johnwang wrote:- In wrestling art, after the clinch has been established, you need to know how to deal with it. You need to use the right key to open the right lock. There exists no master key that can open all locks. For example, the counter to "leg lift" is to "ride on it". This counter "ride on it" only works for "leg lift" and nothing else.
That's the weakness in arts that evolve in tandem, complementary techniques that don't mean much outside that context.
What about skeleton keys?
The idea with Taijiquan's 8 gates is that they are QUALITIES of energy/force combined with the 5 methods or attitudes of dealing with the opponent.
All the different moves and techniques are just applied examples of these qualities and attitudes, so you can cut the key to the lock in real time with the pieces instead of being stuck with whatever you thought to make ahead of time.