Functional or Asthetic?

Today in kid’s class we spent about half the class on our forms.  For me as both a student and a teacher, forms have always been one of my favorite aspects of the art.

I should take a formal survey, but I’d say about 80% of kids really dig learning forms.  I suppose to really get at the heart of the matter, I should ask students: “which do you like better, forms or sparring?”

I’ll make a prediction – a 50% split.

Now what if I ask students further what they like about forms or sparring.  Should I give them a pre-arranged set of responses or leave it open ended?  What would the pre-arranged list look like?

What do you like most about forms (choose one):

Maybe I’m wrong.  Maybe almost all the kids will say they like sparring more and my perception that students love forms is just my own prejudice slipping into my teaching.  Tomorrow I’ll ask the kids at Lewis and see what they say.