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At first, the forms are very basic and simplistic. The maneuvers very rudimentary and staccato in nature. Yes, they combine upper and lower body movements together, but they do it in a very elementary way. But, as a practitioner advances through the system, they begin to learn new forms. Each one slightly more complex than the previous one. Each systematically building upon its predecessor. That is until they get to Short Form Three. Short Form Three is a distinctly different form. Comparatively speaking, it is fluid and dynamic: It is memorable and easy to perform. In short, it gives the impression of a huge physical leap forward in the forms. One is left with the anticipation of where this new direction will continue to evolve.

 

But then comes Long Form Three. It does not give the impression of continued advancement. Rather, quite the opposite. It gives the impression of a step backward in sophistication. Compared to Short Form Three, Long Form Three has a clunky and not very fluid feel. To understand why this is, one must take a step back from the myopic view of "feel" of a form and understand, just what the purpose of a forms is, and specifically the purpose of Long Form Three.

 

By design, each form covers a specific set of informational topics, with each set of topics building upon the previous set. Simultaneously, the "moving basics" also continue to grow in sophistication. The lower body and upper body coordination becoming ever more complex and nuanced. This is also coupled with the fact that long forms expand upon the same information presented in the short forms. But sometimes, these multiple goals don't always smoothly coincide with one another. Sometimes, one goal takes precedence over another goal. In the case of Long Form Three, completing an informational set, before moving forward takes precedence over some of the other goals of the forms.

 

As stated elsewhere in this guide, a major theme of Long Form Three is the exploration into applied (dead) and minor in-flight (semi-live) aggressions. This is a direct continuation and expansion of the subject matter which was started in Short Form Three. But this is a large area of study. How does one fit such substantial volume of information into a single form, if one is to move forward onto new topics in subsequent forms? A choice needs to be made, finish the subject matter in this single form, or let the theme pour over into future forms. The choice is obvious, finish what was started in a single form. Let the future forms concentrate on new and more advanced areas of study and maneuvers without being bogged down with topics that should have already been concluded.

 

To accomplish this goal, Long Form Three needed to concentrate information in as few moves as possible. Otherwise, a long form would become an extremely long. The way to succeed in this venture is to move a lot of information (and therefore maneuvers) into isolation sequences. These specialized maneuver sequences are designed to provide just that purpose: show new information, provide missing information, or demonstrate previews of information to come. The isolation sequences of Long Form Three would focus on taking advantage the first two items. Also, to further concentrate the information in the isolation sequences, specific maneuvers could be purposely omitting or purposely combined into more efficient sequences.

 

At this point, it must be noted that this ambition could not have been aided by Short Form Three. This is because short forms, by definition, do not have isolation sequences. Also, the required maneuver information is not as effectively demonstrated in the self-defense techniques. Therefore, adding isolation sequences to Long Form Three was clearly not only the easiest, but best choice.

 

But there is one major problem with isolation sequences. By definition, isolation sequences are commonly done while in a horse stance, where the opposite end of the body executes its maneuver sequence without interference from the other end. Without question, isolation sequences are not typically considered dynamic or compellingly fluid movement. Yet, it must be done. Otherwise, there is no way that this amount of information will fit into the form without making it needlessly long. Plus, another benefit to this approach is that the information being highlighted in this manner also allows for the co-advancement of another major theme of the form - circles and lines.

 

As mentioned earlier, many of these maneuvers are not as effectively demonstrated in any of the self-defense techniques. So, unless a new crop of self-defense techniques is created specifically for these forms, it is best to demonstrate these maneuvers outside of the self-defense division and in their proper division - basics. Because, admittedly, these maneuvers are essentially basics. Basics demonstrated within the context of a form, rather than being highlighted as individual maneuvers. In all reality, they could be pulled out of the form and highlighted as individual basics. But instead, it was determined that these basics were best demonstrated as an integral part of a larger context of information. And through proper instruction, the practitioner would be made aware that these basics are the same as the ones highlighted as individual maneuvers; just demonstrated within a slightly altered circumstance. But ultimately, each instance, individual or isolation, is maintained within the same division of the art - the basics.

 

Next, these isolation maneuvers may be executed in a sequenced manner, due to their close logical relationship to a specific topic, but they are not qualified, nor intended to be, self-defense techniques. Self-defense is intentionally a different division of the art, with different purposes and goals. At best, these isolation sequences could be construed as a single maneuver, or potentially a short maneuver sequence, as part of a self-defense technique. To think of them otherwise is to mis-understand their fundamental design.

 

Looked at from a higher perspective, the threes are a mid-level topic study that is concluded in Long Form Three; leaving the future forms free to move onto other areas of study. As a result of systematic design, Short Form Three ends up being a more fluid and in some ways dynamic form, with Long Form Three taking on the duties of finishing up this particular area of study. This responsibility comes at the prospective cost of continued advancement in physical sophistication as the forms progress. But this advancement is only slightly affected, because many elements of the form do indeed have a perpetuation of the physical advancement anticipated. This is just not expressed throughout the form as a whole.

 

Finally, one must keep in mind that there are multiple themes embodied within Long Form Three. And, although the singular theme illustrated above is satisfied by the three's, one or more of the other themes may not be entirely concluded. This situation exposes the fact that not only do long forms expand upon short forms, there do exist other themes that span a multitude of forms. In other words, themes do not have a defined limit of which or how many forms they may be expressed within. Themes can, and do, span as many forms as needed to satisfy the tenet(s) of the theme.