Form or Function First?

I was reading a post from a HEMA blog, “Guy Windsor; Function first, then form. Finding seconda with the rapier” the other day and it reminded me how often this came up when I was first learning how to fight. I learned all of the Kenpo Karate basics, kata (forms), and techniques for each belt level. My instructors would always insist on the low horse stances, hard bows and soft bows. It was a good workout and all of the moves seemed to work better with good form.

Fast forward to sparring training later and I soon discovered that that function was more important than form. That is not to say that form was no longer important but my focus was mostly on connecting with attacks or not getting hit on defense! Having a good functional reverse punch that fully extended, where possible, was key no matter what my stance looked like. I would improve my form over time but hitting him/her was key!

I recall one time (1978) when a couple of Tang Soo Do fighters came over to my instructor’s Tracy’s Karate Studio in San Diego and wanted to have a friendly challenge with our fighters. I was only a brown belt at the time but I was happy to oblige as it was fun to fight marital artists of different styles.