The Order of Movements within a Form

Have you ever considered why the movements within a form are in a specific order? Sure, we begin and end with Wuji, but what about everything in between? At one level, I believe the movements progress naturally, at first building a foundation for the entire form, creating structure and openness which the rest of the form can build upon. And isn't it interesting that there always seems to be specific movements about three-fourths through the form where the beginning student may initially respond with "I'm supposed to do what...?". Picture "Draw the Bow, Find the Tiger" from Longevity Tree Form, or "Snake Moves Down, Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg" from Nam Hoa Yang. I believe these specific movements are where the form foundations are leading us to.

On another level, I believe the order of movements may be nothing more than a learning aid, a tool to learn the form and develop ever-deepening understanding of the principles.

What I believe is most important is to not be 100% fixated on the specific order of movements. If we consider that some of the forms are application forms, then the order of movements shouldn't matter. After all, in an application practice you can't tell your partner, "hey, you're supposed to be over here for my next move." We should be able to transition from one move to any other move, regardless of order or direction.

How can we practice this randomness of movement? One practice/game that I like to play is "names from a hat", more easily played in a group because you can have a movement name caller. It's simple - place the movement names in a hat, start at Wuji, and pick a name from the hat for the next movement. How do you connect the moves, what is the transition? Everyone is going to be a little different, and that's OK. Put the name back in the hat and pick another name. Try to create some fluidity by naming the next move soon enough that everyone can discover the transition as quickly as possible for the form to be continuous. Continue this random pattern for as long as you want, but decide when to end at Wuji. You can modify this practice by including the mirror movements. You can even add movements from other forms.With this practice, every form will be unique and our understanding will increase dramatically.

In the end, the practice is one of transitions. And that's another topic.

Tom Wolf