FORM AND DANCE

 by Phillip Starr

Have you ever noticed that many (perhaps even most) kung-fu forms, with the exception of taijiquan, tend to move much too fast? The practitioners seem to be hurrying through their set(s), as if they're overly-anxious to finish it. They blaze through their forms at high speed and each individual movement seems to melt into the next movement before it's been fully completed. And although they seem to be moving in fast-forward, the power of their techniques is severely lacking...like the guy who claims that he can hit his opponent 10 times in one second. He demonstrates what he believes to be masterful skill and manages to beat the clock but none of his techniques would have landed with enough force to even redden his opponent's skin! Cute but not really martial art.

Then there's the opposite end of the spectrum...enter taijiquan. Usually performed at a much slower pace to encourage students to feel and develop certain body movements (which they would likely never develop if they began learning the form at top speed), relaxation, and other facets of the art, they very rarely encourage their followers to move beyond this stage.

It's essential to bear in mind that the form is, after all, a self-defense situation involving multiple (imaginary) opponents, armed and/or unarmed. If you plan to survive, you must be aware of certain important points:

• Combat is never rhythmical. It doesn't maintain a nice, even beat like disco. If you plod through the form at the same rhythmical pace, you're training yourself to respond to actual attacks in the same manner. And if you do that, a real violent encounter will turn you into a common breakfast food very quickly...toast.

• Of course, real attacks don't occur in slow motion...

• You WILL respond to actual combat conditions IN THE SAME MANNER in which you train. Always bear this principle in mind.

  

Each form has its own rhythm. That's how they're intended to be practiced.