Form Four is a logical progression of a foundation that was firmly set in Short Form One. This progression is a consistent advancement in complexity that originally culminated in Form Four, but was later expanded upon by subsequent forms.
This is in direct contrast to the sets. The sets are not forms. They differ in both purpose and makeup. Although, they both are part of the same division within the system - Basics. This is why some practitioners incorrectly conflate forms and sets together. But, the purpose of a set, in direct contrast to a form, is to investigate very limited classifications of information. Always, a single basic category or single concept. Although the sets are purposely ordered to start with the more elementary and progress to the more complex, this is not a key feature of their objective within the system. Rather, just a mechanism for placing a specific set at the most appropriate place in a practitioner's progression within the art.
A practitioner's first impression of Form Four may be its length. It is the longest form in the system - only rivaled by Form Seven. If executed at a competitive pace and intensity, one will definitely feel the exhaustion of such an expenditure of energy. Yet, it is an enjoyable form to perform - and to watch being performed. This aspect of the form primarily owes its expression to one of the major themes of the form, intersecting circles. Also known as the figure 8. This gives the form an impression of a more continuous flow of motion, as compared to the lower forms. Only Form Six can be said to be more fluid. The emphasis on circular motion interspersed with linear adjuncts is a common characteristic of both forms. And, although Short Form Three is an attractive form to watch, by most practitioner's standards, it does not rival Form Four. And, it is too short for competition as a higher ranked practitioner.
For many advanced practitioners, Form Four is the "go to" competition form. So popular, in fact, that many practitioners only use it as a backup form, in case of a tie. It's just that popular. One does not want to compete directly against a large number of other competitors all doing the exact same form. So, many practitioners choose another form as their primary competition form. Usually, Form Six. Or, simply modify Form Four for competition.
And this is where many variations to Form Four arise. Its popularity is also its major weak point. How does this happen? Very frankly put, a practitioner will modify Form Four for competition purposes; then teach some or all of those alterations to their students. Therefore, essentially changing the form from its original intent. No malice intended. In fact, an "improvement" from their perspective. But, then again, with no thought about the unintended consequences to the system and its longevity.
Needless to say, that variations are an important topic that needs to be addressed. Although the purpose of this book is not to document the many variations, throughout certain segments of this guide some accommodations are made for very common ones. For instance, in the written illustration section of this chapter, the text header "Variation" is used. This header is designed to designate a specific point in the form where one may find execution of the form one way, and the same execution section demonstrated a different way. But there will only be a "standard" method that is both textually and graphically represented. The variation, in contrast, will only be represented within the text. There will be no graphical representation. This is primarily due to an attempt to keep the contents of this book down to a reasonable size for the reader. Furthermore, an entire chapter of this book is dedicated to discuss this subject in a more complete manner. That chapter is aptly named "Variations".
The major goal of this chapter is to document the originally intended execution, from a first-generation standpoint. But even this simple objective proves to be a difficult undertaking. This arises from the fact that even the first-generation students had to interpret, study, and remember what was taught to them. No one person is perfect, and Form Four is a long and detailed form. To make matters worse, very few individuals got explicit and comprehensive corrections from Mr. Parker himself. And, of those, even fewer got meticulous corrections about Form Four. And finally, unfortunately Mr. Parker is no longer available to be the final voice on his creation.
Therefore, this chapter attempts to create an amalgam of the first-generation's understandings and execution into a "standard". It is not directly tied to any specific first-generation lineage. Instead, it tries to "walk the tightrope" between all the lineages; using a keen understanding of the input, combined with a thorough understanding of the design of American Kenpo as the final judgment. Every attempt was made to leave out the subjective, but rather rely upon the objective. Again, arrived at from a whole system perspective, not just as an individual form.
This point of view was specifically chosen due to the interconnectedness of the forms as a whole and the forms to the rest of the system. From this perspective, an overall design emerges, projecting a broader view on the basics, themes, and other selected components which comprise the forms. Details that are skillfully designed to fit together as a whole. This primarily encompasses the forms, but also dovetails into other parts of the system. A more comprehensive detailing of this information can be referenced within the "Analysis" chapter of this book. It is this data that was one of the major determining factors for deriving the following illustrated "standard".