No form is devoid of esoteric and erroneous movement. You can't physically create a form that is perfect.
Assuming a form is right and the rest of reality just doesn't understand it well enough. Is the difference between a form and a drill. And in my opinion backwards.
A martial arts evolution is driven by its practitioners and students. Not its founders.
Just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean it is esoteric, erroneous or obtuse. A true fighting form is simply a collection of drills put together in a long drill as a method of remembering individual components that number too greatly to retain as individual pieces.
The idea of "forms" today in TCMA as stylized, written in stone rituals is a product of turn of the 20th century British influenced Hong Kong, opera stuff. Traditional TCMA "forms" we're linked drills and referred to as frame training.
Drills contain movement, posture, principle, mechanics etc. Real forms do the same, only in greater number. A real form contains all the pertinent & salient information of a developed method. It's basics, strategy, mechanics, principles etc. It is simply a linked collection of drills as compared to possessing 50 or more loose ones. This is for ease of remembrance and as reference. They can be performed in a variety of manners.
There are many reasons as to why forms are misunderstood, mostly due to ignorance of what it truly is. Most practitioners misinterpret or really don't understand what they are doing and make things up or outright ignore the issue, clinging to tradition. A form in no way dictates how one should "act" in realistic application. Too many strive to mimic the choreography of a form thinking that the way presented is the way it must be in order for it to be correct. In example, the Seisan Kata, at its base it is composed of 13 techniques. Depending on the system the choreography, number of other techniques, repetition, footwork etc. is different, but they all share the 13 methods from which the form derives its name. How those methods are linked is due to personal interpretation, innovation, evolution etc. of the choreographer.
In times past, the teacher would instruct the student in the 13 methods, & and the student would develop a "form" based on their understanding of those methods as a way of remembering them.
A fighting form is an encyclopedia of drills, and should be nothing more. A vast collection of different methods isn't necessary for self defense. Professional boxing uses about 7 strikes, most MMA practitioners employ less than 20 different techniques when fighting, most Olympic judoka use less than 15 techniques in competition.
The sad truth is most martial artists who practice forms have no real inkling about what they are doing. Many rely on creating or collecting "drills" from elsewhere to compensate for the lack of understanding. Chalk it up to ignorance, rank chasing, money bilking, mcdojo, or poor instruction, whatever, this doesn't mean forms are useless.
Instruction through drills is essentially a form, especially if those drills are repeatedly used because they garner results.
Evolving and devolving go hand in hand, convolution of practicality and simplicity often lead to confusion. Founders leave an idea of their understanding of a method for future generations via forms. Ideally over time real systems accumulate more forms due to evolution of an idea, specialization or integration. Mcdojos have a variety to win medals at tournaments and impress with acrobatics in demos. This is why some systems have a plethora of forms. Pick one that agrees with your ideas, forget the others, advanced knowledge of numerous methods of combat isn't necessary for practical defense. A Jack of all trades is a master of none.
