QUESTION: Professor, I am a blue belt. I have learned two forms which I practice every day. Frankly, doing these forms is kind of boring. What is the purpose of doing the same moves over and over again? Why isn’t there more variety to the training?
ANSWER: In most self-defense situations, you have little time to think. A mugger jumps from a doorway. A drunk takes a swing at you. React. React immediately. In these encounters, many untrained people will simply panic. You will not panic. You will have muscle memory on your side from weeks and months, and, yes, years of doing your forms over and over and over again.
Your forms aren’t a dance. Practicing your forms, you are actually going through the moves of an actual fight.
See and feel the moves as you do them. Over head strike and block. Side attach and block and strike. Block the kick and counter. Over and over and over again, it is this repetition, which will help you to prevail. Love your forms and combinations because they make you a martial artist.
