Full range of motion is a good way to practice. Add a weapon and it would be impractical to use the shorter moves anyway; so, my guess is that these styles developed from weapons training.As far as I can tell most northern Chinese systems utilize really "long" moves and stances that seem to transcend practicality. I have been told that we use long stances simply to increase the exercise benefits and power of our legs. But what about all the long blocks that seem to take forever to get to where they are going? I try to understand the applications of all the moves in the forms I learn and I can use (or at least understand how to use) most of them, but it seems like it would be far better to shorten them 90% of the time. Yet so many systems use the idea of long techniques, so they must have some practical purpose right? Anyone have any ideas?
Sean