Free Form - The art of experience

FREE FORM - The art of experience!

 

Have you ever watched a boxer training on his own? If you have then you will have noticed that in addition to practising the various ways of throwing a punch against an imaginary opponent they often also practice ducking and diving, as it is often called, and moving from side to side as they pretend to avoid their imaginary opponents punches.

 

 

Simply just standing still and throwing a punch is of course a typical way of learning how to punch with speed, power and of course that vital much needed accuracy but moving and avoiding an imaginary opponents attacks is a vital next step before experiencing the real thing with a solid person.

This method of practice is often called 'shadow boxing' but unlike the set form, or Kata as it is called in Japanese karate or 'Patterns' in the case of the combat art of Korean taekwondo, this form of shadow boxing is not pre-set in any way.

 

In the case of set forms each move is pre-set and set in stone as a pre-arranged sequence of movements, strikes, blocks, kicks and even take down motions so that the student can learn these pre-set actions along with the rest of the class as a method of developing both technique and avoidance methods or attack moves. Set form practice, which is a more advanced and prolong version of a combination technique of punches and kicks etc..., is an ideal way of learning and developing all the various stances, moves, strikes and kicks in addition to developing that much needed stamina when it comes to the real thing.

 

Sometimes called Chinese Shadow Boxing, by those who study the Chinese kung fu arts, most students at this stage will by now start to think about practising freestyle sparring or some other form of kickboxing but there is one more disciple to look at, and practice, that can help to bridge the gap between the practice of set forms before moving on to the practice of sparring with a partner - and that is the discipline called Free Form.

 

In exactly the same way a boxer will practice shadow boxing against an imaginary opponent with all the punches and moves performed without doing them, or thinking about them, in a pre-set way so this is the case with Free Form. In the case of Free Form however there are many more striking techniques, kicks, blocks and stances, of course, to perform.

 

Some would say that the practice of set and free form exercises is nothing more than a martial art dance but just like the professional dancer all these various techniques and moves need to be practiced to fully understand them and also to perfect them - more-so when a training partner is not around to help you with your freestyle/kickboxing skills. If nothing else it is a good way of warming the body up while practicing techniques if you find yourself without a partner to practice with and it also gives more purpose to the techniques rather than just standing on the spot and doing lots of boring repetitions.

 

Many people think Free Form is just a simple case of making up your own moves as you go along and is easy to do but in fact much of the Free Form practice is based on time honoured experience through practical training in sparring and other forms of self defence study over a period of time.

 

Watching someone practising Free Form for the first time the expert eye of the instructor will often see the student performing a set limited number of kicks and strikes that are often done moving forward without any thought to stepping back or to the side, as would be the case when in a real fight situation, and in very much a robot fashion. This would often also include copying moves from a set form that they may have done in the past as they would still have such set moves very much implanted in their minds. Therefore the further aim of the Free Form is to act like a transitional bridging action between the set form and the contact fighting side of their training with a person.

 

In conclusion therefore the practice of the Free Form is just the same as a boxer performing shadow boxing, which over a period of time, is perfected through experience. In fact you could say that Free Form is the art of experience and to an expert trained eye your level of experience will soon shine through - or not - as the case may be.