in chi sau, if you have a free hand do you waive it around and try to bridge their hands? no, you strike!
i like coming in with a strike. if theres something in the way hooray i've bridged. if theres nothing in the way i'm well on my way to giving a pounding. i like to get in close enough so i can check their legs with mine and kicking isn't very effective. basically coming in with both the hands and the legs simultaneously.
i also like stepping to the outside then coming back in - a straighter version of some of the dummy steps. i've broken a rib or two entering with the palm strike in our first section of the dummy. (the part where you shift and bong sau, step forward then circle step inward, bong becomes tan, and the outside hand does a palm strike).
i just keep the non striking hand in wu sau until something gets in its way. this step really makes the outside hand difficult to see coming (or to do anything about it); not to mention the strike packs a whallop.
also, the sections of the knife form i know work **** well. each section shows a **** good application and entry technique IMHO.
Travis
structure in motion