On the bottom of the initial belt requirement technique sheets, you will see the words Form, Focus, and Control. The form refers to making sure that each movement is done properly and looks like the movement should look. A front stance should have the inside part of the front foot facing straight ahead. The forward knee should be bent and the back knee locked. The back foot should face forty-five degrees to the front and the hips and shoulders should face straight ahead. If any of those individual particulars are significantly off, the form of the front stance is compromised.
Take the American Flag. The shape of the flag is a rectangle, not a square, not a circle and not a triangle. If anyone attempted to pass of an American flag and fly that circular flag, everyone who saw that flag would know that is not an accurate representation of the flag. Therefore, no other shape other than a rectangle is acceptable.
Focus refers to drawing attention to a specific point. Again, using the American flag, the stripes of the flag only appear on one surface and the stars are on a totally different part. If we were to focus on the stars, we would look at the specific area of the corner of the flag where the stars appear.
Control is when the person executing a strike has the ability to make contact with the strike, but controls their strike to stop it within a fraction of an inch to the target.
But there is one more element we should discuss, composure. This refers more to the mental aspect of being capable of execution than to the physical aspects. Whenever a student needs to perform a martial arts technique, they must maintain their composure. This is done in many ways. First, if the martial artist looses their composure, they can become emotionally impacted to the point where they are incapable of executing the technique. Composure will require the ability to deliver at a specific time and at a specific target.
As an example, let’s say the defender needs to deliver a reverse punch to their opponent’s solar plexus in order to stop an attack. If the defender is mentally inhibited or impaired (by fear, nerves, over aggressive attitude and any other number of things) the defender will not execute the punch and the attack will not be stopped. Therefore, when needing to execute any martial arts movement, especially in the area of self-defense, the ability to keep your composure is just as important as the elements of form, focus and control.