During my lesson with Shifu last night, we went over a series of interpretations for a given motion in the form. During my practice of the form, I tried to perform the movement correctly and with intent, which made Shifu laugh and instruct me in the correct manner to practice the form.
Taking the liberty to paraphrase, basically he said, "it is important and good to know a given meaning to a movement in the form, BUT, when you are practicing, it is still important to NOT put too much force or go too fast in the motion of the form. This is because you want to develop accuracy in your movement, yet, you want the motion to become natural and agile in its execution, so that you can learn other interpretations and develop proper skill in the given basic."
Shifu stated that, "without correct intention, the movement may become dead and have no meaning... but we need to avoid the trap of becoming too tense and using incorrect mechanics in the execution of a basic motion in the form..." That is one of the primary reasons we practice slowly, and do the forms in a relaxed and natural manner, repeated over and over again many times. Shifu told me that in China it was very common to spend 3 years training on Lao Jia Yi Lu. In this way, one can truly develop a high level of competency and skill in that given form.
We had a good laugh at my bumbling attempts, but the message was driven home.
J
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