I don't think every form has to contain all elements. I could see a form existing that specifically focuses on hand/arm movement linked to the upper body and rooting (or its equivalent). That could be done with little or no footwork, and certainly without the specific footwork you'd expect to use most often in fighting, especially if restricting the footwork makes it easier to see/feel the principles.
This only occurs at advanced levels, where it has all the elements. It assumes that that the student understands the correct structure and the application.
iainabernethy.co.uk
iainabernethy.co.uk
This is probably a more of a broad perspective being that I can protect myself with without fighting. So, Self-Protection is more than just fighting and, in some cases, can be done without fighting. It would be like saying. Exercise is not swimming. You cannot define exercise as being swimming because there are exercises that don't require swimming. You can however say Swimming is Exercise to a certain extent, unless your boat sinks and you are now swimming for survival.
Information should be recorded in the forms. A form can be a book, or a form can be a dictionary. If something is not recorded in the forms, where should it be recorded?
If so, doing a form would be an all-day affair!
Some, yes. All or even most, no. IMO, kata was never meant to be an all-inclusive source but rather a common-usage dictionary and basic grammatical reference. An individual form can be seen as a chapter, the whole series of forms as an abridged book. The question is then, what should be included in a style's forms?
It is recorded in the student's brain and body having been transmitted by the teacher thru oral teachings and physical examples. Any other method of recording is subject to later misinterpretation, to a degree determined by a student's prior knowledge and abstractness of concept.
I revise my post #149 to... basics, forms and sparring define a style—how a style trains. MA principles, goals, strategies, tactics and techniques may be common among styles. Iain touches on this in the following two threads:
Shotokan's Strategy | Iain Abernethy
Hi everyone, In the book The Way of Kata by Kane and Wilder, there is a section about strategy and tactics. They describ...
What are your golden rules? | Iain Abernethy
Hi All, I thought it would be fun and beneficial to share combative and kata / bunkai based “golden rules” that we have ...
I don't agree with Iain that self-protection is not fighting. Practicing self-defense under dojo rules is also consensual. Some videos on techniques similar to karate used in combat sports and other styles...
You cannot expect information will be passed down like this without losing. If it is a problem, why does someone try to solve it?
These days it should all be re order on video. All of it.
Or it should be recorded in a book.
In writing, or in the brains of the instructors, or in explanatory videos. Forms can’t really carry the information on their own, anyway.
This is how I learned. Oh, I learned much history and different viewpoints from reading as well as some basic doctrine, but how to DO karate, I learned from my great teachers and my own exploration.
Great post.
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I agree that self-protection includes more than fighting—non-fighting (e.g., situational awareness, de-escalation, etc.).
Exercise includes swimming. To say swimming is not exercise is false. Self-protection includes fighting. I believe Iain is saying, "Fighting is not self protection," which I disagree with.
Holy crap you're right haha!
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