Long Form Three is a very unusual and distinct American Kenpo form. It is considered one of the upper, intermediate to higher forms; but its presentation is not as fluidly executed as the other forms of this classification. This causes Long Form Three to rarely be chosen as anyone's personal favorite form. Even compared to its shorter version, Short Form Three, it gives off a more clunky and staccato feeling when executed.
But the question that is rarely asked or answered is, why? Why does the performance of Long Form Three not flow as smoothly as its brethren forms? Why does it give off the impression of being a lower form? The answer is not very complicated, but in order to answer it, one must first have a fairly good understanding of motion along with the willingness to put some effort into the answer.
But first, one should ask another usually unasked question: what is the purpose of Long Form Three? Obviously, since it is a long form, that means it extends the general information presented in the short version - Short Form Three. And this brings up still another question: why is Long Form Three the only upper form with a short version? Yet another rabbit hole to explore. But this specific question will not be answered in this guide, it is better suited for a future form.
By now one should be coming to the understanding that Long Form Three is not as simple as it appears to be on the surface. A lot of thought, understanding, and exploration of motion went into its creation. And, the answers to the questions presented will hopefully unwind a great deal of the effort that went into this endeavor.
First, as mentioned earlier, Long Form Three expands upon the general major theme of Short Form Three, applied (dead) attacks, otherwise referred to in layman's terms as grabs (locks, chokes, holds, etc..). Long Form Three is designed to conclude this theme so that the higher forms can move on to other areas of consideration and exploration.
But applied (dead) attacks is a relatively large subject, one which was only started in Short Form Three. So, how do you get this volume of remaining information into a form without making it extremely long while also sticking to the self-defense design started in Short Form Three? As a quick aside, this subject is equivalent to multiple categories of attack as presented within the Web of Knowledge (refer to "Infinite Insights series, Volume 5").
First, one must not be hung up on having to do all the same self-defense techniques presented in the short form. Those self-defense techniques served their purpose in that form, and if they don't serve a useful purpose in this form, they should be replaced with a new self-defense technique that better suits the requirements. This is why a large number of self-defense techniques present in Short Form Three are not part of Long Form Three.
Next, as much as possible, combine self-defense techniques together that logically go together, and then only present those maneuvers from the self-defense techniques that are actually needed to demonstrate the information the form is designed to highlight. In other words, when possible and practical, remove maneuvers that don't further the form's goals and concentrate the information between self-defense techniques by demonstrating them as a single unit.
Finally, use isolation sequences to distill the information being presented even further. Use specifically chosen maneuvers to fill in the blanks and missing information. Use a lot of them. But this presents a potential problem: isolation sequences, by definition, require that the practitioner immobilize their upper body from their lower body during the execution of the chosen maneuvers. In this case, no foot maneuvers during the Isolation's execution. Thus, long amounts of time in a single stance - the horse. This results in an overall performance that is not very flowing or fluid. But this is only half the answer as to Long Form Three's irregular execution predicament.
When one begins the study of motion, one of the first conclusions that they will come to is that there are really only two (2) paths any object in the environment can travel on, linear or circular. Anything else can just be described as a combination of these two (2) paths. The Universal Pattern (refer to "Infinite Insights series, Volume 4") is intended to be a graphical representation of this concept. One major element of Its design, is to display the concept: where a line ends a circle begins and where a circle ends a line begins. So, how does this fit into this overview of Long Form Three?
One of Long Form Three's other themes is a study of maneuvers traveling on circles and lines and their transition from one to the other. In other words, it begins to physically explore this major concept presented in the Universal Pattern. But, Long Form Three is not unique to this theme. The higher forms also continue to expand upon this examination. But what makes Long Form Three unique in this study is that it concentrates on lines as the primary path of travel. The higher forms, on the other hand, switch to circles as their primary path of travel. And again, by definition, linear motion tends to be far less fluid when combined together with other linear motion. In contrast, circular motion is the path of flow and smoothness. But, like most things in life, circular motion has a downside. Circular motion, by definition, has a longer path of travel than linear motion.
The combination of these two (2) factors: the large number of horse stances for demonstrating isolation sequences and a predominance of linear motion over circular motion results in Long Form Three's less than fluid characteristics. This is a necessary outcome in order to fulfill the lofty goals laid out for Long Form Three.
One other interesting piece of information about Long Form Three needs be called out at this point. Due to the concentration of information presented in the form, accompanied with its large subject matter, there have been a number of changes to the form since its original creation. These alterations came about with further observations and re-examination of movement after it was originally taught to a number of students; students who asked questions and made poignant observations. These changes were adopted, but considered an option for any of the students who already learned the form in its initial rendition. The result: Long Form Three has the greatest number of "correct" ways in which it can be executed. This subject will be explored further in other chapters of this guide.
In summary, Long Form Three is a form that holds a unique position in the American Kenpo system: In many respects, it can be considered the nexus point between the lower forms and the higher forms, having many characteristics of both. And, although it is typically categorized with the higher forms, it physically reminds us that even though we mentally create a dividing line, there are always gray areas that need to be considered and weighed into any assessment. Possibly even to the point of causing us to adjust that dividing line, or even completely removing it.