tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13961468.post6201760068868232016..comments2024-02-14T07:29:25.919-05:00Comments on Cook Ding's Kitchen: Kata and AikidoRick Matzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09699550034693340637noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13961468.post-24730691896384102702010-08-19T01:09:39.366-04:002010-08-19T01:09:39.366-04:00I'm not trashing on forms. It's just that ...I'm not trashing on forms. It's just that as an individual (hopefully) reaching their own personal liberation through martial arts, I have found that forms, however good their intentions are, tend to hinder my progress if I concentrate on them too much (which I often do). I just let them be and that's that. <br /><br />Forms to me are simply sign posts pointing in a certain direction. Once you meet one on the road, you don't go back to it repeatedly to find your way to your next destination eh?<br /><br />Concentrating on forms...It'll be like trying to understanding what O'Sensei meant in one of his books by remembering it word for word and being able to recite it for verbatim. Not necessary in my case.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13961468.post-18842296649234161482010-08-18T20:29:00.740-04:002010-08-18T20:29:00.740-04:00Wang Xiang Zhai, a famous XingYiQuan master felt s...Wang Xiang Zhai, a famous XingYiQuan master felt similarly and formed YiQuan, where there are no forms but the practice goes right to the heart of the matter.<br /><br />"The purpose of our training is to make natural instinct resemble the dragon."<br /><br />Myself, I used to feel that way about forms, but I see them as tools used to teach us by impressing the very principles of our arts into our bodies and eventually the philosophy into our minds.Rick Matzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09699550034693340637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13961468.post-17543616462589000892010-08-18T01:59:10.301-04:002010-08-18T01:59:10.301-04:00As a practitioner of Aikido with experience with a...As a practitioner of Aikido with experience with another martial art that is heavy on forms (Chinese Kung Fu) I have to say that it really depends on the individual. <br /><br />I personally get rigid and static with forms - I feel caged and frozen. Not the best state of being martially. Personally I prefer free form and flow. <br /><br />Not to say that I disregard form altogether. It's just that in my experience, it's very easy to get caught up - and stuck in - forms.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com