designed to be a catalog of "if A happens then I do B, because B is the best response." Katas/forms are important, if you realize what they are. They are tools to teach you principles, balance, coordination and strength.

The application of these movements and principles is the art of the system, and is a completely seperate thing. Since the art is the application of the moves, and since it is the application that is martial, then that means that the forms/katas you do are not the martial art. The martial art is how you apply what you learned. The forms/katas are important though, as they are the tools to teach you the movements and principles of the art.

What you found also points out the danger of changing these forms/katas to something that works "better." There may be a better way to block a kick. But, by sticking to your kata/form and learning the down block, you are learning arm bars, takedown defenses and a 100 other things as well as one way to block a kick. Had someone changed that block to something else, that blocked a kick better, look at all the things that would have been taken out of your art. ( I assume you study TKD. Everyone says that TKD lacks arm bars and takedown defense, and thus suggest that you go learn something else. But, by looking a little deeper into TKD, you found arm bars and takedown defenses and a lot more. )