ouch ... tam tui on a soup can I can't do a complete tam tui yet!
just to touch back on drills ... I just wanted to put in my perspective as a new student. Warm-up drills (stances, stretching, punching) have both forced me into better shape and shown me what I need to work on at home. Line drills showed me how to pull individual moves out of a form and work on them, to see the move in a different light.
And of course there's the motivation from working with a group (maybe the #1 selling point to Americans?).
Anyway, those things are why in-class drills have been beneficial to me as a beginner. I can see why they might not have the same effect with advanced students. Thanks for reading my silly take on it.
There is a great streak of violence in every human being. If it is not channeled and understood, it will break out in war or in madness. ~Sam Peckinpah