Did Bruce Lee do kata?

yup

Please correct me if I'm wrong. However, I thought kata referred only to Karate forms. In which case I don't recall that he did. He did practice forms though.

I think it doesn`t matter what you call it as long as people understand what you mean. Kata, hyung, kuen, cbuan, guro, form... is all the same to me.

Bruce Lee was a great martial artist, and we can all learn from him in one way or another. However, it isn't likely that he practiced kata.Either he didn't quite grasp it, or simply had no use for it. To quote Lee:

"I think simply to practice gung fu forms and karate katas is not a good way. Moreover, it wastes time and does not match the actual (fighting) situation. Some people are tall, some are short, aome are stout, some are slim. There ar various kinds of people. If all of them learn the same boxxing (i.e. martial art) form, then who does it fit?"

Form Bruce Lees books - He said he did not do kata.
BUT - when I worked on some of his sets of blocking techniques and other forms that he created it was just as hard to get the sequences down as it is to learn some kata.
PLUS - after doing a few hundred repetitions of one of his sets it really helped me to automatically block anything comming in while sparring without thinking, along with shifting the body, feet, and chambered strike hand.
Call them kata or forms..........all good stuff.

The only form he knew was the siu lim tao, which is the first form of wing chun.
Id ont agree with him if he says that forms are useless. I have found great uses for them.

How have you found forms to be useful? How have they helped you?

Not flaming guys, sincerely questioning.


-John

The forms seem like they are just a summary of moves, and I dont know about katas, a form is not a summary of the movements. The form does several things:

1. It teaches you energy build up and release. For example, in the siu lim tao form that Lee did, in the beginning the movements should be done very slow with no tention, when you extend your arm you should pretend there is a force pushing your elbow and you pushing against that. It basically teaches that the power in the punch should come from the push in the elbow, rather than your hand pulling your arm. In the latter part of the form, all the energy is released through short abrupt movements.

2. It helps begineers learn the movements of the style without them realising it. For example there is a bit called the controlling hand which you use to grab someones head to control it, but you dont learn that till after you learn the form.

3. It helps your concentration and is a type of meditation, it relaxes you, it helps you focus when you are doing the drills, and it teaches you how to be concentrated for long periods of time.

I understand that a lot of people dont see the benefits of the above and would rather spend the time doing the drills. For me it fills a missing part in my training that is the non-agressive side. The non powerfull side. It complements my training, although I am not saying that you cannot fight without them (probably the opposite, I have never been in a fight and wished I had practiced my form for longer) but it just completes my training for me. Especially when I am all spent, it helps summarize and give a closure to the session.
Also the stance is great exercise for the legs, after you stand like that for 30 min.


Also, I forgot, it teaches you the transition from one move to another, and because its done slowly you have time to think about it and perfect the positioning.

The benefits that I get from it, may not reflect the experience of others, just myself, but I have certainly found use for the forms.

He studied Wing Chun as his base art from a traditional WC instructor of course he did forms, in one of his auditions of his Kato role in the Green Hornet he did a crane mixed Pray mantis form, So he did study classic forms/Kata and only after taking what he wanted from the traditional did he form his oppinon on becoming form less.

But from what I've seen of JKD practioners taht I've worked with in my area is that the pure JKD guys look raggly compared to the guys that transceden from the other systems. Now all of these guys are powerful and being unauthordous help in some incidents. But trully IMHO, only after going thru the steps or crawaling, stepping, walking then to running can you say if there is benifit.

Guru Dan was a AM Kenpo Sandan among other systems, before he met Sifu Lee. Indeed he still looks good moving and performing his techniques.

Now I will admitt that the JKD is far from WC now, its only 1/8 of the system. Used in what they call their trapping range and Chi-sao drills, if I'm correct maybe.

Bruce did practice the SLT form from WC for awhile. He didnt seem to care for forms but early JKD was largely what he had learned from WC. While telling others to have an open mind he was quite biased to WC. And why not? It was his first art, the thing that started it all for him.

John asks, "what have you gained from forms?" Good question. I no longer practice them but I did so dillegently when I first started MA. I think in the beginning it helped my rythm and understanding of transitional movement between various attacks and postures. It was an easy way to practice technique on your own. At the same time, I remember learning my first form. I remember feeling like Jacky Chan or Jet Li because I could do movements that were flashy and pretty and entertaining to watch. But that isnt all there is to fighting. When I learned that, I left forms behind. I had my own rythm now, and better ways to train techniques, and while looking pretty was appealing, it isnt surviving.

I think you are talkng from a very personal perspective, and while I agree that many people like the forms because they are like somthing from a movie, the wing chun forms are not, they are not pretty and they are frankly quite boring to look at.

Quote:

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and while looking pretty was appealing, it isnt surviving

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Is everything you do in MAs about surviving?
Do you live in a really bad area and you need to survive?
Do you not have 20 min to spend that are not about surviving?

Quote:

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But that isnt all there is to fighting

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I respectfully disagree, martial arts is not all about fighting.