No not Sil Lum Tao(bad Wing Chun Pun, not that there are any good ones), another simple idea...
Can we all agree that for the most part techniques exists in a void, that is they are neutral. A slash with a knife is a neutral technique it has no merit unless used, same for a punch or a kick. There is no better or worse technique, unless you discuss a certain situation in which a technique is used, only then does a neutral technique take on "form", form being the application of an otherwise neutral technique.
For example I teach you a right cross, universally regarded as good technique. You then attempt to use it while being choked from behind, the technique is now bad form, it is no longer neutral. Apply the same technique to an opponent standing in front of you and you have good form.
So we go with what Matt talked about, and I think most of us stressing effectiveness inherently know, form follows function. Only function can make a technique good or bad, and only within the application.
Marc
SUPP) No techniques has instrinsic value (duh).
1) Extrinsic value of a Martial Arts technique is determined by: its effectiveness in creating the desired result in the appropriate circumstance.
2) If (1), then the [extrinsic] value of a technique is derived from its effectiveness.
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3) The [extrinsic] value of a technique is derived from its effectiveness. (1,2 MP)
I would say that of the different kinds of extrinsic goods, techniques would be said to have Instrumental good, yes?
~TT
This approach indeed gives the correct a good knee in the nuts, but doesn't quite finish him off, as it fails to take into account the individual using the technique.
For instance, if my right cross sucks arse, it isn't going to matter where my opponent is, as he'll easily be able to defeat it. Thus, to know the true value of the right cross, I would have to first practice it to a stage where I can get it off cleanly and with power. However, to know if it were worth practising, I'd have to know its value, but to know its value I'd have to practice it, but to practice it.... aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh (*falls into a paradox of his own creation*)
To rescue this response from my own stupidity: I agree with your supposition, but I don't think you gain much by thinking this way. Rarely, if ever, does a technique just appear to us from out of the void - we rely upon our own experience and the experience of those who-ve come before us to point us in the right direction.
Cheers,
Tim.