Originally Posted by
t_niehoff
Chi sao is WCK's signature exercise/drill.
It is unrealistic, in that you don't perform the exercise/drill under (realistic) fighting conditions. So, regardless of what you think it does, it can't develop realistic fighting skills. You can use it to learn and practice various WCK actions. But it won't develop fighting skills. Only fighting develops fighting skills.
Almost all these actions involve staying attached to your opponent (staying in contact, or sticking). Sticking and the actions (tan, bong, fook, etc.) associated with it are not striking actions but grappling actions, actions that use sustained contact to manipulate your opponent.
Chi sao is not some "form of grappling" or some "form of stand up grappling" -- it is grappling (you are grappling), or, to be more precise, grappling with striking thrown in.
WCK's fighting method is to control while striking an opponent. We practice doing this in an unrealistic environment in chi sao. So while we can learn and practice doing that in chi sao, we can't develop those actions/things into fighting skills except through fighting (being able to do them in chi sao doesn't mean you can do them in fighting).
Now, go back and read my statements in light of this context and you'll see what I said was consistent with this context.