Form In Combat Sports

Lexi Shelley

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Form is essential in any combat sport. Whether it's a kick or a punch, a person's form can help them become better at transitioning from one technique to another. Form can also help develop a smooth flow in fighting movements. This is something many fighters need to know about and be able to do effortlessly.

Combat sports that are standing, such as Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Judo, ect., will start a match or sparring by getting into a specific stance. Most coaches will call this "squaring up" or "square up," meaning to get into an angled stance so that the opponent will have to deal with less surface area to make hits, causing more power behind offensive hits. Having good form would mean having a fair fight. Someone with bad form should not be fighting until they learn the proper stance. A person who is in a fight, without the proper training or form, could receive serious injuries and it would not be a fair fight.

There are numerous forms, but the one most people are familiar with is squaring up. Other forms include Kata, which is a form used in Koryu Jiu Jitsu. Kata is a pre-arranged form composed of certain techniques that are performed in a sequence to counter other techniques. All of the forms of combat sports can help a person better themselves at fighting.