Feed: Squidoo: Tae Kwon Do Forms - AggScore: 47.8

Tae Kwon Do Forms updated Sat Nov 15 2008 1:26 am EST

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I am a martial art enthusiast since I was a kid, I liked watching kong fu masters on TV and mimicked their moves which made my parents cracked up like crazy; my older brother gave me all kinds of martial art books and taught me practicing martial arts. When I grown up, I found Tae Kwon Do Forms and TaeKwonDo Sparring especially fascinating. But after taking a Tae Kwon Do course for a while, I was confused what the point in learning Tae Kwon Do Forms is? Now I understand: There are a lot of TaeKwonDo Forms haters around here. There always have and always will be. The point of Tae Kwon Do Forms is to teach you technique, concentration, history of your style, cardiovascular strength and to give you a way to practice at any time and place. People say that no competitive fighters or boxers do this, because Tae Kwon Do Forms is slow and predetermined. First of all Tae Kwon Do Forms is usually never "slow" per se. It is done with intention. There are fast parts and there are slow parts, hard parts and soft parts. You have to keep in mind that boxers, box. They have maybe five striking techniques. Aren't they doing a type of forms when they "shadowbox"? What's the point of shadowboxing? I'm never going to fight a shadow, blah, blah, blah. If you just do the forms in order to get through it, you are doing yourself a diss-service and the form is meaningless. If you do it with proper meaning then you will benefit greatly from these exercises. I do want all who train to know that you do not have to feel obligated to like forms. I don't personally like it. But I respect the fact that it actually does do some good. Even if you do the silliest technique, in my opinion, that would never realistically work in a real life situation, it is just an exercise. Exercising is good no matter what. It helps you get into shape and to be a good fighter in any situation you need to have good lungs. I find it very funny that people look down upon certain things, like Forms or Poomse, yet go out of their way to say that one style is better than the other. News flash.... Tae Kwon Do has a ton of kicks. Try them in a fight and you will probably get swept on your backside. Martial Arts become what you put into it. You could train in the worst conceivable style and still be a better fighter than Mr. "Perfect Style", because you trained hard and did it for yourself. Not for belts, trophies or contests. If what you want to do is practice Tae Kwon Do Forms, then the best thing is to have a Master with whom you can study. Next to that, the best thing is to have a book that has been created with multiple purposes in mind; it should be a reference, a study guide, a point of view. I am finding some books to be an indispensable learning companion - one that is helping me to make this Tae Kwon Do Forms really come alive in my own expression of it. There are indeed books with clear instructions like the Tae Kwon Do Classic Forms is a huge help. It really is a must have, if you are seriously on improving your forms and Tae Kwon Do Sparring. Forms are not unique to Tae kwon do. Many styles have forms as part of their curriculum. The point is form within each movement, attempting to show a mastering of each hand or foot technique. It shows discipline and attention to detail. Do they work in the street? I don't know many people that will watch you do a form instead of punch you in the face.