In studying Chinese lit., I've noticed a strong tendency among the Chinese to want to take everything that's good and collect it in one spot so that they can forget about the rest. The Huainan-zi was an attempt by a king and group of scholars to collect all the good literature in history. Almost two thousand years later, the Qianlong Emperor's Siku Quanshu project was basically the same.
I think this might be part of the mode of thinking which drove CMAists to want to compile everything into one or three or five long forms, rather than having 300 short combinations--despite the fact that I find short combinations are generally easier to learn, polish and apply. Of course, there's also an element of cardio training in long Longfist forms or training of the qi in Taiji, et. al.
What senses do we lack that we cannot see or hear another world all around us?
--The Orange Catholic Bible