"Forgetting" Forms

[Royal Dragon]

The founding emperor of the Sung Dynasty, Zhao Kuang Yin, knew a good half dozen styles (that we know of). He was especially known for his Monkey style. At some point in his life, it is said he condensed it all down into one single 108 posture form. From then on, all he practiced was that and his monkey set. This is according to one oral legend anyway. There is another similar one that says he condensed it all down to just one 32 posture form as well. Either way, the common theme is that he condensed all that he knew into a single form made up of his most successful, most used or just plain favorite moves. So trimming ones skill set down to a central core seems to be a pretty traditional thing.

[bruce]

ya'all do alot of forms lol ...

i have always kept detailed notes for every form i have ever been shown and most of them i video.
i have forgotten a few of my sd forms already from not doing them for a year lol ... i tried to do one of them after reading this thread. an found i remembers some parts of the forms but there were a lot of transitions that i could not remember.

if it is important to you you will not be able to forget it. if you forgot it is was not important to you.

[Royal Dragon]

I have many of my old forms on video. Oddly, the ones that are most important to me, I never filmed. But then, I don't seem to ever forget those sets.

Right now, I actively practice 2 forms and a couple Qigongs. I do the Tai Tzu 32 posture set from Shaolin, and Lao Hong Quan.

There is one other form, from my Kuntao I know. I actually put no effort into learning it (much to my teacher's frustration I am sure). I almost never practice it or review it. I only do it when i have to show it to my teacher. Somehow, I seem to be fairly good at it though. My guess is that it is because we are allways working on the techniques from it in class.

[Jeice]

I forgot all my taekwondo forms, and all the shotokan versions of the karate forms I do in favour of Shorin-ji ryu. Those are the only forms I "forgot" really, the rest are filed away for later use. Probably 60 or so.

[Ba-men]

I just posted on this with Mixjourneyman's "Making Training natural" IMO....This is a huge problem with traditional arts. MMA guys learn "compared to traditional arts" way less in applied material. What they learn they train the hell out of it!

IMO....One form or a select few forms with many repeats (provided the multiple forms do not represent conflicting strategies and tactics) is the way to go. Its all about internalizing your art. This directly translates into the undeniable truth "one technique mastered is worth a thousand known half assed!"

[Frank Bellemare]

Like everyone, I forgot a bunch of forms: around 8 various long fist sets, 2 monkey forms, one crane form, two versions of the Yang 108 movement form, a taiji spear set and 3 wing chun forms. I agree with Darth's analogy, forms are like songs, or like dances. If you memorize, say, a waltz choreography and you understand the stepping, timing, structure and musicality of waltzing, then it's really no big deal to forget the choreography afterwards. Unless you have an emotional reason to want to remember it, say, your great grandfather created the routine and it's been passed down in the family for 150 years because he once won a dance contest with it.

[WuGuy]

Call me the leading underachiever on this topic.
I try not to even think about the few TKD forms I learned. Other than that, I've only got the one Wu long form. And there are still pieces of it that I'm not satisfied with after 25 or so years. Hell, sometimes I forget that one while I'm right in the middle of it. I dragged it out to 35 minutes the other day, just because I needed to.
I have a lot of basics and a few combinations I work.
--
Russell

[Walter Joyce]

I've learned about 35 forms over the years, but I'll probably just practice circle walking with palm changes, Yang 108, and if I ever learn it the Gao 64 palms form.

[Darth Rock&Roll]

sets are supposed to be left behind. It 's part of the process.

[cerebus]

sets are supposed to be left behind. It 's part of the process.

Unless you hope to teach your art to others someday....

[johnrieber]

i pray to kuan yin that i'll never hope to teach anybody anything, personally.

[vietle87]

So if I plan to teach someone in the future, it's better to keep practicing the forms then?

[cerebus]

So if I plan to teach someone in the future, it's better to keep practicing the forms then?

How else would you be able to teach them to another person if you can't remember them yourself?

[bailewen]

That's the main reason why I try to keep reviewing forms like Gung Lik Kuen and Lau Ga Kuen every once in a while and also why I still really want to learn Tan Tui or Hong Quan.

For someone with no previous experience, a couple of nice classic Shaolin forms can be really useful to have in your back pocket.

[shawnsegler]

I really want to relearn Tan Tui.

It's just great exercise.

S