Someone asked me about online teaching of the 22-form. This is an interesting question in that yes, I have thought about it and that’s about it as I recognize the challenge of trying to teach the 22-form on an online platform.

Until the pandemic came along I was teaching the Dong style version of the Yang and Wu (Hao) long form on a 1-to-1 basis. What I found was that a claim of high interest mostly did not correspond to putting in sufficient time to really get into the gist of the art. If it was that difficult to learn these two forms well, I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would be to learn the 22-form.

During the COVID-19 pandemic I also tried teaching via Zoom a more external type of art based on Pok Khek Kuen. I found that as simple and straightforward as this art is, I can only sigh and shake my head when it comes to making progress. Again, learning is fun but without practice all the information will not translate into skill.

After the pandemic, I found that I didn’t miss teaching so I did not start teaching again. Instead, the only person I am teaching informally using WhatsApp is Paul. Even then trying to teach Paul is a challenge. Since I do it for the fun of it I carried on. However, to force Paul to get somewhere it had become necessary to get him to submit a weekly practice video as the one sure way to make him practice regularly.

I have been considering the question of how would I teach the 22-form regardless of whether teaching in person or online. One conclusion I reached is not to teach the 22-form as an entire form but as a series of sequences.

In order to make the sequences a more rounded practice we should practice both sides. For example, we only practice a right side (I call it right side since the right hand is held up) White Crane Spreads Wings but not a left side. For sequence practice, we can start from the half step right Press posture, change to right White Crane Spreads Wings and finish with a left Brush Knee, Twist Step.

Repeat for the other side by changing from left Brush Knee, Twist Step to change to half step left Press posture (the left side version of half step Press is not found in the 22-form), left White Crane Spreads Wings, finish off with right Brush Knee, Twist Step.

This sequence of three movements is to be practiced repeatedly to gain basic familiarity with the core principles. Once the foundation is there, you can refine the principles to extract the internal skills.