Back in 2015, I wrote a very heavy post about different states of mind and learning forms based on my experience and with conversations with both a psychologist and a physical therapist. I used research with experience and wrote something that was more suitable for a college course paper rather than an accessible blog post. A recent black belt testing, and a few posts on social media got me thinking about mindfulness again and its importance in forms.
Mindfulness is a very deep subject. It can be taken to many levels, but for this post I'm going to stick within the bounds of what I call physical and abstract mindfulness.
Physical mindfulness, to me is understanding what it is you are trying to do in a form, in order to "sell" the form. If you do not understand what you are doing, your movements will not look genuine and you will look weak. A great example of this is when the form calls for a high kick, and the practitioner abandons good technique to try to reach the height requirement. This is an example of a lack of physical mindfulness. If the intent of practicing the form is to master the practical application of the techniques, then the practitioner must abandon kicking high to keep the integrity of the technique. I can't recall ever hearing any instructor of my own, or anyone ever saying, "that was a great low kick, but you must kick higher". If anything I have heard "that's a great high kick, now kick lower."
It is not always the inflexible or out of shape practitioner kicking too high and looking sloppy. Sometimes the young and extremely talented students kick too high as well. We all love to marvel at the physical abilities of some of our students and athletes on Youtube, but at the end of the day, being able to kick straight up in the air isn't that practical of a skill. I have never seen a TKD form from any flavor of TKD actually call for that, but even if they do, aside from "artistic" competitions (sports karate), I see very little practicality in this ability. While it should stand to reason that being able to kick straight up in the air should grant the kicker a devastating ability to kick at traditional heights, my experience is to the contrary. It takes a tremendous amount of practice and effort to kick straight up like some can. My opinion on the matter is that, that time would be better spent differently. Learning to kick at a traditional height, without telegraph and with proper technique is worth a lot more in my eyes.
It is not just the broad strokes of kicking and flexibility though. As I hinted at earlier in the post, the "what" of what you are doing is essential to the "how" of what you are doing, and is thus, very important to "sell" the form. This is true of advanced techniques and forms, but is super important in lower forms and basic technique. There is nothing more awe inspiring than a master level student executing a basic technique in a way that says "I have no idea what this is actually doing". Of course, I'm using "awe inspiring" here facetiously. It happens though. Regardless of rank, you should know what the techniques you are executing are doing. If you do not, you can't possibly look good executing them.
Abstract mindfulness has to do with what is in your actual mind while you are executing the form. I've spoken at great lengths about the importance of what is going on in your head both in a previous blog post and in my classes. During a performance of a form (be it in a test or tournament), I believe nothing should be in your head. You should be 100% focused on the form itself and you should be so familiar with the form that you don't even have to think about what you are doing. Think about the basic movements you make in your day to day life. You probably don't put too much thought into getting out of bed, walking down steps, putting on your coat, sitting in a seat, or getting into your car. The process is largely not thought about and these movements are all in a state of auto-pilot. When learning a new form, students should look at the learning process as the start to making their form operate on that same auto pilot level.
As I have said in the past though, the auto pilot level is just the beginning to really mastering a form. To be truly good at forms, you need to go a step beyond autopilot and actually be conscious of what and how you are doing, what and how you are doing. You need to focus on the form, but rather, you become so focused in on the form, that you can completely abandon the thoughts required to go movement to movement, and can instead focus on breath control, timing, power, stance depth, hip rotation, etc. After years of operating at this level of heightened auto pilot, you'll find yourself as close to mastery as possible. In this practicing style, there is no room for doubt, no room for on the spot reflection and under the breath swearing at yourself for mistakes. Only the moment is important, and dwelling on the past moment is a distraction from the current.
There is no secret to accomplishing any of this. It starts with attitude. The thoughts of practicality need to be set aside and the simple fact that to be a well rounded artist requires care and effort in forms as well as fighting. Stop caring about why when it comes to forms in general and only care about how. "How can I get better at this" should only ever be your thought, as opposed to "this isn't practical". You have to do forms regardless if you are going to stay in a traditional art, so why not make the most of it?
After this, there is effort, but effort involves a lot more than a sweaty uniform. Think! Think about what you are doing when you are practicing. See the techniques hitting someone, stopping something. Feel it, in your head. Don't just go through the movements, because it doesn't take a black belt or a high rank to do that. The real work is done in your head. Simply put, the form isn't teaching you how to kick and punch in a practical situation, but it is teaching you how you should be focused in a real world situation. When your body moves on auto pilot, and you can actually control your thoughts in those moments, you'll be able to focus on your well being and defending yourself from attack. This is the true power of mindfulness.
Finally, set aside your ego. Take the time to understand what you are doing and ask questions! Too many students seem afraid to ask questions, and I'm not saying that as an instructor but as a student who was often times the only person ever asking questions. Whether you are learning for free, or spending a fortune, you've set off to learn something, so swallow your pride and ask questions when you don't understand something. This is especially important when you are corrected and don't understand why. As long as it is asked with respect, I don't know an instructor worth their salt that wouldn't love to answer any question you might throw at them. Instructors, after all, do not like just going through the movements either.
