Cheater!

There was a reason I chose the forms I did at for the Year of the Snake.  But as I was watching others start to create their own forms, I started to think that I had "cheated" by choosing a form I only had to learn, rather than create.

I am now of a different opinion.  At the start of the year, there is only an illusion that learning an already developed form is "easier".  This illusion comes from the fact that you just need to learn a sequence, where someone creating a form needs to start right from ground zero.  But this also means that when learning an already developed form you need to stay true to that form, and can’t change it to suit your own needs or purpose.  Often, when developing our own, we incorporate the things we are already good at and that feel good.  Or we will make changes to suit ourselves if we think something is too hard or just isn’t working. With another’s form, you can’t do that.  You need to continue to work at it, regardless of whether you like a particular piece. You need to push yourself beyond those arbitrary limits that might surface unconsciously when making our own forms.  

I’m not saying there aren’t advantages and benefits to both methods.  Just that I no longer think it was “cheating”. lol