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As mentioned at various points throughout this book, Form Four was initially designed to be the last form of the system. But this decision was quickly rescinded and forms such as Form Five (and above) were added to the system and are often referred to as the extension forms. Yet Form Four was still conceptually considered to be the last "major" progression of the system.

 

From a conceptual point of view, the threes primarily constituted an exploration into applied attacks (e.g. hugs, holds, grabs, chokes, locks, etc.), while Form Four primarily dealt with in-flight attacks (e.g. punches, kicks, etc.). This left the system open to explore other areas of defense. In Form Five, this consists of take-downs, being out of position, hanging hands, etc.

 

If one were to take a closer look at the conceptual advancements in Form Five, they would see that these advancements are not as monumental as the prior advancements. Important, but not as monumental.

 

To denote this shift in importance, it was decided that one way to quickly display this change within the forms, was through the salutation. Prior to this point, the backstop hand of the salutation would only be touched by the signifying hand if the practitioner was modifying the "standard" execution of the form. It was decided that all the forms above Form Four would have the signifying hand touch the backstop hand to highlight this "extension" or "modification" to the base system.

 

Over time, the reason for this practice has become more and more obscure to the everyday practitioner. One could arguably present that this practice is no longer needed nor practical, but rather a vestigial remnant that is now just a physical footnote of history that should be eliminated, and is only done for the sake of tradition. And, as time progresses forward this argument gains more and more weight.

 

For more information on this subject, see "The Salutation" portion of this or prior books in this series.