One positive about the form is it can act as a gateway drug for learning more of ILC. I have had several students who were only interested in the form, and only interested in it for the meditative aspects. They have gradually become more and more interested in the other parts of the art without my ever pushing them in that direction.
For me, the form is good because it gets away from the repetitive nature of the 15. It is too easy for me to memorize a correctly felt movement in the (for instance) 15 basic exercises (for instance the upper hand wipe) and repeat the memory of the feeling rather than to experience the flow of correctness. When I do the form however because of the way it combines the elements of the 15 it is both paramount to maintain awareness and also very apparent when I don't, so it can help me re-set the mental component of solo training.
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