Steel Tiger
Senior Master
OK, this one is actually hard to describe even though I suspect we have all seen it.
When you watch a new student going through a form have you noticed that their hands and feet seem to not be part of what they are doing? Its like they know a move is a punch but cannot really define it because there is no target. The end result is a hand that sort flops around on the end of an arm. My teacher describes this as not focusing to the end of the fingers.
Of course, with most practitioners this effect disappears with time, practice, and understanding, but for some it is always there. I have been watching some Youtube vids of gongfu forms and I see it time and again from people who are performing quite complex forms, suggesting quite some time in training, but, it would seem, little development of understanding.
One of the examples that brought this to mind was seeing sifu Lily Lau doing an Eagle Claw form and then seeing another teacher doing the same form. The difference was striking. Lau sifu had strength and poise in her form while the other chap didn't. Hand strikes were being retracted before they reached their proper extension (not full just proper), and kicks all seemed to be accompanied by jumps and hops. Everything had a strange light touch which made it all look like a dance.
This tendency leads me to understand why so many people are down on forms. And if this is the only exposure to MAs they get then they are going to be down on any style that uses forms in training.
When you watch a new student going through a form have you noticed that their hands and feet seem to not be part of what they are doing? Its like they know a move is a punch but cannot really define it because there is no target. The end result is a hand that sort flops around on the end of an arm. My teacher describes this as not focusing to the end of the fingers.
Of course, with most practitioners this effect disappears with time, practice, and understanding, but for some it is always there. I have been watching some Youtube vids of gongfu forms and I see it time and again from people who are performing quite complex forms, suggesting quite some time in training, but, it would seem, little development of understanding.
One of the examples that brought this to mind was seeing sifu Lily Lau doing an Eagle Claw form and then seeing another teacher doing the same form. The difference was striking. Lau sifu had strength and poise in her form while the other chap didn't. Hand strikes were being retracted before they reached their proper extension (not full just proper), and kicks all seemed to be accompanied by jumps and hops. Everything had a strange light touch which made it all look like a dance.
This tendency leads me to understand why so many people are down on forms. And if this is the only exposure to MAs they get then they are going to be down on any style that uses forms in training.