<< Click to Display Table of Contents >> Navigation:  Forms and Sets > Form 4 > Frequently Asked Questions > Why are there some maneuvers in Form Four that are executed in a non-practical manner?

As mentioned in other areas of this guide and the other books in this series, the forms fall into the basics division of the system. The moving basics to be more specific. Therefore, it would be reasonable to conclude that all of the maneuvers in the forms would be executed practically and realistically. This conclusion would not be entirely true. The answer as to why this is so, is important to understand.

 

Although the vast majority of the maneuvers within the forms are executed in such a manner as to be considered practical and effective, there are a few that are not. And, some would be considered impossible to be executed on an opponent. This is not a mistake nor an oversight. This is done purposely, intentionally, and for reasons that are not obvious to the casual observer or the student practitioner.

 

In order to understand one major reason for this practice, one must be exposed to the era when the forms were created. This was a time of introduction of the martial arts to the masses. Prior to this era the martial arts were a mostly private and/or family oriented practice, with little exposure to the general public. This was due to the historic nature of the martial arts in most areas of the world. At that time martial arts were considered dangerous to the ruling class, due to the potential of revolt and disagreement with government. Martial arts gave the population a weapon that could be used to aid in conflict. Therefore, it was either discouraged and/or out-rightly banned.

 

Because of this history, most martial arts were kept underground and not taught to the general public. The Americas after WWII was one of the first places that a change to this historic practice was initiated. As a matter of fact, Mr. Parker drew a lot of criticism from certain areas for teaching the art of Kenpo to anyone who was willing to learn. This practice was considered almost heretical at the time.

 

It was at this time the Mr. Parker began to develop the forms for his new, modern system of self-defense. With that, Mr. Parker knew that the forms were the most publicly exposed section of the system. This was because the forms were often performed in tournaments, where everyone could watch and potentially learn from the movements. Because of this, Mr. Parker came to the decision that the information of specific maneuvers should be obfuscated from the casual observer. This was specifically done to hide certain information. If the casual observer were to watch the performance of the form, the "real" information of the maneuver would be obscured from them.

 

With that decision, specific maneuvers would be executed in a manner that would be less effective or impractical. The observer would therefore not be able to take or understand that information.

 

Another major reason for the practice of non-practical maneuvers is that the forms are designed to follow specific rules of directionality. For instance, if one were to start a pattern such as a plus (+), one needs to finish this pattern before moving onto a new pattern, such as an x. The existence of this requirement forces maneuvers to follow that directive, and therefore may lead to maneuvers executed to specific angles that are not always considered optimal.

 

And, yet another reason for impractical maneuvers is that the forms follow specific sets of themes. Because of this, certain maneuvers may be executed in a manner or timing to highlight or conform to a specific theme, rather than concentrate solely on effectiveness of each individual maneuver. One may interpret this as the whole being the goal of conveying information, over each individual maneuver.

 

If one were to execute the form in the "standard" manner - the manner as laid out and taught within the system, one would be said to execute the form in its stylized manner. But this is not the only manner in which a form may be executed. One may choose to bypass any of the above mentioned reasons for impracticality of maneuvers and execute each and every maneuver in an effective and real-world manner. If one were to choose to do this, the form would be considered a modification of the "standard" and would therefore be considered to be performed in a realistic manner, rather than a stylistic manner.

 

And, although this is rarely done as stated here, it might be a good exercise for the practitioner to take on as a personal goal into exploration of the forms and maneuvers.