'FLOWERY HANDS,WRIST, ARMS, & LEGS': a re-evaluation of such in various forms, such as 'traditional' or 'classical' karate' or 'kungfu'

Recently much discussion on martial arts and you tube postings and videos and other facebook pages have made me re-evaluate certain motions and stances and related things a bit more closely.

On the surface, some things seem weak, inefficient, useless, and also not understood for many reasons, some of which comes from more dynamic situations as in actual warfare and combat or street encounters and all this is actually, 'OLD HAT' ab naseum so I will not go into the alrady overworked postings and considerations and so on.

Instead, combat should be swift, silent, stealthy, deadly and the like and efficient and effective, and this means on various levels and ranges as well as degrees.......

To do forms in many martial arts seems time consuming and not dynamic or 'actual' or 'sporting' and so on.

Those who do certain forms of any martial art sometimes think of them as rank requirements and not as useful in self-defense of any kind....

Or they may well overemphasize and consider such as containing innumerable, hardly understood secret or hidden techniques without a real understanding of why such- and- such  a move is done or held and this is understandable for many reasons but perhaps not the right one that should be there.

If a form or movement is done for years and years and one still is in this 'fix' doing more reps will not always solve this dilemma or give needed insights. Something more is needed. I shall in continuing discussion of this  attempt to make these things more palatable and useful for those experiencing 'IMPATIENCE' along the ways of martial arts. I have left some hints here for those who can discern them among my verbiage here.

2016 posting: MARTIAL ARTS are undergoing various transitions around the world and are reflected in various ways in MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

In the early 19th & 20th centuries martial arts were difficult to learn in theWest, save for a few types,such as, boxing,  wrestling, fencing, judo, and jiujitsu for the most part. After WWII, martial arts began to emerge and find things increasing as movies and stories and comics began to recognize them and nowadays there is hardly any modern venue, even advertising, that makes use of martial arts characters, references, actions, and so on. It is almost manadatory that  actors,dancers, acrobats, and entertainers know or practice such along with other types of movements....and nearly all athletes and even the military are embracing such, despite the popularity guns and firearms.  Swords and knives are popular and even more exotic weapons of ancient times and the markets for such are numerous.

But the ESOTERIC ASPECTS OF MARTIAL ARTS, while utilized in cartoons, fantasies, movies of all types, and special effects, plus 'games' continues and amuse most, the actual practices and demonstrations of such remain controversial as was the case for 'spiritualism' and  occult arts and sciences in previous centuries. It  is likely that many things are possible and involve suggestion, hypnotism, and manipulation, if not hypnosis and deception, the tiny amount of the 'esoteric' still fascinates those who cannot explain away all such to the satisfaction of everyone.......