"Signifying" Short Form Two
Signifying (or signing) is a hand gesture that is displayed prior to executing a form. In the case of Short Form Two, the sign is two fingers (the index finger and middle finger) bent in half and lay on top of the other opened hand (the backstop hand). This hand maneuver is typically done from an attention stance; displayed at waist level, facing front (i.e. perpendicular to the ground); and executed prior to the salutation. The backstop hand is positioned palm forward and fingers pointing to the ground. The signifying hand is placed perpendicular across the backstop hand, finger(s) pointing to the side, and palm facing the backstop hand.
The history of signifying a form comes from the early competition days (prior to the 1970‘s). At this time, the participant was not allowed to talk to the presiding judges. So, to inform the audience and judges as to which form was to be executed, the signification was added at the beginning. Also, the display was shown on both sides of the body, so as to cover a 180 degree radius.