Lady Redcoat is off to America for two weeks to fight at the BJJ Worlds, which has got me feeling the competition buzz again. Sparring is out because of my hips, as are flips (so no creative or musical forms), and I'm not that good with weapons. That pretty much only leaves traditional forms. I'll be doing the open circuit, therefore I need a form which is visually appealing. I can't do a high kicking form like Moon-moo until my hips are fixed. I will probably be competing against people who can kick (and kick well), so I'll have to compensate with solid techniques, strength and fluidity. I've narrowed it down to two candidates: 1) the non-sine wave version of Po-Eun from Taekwondo (first video), or 2) Tekki-Shodan from Karate. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g60rfVvsCY4[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f7HgytYwn0[/ame] Imagine you were a judge; which would you score higher based on how "good" it looks? Thank you. (Yes, Americans can vote too.)
for looks i'd probably go with po-eun. tis fancier. but for that type of form, shotokan's sochin would be my choice, and it's simple so easy to learn from video if need be.
Being that forms are really stupid, the second one looked less stupid. The first guy was flailing his arms like he was an alternate dancer the Spice Girls. What the hell is the sine wave?
If you're open to Shotokan forms , and why wouldn't you ? , I'd go with Bassai dai [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXPZFarJMh0"]Bassai Dai - Shotokan Karate - YouTube[/ame] For me it's a good dynamic kata with plenty of fast to slow transitions that the Americans seem to like , no big kicks has more to it than tekki. *Edit* I'd forgotten about Sochin , ,nice one fishy
from the passai series, i'm partial to the older variants myself (tomari passai, matsumura passai et al): https://youtu.be/2-Km9rm8T48 there's also goju ryu and ryuei ryu with some cool ones that are nice to do in comps: https://youtu.be/0ap2zEmdFxU https://youtu.be/o0XoYIuAi6k
Fixed that for you If you're interested in form over substance so you can win a forms competition just grab wushu. That's what it's there for.
Po-Eun (which is my favourite pattern) but release your innner Smeathers. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWGgjfrhdrI"]Taekwon-Do Patterns Po-Eun - YouTube[/ame] Are your kicks up to Eui-am? [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAiZgm9KpTI"]Taekwon-Do Patterns Eui-am - YouTube[/ame] Yoo-Sin too long for competition? It's got some nice twiddly bits and the kicking is limited. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVQ4syoN2go"]2014 TAGB South East Taekwondo Championships Mathew Cook Yoo Sin - YouTube[/ame] Mitch
If your hips are good enough for low stances you could take something like this and just clip out the kicks and acrobatics. [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_1B9RP7E3U"]Wushu Nan Quan 1 - YouTube[/ame]
Chinese forms are always so dynamic. But I should have specified - I'll be competing in traditional hard style forms.
For Po Eun I'd also really emphasise the timing, even more than Mr Smeathers does; There are three speeds and you need to show them very clearly, especially the slow-mo stuff, the American competition scene seems to go crazy for that. Plus having a facial expression like a constipated snake, stamping a lot and shouting. Ye Gods. Mitch
In the open circuit, "hard style" is pretty much limited to karate only, with some organisations permitting Korean forms. Chinese martial arts tend to have their own category, or none at all.
Grunt more and scream at random intervals. You'll either win the gold or Fish will sidle up to you thinking it's mating season for his species :evil:
Aye. As much as I love to wind up Americans, I begrudgingly admit they have the best open circuit. As such, I'm leaning towards Antonio Diaz's Bassai-Dai for being more suitable.
Check out some of the more traditional karate stuff like pangai noon. No high kicks and very strong, hard, explosive movements [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MKzNwlNgPw"]Pangai Noon Karate - Vol. II Primary Methods & Kata pt 2 - YouTube[/ame]