Decoding Chinese Forms

The Hidden Meanings Behind the FlashChinese styles are often criticized as being impractical, showy and lacking in practical application. The criticism is usually heard from the eclectic styles that focus on street fighting and self defense and it is true that a Tai Chi or White
�Crane form will do you little good in a cage fight. But then again combat is not only what forms were designed to teach. Forms are the heart and soul of a style containing not only fighting techniques, but also the strategic and philosophical principles of that style. Chinese forms are some of the most complicated and confusing because they contain hidden meanings that, like a puzzle, can only be solved by persistent study. Although each form has its own specific applications and interpretations the following keys may help you to decode the secrets of the classical Chinese forms Hiding Techniques One way in which Chinese forms differ from the better known Japanese and Korean forms in that the latter use the principle of keeping only what was useful in combat and have tended to discard those movements that where not. Watching Japanese and Korean forms being performed one can recognize the techniques being used. In contrast, when watching Chinese forms many movements appear strange and theatrical and the combat applications are not always clear. One reason is the notoriously secretive attitude surrounding the Chinese styles. The old masters were said to have hidden their best techniques by changing them to make them incomprehensible to anyone that did not possess the key to understanding the style. A Chinese folk tale may provide a clue as to why the old masters were so secretive and it goes like this.Decoding Chinese Forms

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