That is true in many WC schools.
You mean it is NOT a chi sau match!
Chi Sau can be unproductive even if it is WC training with WC because we don't all share the same idea as to what this drill improves. I cannot practice chi sau with people outside of my lineage. Only sparring. The shapes, structures and forces exchanged vary massively in most cases.
You can't practice chi sao outside Wing Chun either. In my life I have been involved in probably around 200 fights. Not one time did I come up on a Wing Chun fighter. Some had a bit of karate, some judo, some wrestling, lots of boxing, and just wind mill swingers, but no WC fighters. Not even a short time Wing chun man. It develops your skills of applying tan, pac, bong, fook, and whatever, but it does not develop the so called sensitivity people speak of. It might apply if everyone was a wing chun fighter, but they aren't.
I agree to a certain extent but if you think that your chi skills will be useless then why even practice. Chi Sau is a vital component and a pre-cursor to sparring.
I don't. When I was real young and training I did chi sao, but I was told early on not to let it take over what I do. That it would indeed become a game and cripple my ability to fight.
I kind of agree with that but I'm hoping you mean take control of the situation (or try) and not take control of arms.
The arms are what have the fists on the end of them. They hit you with them. You have to control the arms, elbows or whatever so that they can not hit you. You also have to worry about the feet, but most people can not kick when you get in under them. They require room to do that and some can not even hit you if you are in close to them. I have been very successful in controling a person by taking control of the arms.
The best time to attack is before you get attacked. Unfortuneately that isnt always possible and how you react depends on many factors. I don't think is something that should be over analysed on a forum.
G