1)

Form Four contains a large number of places where you stand up with feet together and hands down.

A major theme, in this case the theme stance, of Form Four is the natural stance. This stance occurs many places within the form, in both a sustained and (more commonly) a transitional manner.

2)

Form Four concentrates on overlapping circular motion combinations.

A major theme of Form Four is an exploration into (upper body) overlapping circular motions. This is commonly referred to as the figure 8.

3)

Form Four is often referred to as the heart of American Kenpo.

This moniker comes about because of the advanced nature of the form, the density of information contained within the form, and one of the major themes of the form being intersecting circular motions (aka figure 8). The combination of these elements places Form Four as a very key form within the system as a whole, thus giving it the name "the heart of American Kenpo". It is often said that if a practitioner can understand and explain a good deal of information contained within the form and execute the form in a competent manner, they are deserving of a black belt in American Kenpo.

4)

Form Four concentrates upon the theme of major in-flight attacks.

The theme of major in-flight attacks (a.k.a. live attacks) concentration derives from the fact that Form Four continues and expands upon the complimentary themes introduced in the lower forms (the Three's). This is important because this fact helps reinforce the relationship between forms from a systematic perspective.

5)

Form Four can generally be thought of as being divided in two sections.

Form Four is commonly divided into two "halves": the first half starting at the beginning of the form and the second half starting at Isolation Sequence #2. This is generally done as an aid to analyzing the information contained within the form.

6)

Isolation Sequence #1a has a distinct transitional foot maneuver at the end.

The Isolation Sequence #1a closes with what appears to be a standard closing upper and lower body maneuver (adhering to the theme stance of the form), but is actually the opposite foot maneuver to the opening and closing of the form.

7)

Darting Leaves is not part of the self-defense curriculum.

Darting Leaves is demonstrated within Form Four but is not part of the self-defense curriculum. This is not the only instance of this being done, but it is the first.

8)

Isolation Sequence #2 of Form Four faces the rear.

The isolation pattern of Form Four, is such that the first isolation faces forward and the second isolation faces the rear. This not only demonstrates an isolation facing the opposite direction (front / rear), but expands upon isolation directions of Long Form Three.

9)

The Salutation is integrated into the form

The closing sequence of Form Four introduces the integration of the salutation maneuvers into the form itself. This demonstrates the adage that American Kenpo should not contain any meaningless motion.

10)

Form Four expands upon the foot maneuvers of previous forms.

One major addition to the expansion of the foot maneuvers is that Form Four adds the hopping switch to the catalog of switches demonstrated in Long Form Three. The hopping switch is demonstrated in Bowing to Buddha (kneeling).