DaveB had it in a nutshell.
Basically the original intent of patterns or kata have been subverted into formalised movements that represent the "art" in martialart and at best in a large number of dojo's represent a rather anachronistic training method that students do under duress waiting for the fun to start with sparring, ground and bag work... Students want to get through the boring stuff and onto "real fighting" asap.
Ironically the stuff they want to do is all laid down for them to find if only they know how to access it. Now before I get all philosophical and new age about it, I'll explain...
Forms or kata should be viewed as an instruction manual, or even better, a lesson plan. For most of the older kata there tends to be an underlying theme, not in the type of retrospective nonsense like " fighting with your back against a wall" or "on a boat" etc, but in the sense of that natural course of events you would experience in a physical encounter against someone who intends you harm. (The logical phases such as Initial contact, dealing with the shock, taking control, domination and finish).
Most older kata have this type of structure. Often with and/or options thrown in. In other words how to deal with fail-states. I.e do this first, if that fails then try this etc.
The kata form the basis of a lesson which tries to transfer the understanding of a number of core strategic fighting principles. The kata movements and techniques should be thought of as examples which highlight the principles or tactics. There may many ways in which to apply the principles, different variations on a theme, but essentially it is the principle that is important.
Now if you recognise that this is a lesson plan then a teacher is required. Just practicing solo kata will only improve your muscle memory, kata practice should lead onto training with a partner and initially an instructor to point the way forward.
Kata by itself is not a training plan but rather a framework from which the rest of your training regime should follow... Drills, bag work, sparring etc
The thing to remember is that kata was designed originally for dealing with civilian self-defence.. Which is a completely different experience from sparring in the dojo or fighting in a 1-2-1 duel. For starters the applications are designed for fighting at close range. Blocking is not effective, where as grabbing, control, body shifting and weight distribution are what is required. Block-kick-punch applications at long range against karate style attacks are not what is being explored in kata.
Anyway this post is far too long, happy to elaborate with examples on any points I have made later.
(As an aside, I speak from a thorough study of shotokan kata's and little to no experience with King fu patterns - although I suspect the principle is the same. )
