I liked Xebsball's answer.
It's a good topic ap, only difficult to see without knowing terms and principles. Especially since Chinese words mean different things to different people. My answer would be dissolving and diverting. In bagua we have 8 mother palms/fists/elbows/... In most Chinese styles there is no offense and defense persey. Defense becomes offense etc. etc. In bagua we make use of hidden hand to create openings. Strikes become grabs and turn into throws. Finger strikes become palms become fists than elbows, than shoulders etc. The main thing is continuos change and absolutely no set patterns. I could say that a hawk fist is an uppercut and Monkey fists can be jabs, but I won't. :)