Three of the core training methods in my Hung Gar training have been static stance work, technique drills, and repetitions of forms. Over the years that I've trained in Kung Fu, I have heard lots of people from various martial arts backgrounds wonder about, debate, and even flatly ridicule these training methods.
In general the arguments against standing in a stance, repeatedly doing a technique drill without an opponent, and repeating forms boil down to the idea that these things are not "training to fight." Honestly, if there is not some sort of sparring going on along with these things, there is a lot missing when it comes down to fight training, but each of these things plays an important role in Hung Gar training.
In regards to static stance training, which involves standing in one position for an extended period of time I have heard lots of strong arguments against it and mostly weak arguments in favor of it. Those who say it is a waste of time say that one should be practicing movement, not standing still, and that the stances are useless in "a real fight." I've even had one instructor who said that no one actually uses the stances, they are just for leg strengthening. Is stance training a waste of time? Most people in favor of stance training talk about leg strengthening and self discipline training. Personally, as someone who has managed to hold a one hour horse stance, I can say it does train the self discipline, but there are better ways to train leg strength. Standing in stance develops muscular endurance, but doesn't increase the amount of force the legs can apply much, and doesn't develop explosive power from the legs. Honestly, I get more benefit in those arenas from running than from standing in stance. The purpose for stance training goes back to that guy who told me that nobody uses the stances. Standing in stance does the same thing that the swimming drills I am working on for my triathlon training do. It imprints a position. It teaches the body to remember the exact, proper position one should end up in when doing the movements dynamically. The reason so few people really use the stances is that few people have done enough stance training to properly imprint the positions into their mind so that they come automatically and effortlessly.
Technique drills in Hung Gar are drills of a movement or short combination, done repeatedly, with an abrupt stop at the end of each movement. The arguments against again touch on the "real world" use. People say that in a fight you don't freeze with each movement. The reason for these drills again is the use to imprint the proper technique. This time, the stances move dynamically, so you are training explosive power of the whole body. If you have trained your stances, then when you train a new drill, your stances are already ingrained in your mind. You can start and stop in the right stances, all that is left is to train the technique, building up from the foundation of those stance drills.
Forms training builds up from the drills. In a Hung Gar form an entire collection of techniques is strung together. Some of stances are held for a period of time, some of the movements are done slowly with tension for strengthening purposes, and there are combinations strung together. Doing the forms properly, slowly, building on the imprinting done in stancework and drills further develops the ability to move accurately, correctly, and explosively.
Once sparring is added on top of this, one should be able to use the techniques and stances in sparring. In sparring, they become live and dynamic, they lose the abrupt stops and the freeze frames. The importance of stances is no longer in standing in them, but landing in them for a brief moment when a technique is performed. To make this happen, to make one's fighting techniques powerful and true to the system, a lot of imprinting is required.
