Originally Posted by
Yao Sing
I'm not so sure I buy into that. It has always bugged me when the app doesn't look like the form. Either the app is wrong or the form is wrong. I don't think forms were purposely modified to hide the apps.
Maybe for public performance but certainly not when teaching your students.
This is somewhat true with PM, but not really true for LF. PM forms generally don't try to hide the applications, though there are sometimes extra applications hidden within them that may take some thought or guidance to find. LF forms on the other hand are usually performed in a very extended fashion that isn't very realistic. They also will include high-flying kick combinations designed to increase strength, agility and coordination, but which you wouldn't likely use as-is in a fight. This serves a training purpose (train long, use short) and also is designed to hide the applications from casual observers. Longfist forms are full of qinna and throws, but unless you've got a lot of experience (as Youknowwho does), they look mostly like a bunch of striking and pretty poses.
PM doesn't really hide apps like this, which is why LF people often learn PM in order to understand how to use their LF. LF can be formidable on its own, but you either have to be very smart or have a generous and patient teacher to show you everything. Does that make PM "better" than LF? That's a value judgement depending on your priorities in studying martial arts.
Last edited by onyomi; 12-03-2006 at 01:21 PM.
What senses do we lack that we cannot see or hear another world all around us?
--The Orange Catholic Bible