Don't forget Shooter too - without him all our efforts would be worthless!
actually, it's because of me that your efforts are worthless
I've shown plenty of clips where I've used the same movement patterns against trained opps that I practiced in my tjq solo drills. I've yet to see that from any *real, authentic* tai chi practitioner. All this talk and nobody...I mean NO BODY, has shown their tjq training in anything but pattycake. With the exception of Su Dong Chen of course.
I'd love to see any tjq dude not applying moves as they appear in the form while engaging opponents who are given the go ahead to destroy said tjq dude. It would support what I've been droning on about for years because people would realize that it's never going to look like moves as they appear in the form. They would further realize that it's not the form which manifests under pressure, but the principles and methods. The principles and methods are best practiced in solo drills which can be called into action by virtue of their simplicity. It is simplicity upon which good fighting method is built, afterall. The form is too complicated and sequential to have any combat value in terms of 'moves'.
Folks might even make the leap and begin appreciating that tjq's body-method is more readily acquired through movement drills not found in the form.
While they're leaping, they might keep going, into the idea that the form refines the body-knowledge that has been gained, but doesn't necessarily create it.
It seems many taichi guys have the habit of adopting moves that look effective and claiming they're already "in taichi" - conveniently, in taichi 'one move can have a thousand applications' so pretty much everything is "in taichi" - instead of trying to figure out how a movement should correctly be applied in their style
If it doesn't manifest naturally and spontaneously, it isn't there. You can't contrive application or figure out how a move should be correctly applied in your style - it doesn't work like that. If it did, we'd see hundreds of tai chi folks holding their own against full-contact fighters. We'd even see MMAers abandoning their current training and coming over to tai chi.
Wanna fight? Forget form. Wanna play pattycake? You will look awesome applying moves as they appear in the form!