I have been studying two styles of Pa Kua Chang for several years now, including Gao style, which emphasizes "practical" line drills which are similar to Hsing I. I recently picked up Marc "Animal" McYoung's book Taking it to the Street: how to use your martial arts for self defense, and was utterly amazed by his assertion that traditional MA training could be made more street effective with some slight modifications.

I was also interested in the fact that Pa Kua is one of the few arts that McYoung believes to be street practical (usually internal arts are considered the "poor cousin" by hardcore self-defense enthusiasts).

Basically, McYoung believes that all MA (including JKD, silat etc. sorry guys) are the equivalent of military boot camp, if you will. The training gives you the basic, bare minimum you need to know before stepping out into the combat zone (or street). Once there however, it's necessary for the soldier to field strip the techniques he has learned in order to gain the maximum efficiency. For example, in 'Nam you didn't see a whole lotta guys marching through the jungles in formation with perfectly spit shined boots and eighty pound packs full of useless garbage.

Anyhow, back to my question. What changes do you make to your art to streamline it (if any)? What's the rational behind your modifications? Finally, for extra credit, what changes do you percieve may be needed for a Pa Kua stylist such as myself?