APPLICATIONS?

 by Phillip Starr

Okay...you've learned the application(s) of a particular movement in your form. So, what do you do now? Is that it? Is it over? I recall a instructor of Goju-ryu karate many years ago; I had shown him the application of a movement in his kata that had evaded him for years. He was appreciative and excited and later demonstrated it to his students...and that was the end of it. To the best of my knowledge, he and his students never practiced it again. They conducted class in my gong-fu school and I watched them to see what they did with applications of their kata.

And what they did is what I fear most people do; they excitedly practiced them, but only for a few minutes and then it was all over. This is not how it is to be done. The applications are there for a reason – so that you can learn and be able to apply these gems in actual self-defense. And unless they are practiced repeatedly, that's not going to happen.

Once you discover an application that you like, you need to practice it frequently, over and over...and you must envision its application whenever you perform the form in which it appears. Otherwise, you'll never be able to utilize it for its intended purpose.