In a recent thread on 2-man forms David Jamieson posted the following:
"2 man forms = discovery for students.
They help to develop coordination and understanding of the style in use. Beyond that, they are for demonstrative purposes pretty much exclusively.
intermediate learning tool. "
I really like the term "learning tool" and this got me thinking about kung fu curriculums in general. A legit criticism of TCMA is that we've taken "learning tools" and made them the end goal.
Forms, sparring, push hands, etc. These are tools to teach you how to fight. This is why we should never see these things made into contests. They are simply a scaffolding we set up temporarily, so we can tear it down. At least, we should be.
But on the flip side, you can't put up a building without scaffolding, or at least it won't be very sturdy.