I think people put way too much emphasis on chi sau.

I do the forms and I do the chi sau/gerk

I do drills based on my weakpoints.

I do no contact sparring, and as my sparing partners get better and better we get closer and closer until we are just touching each other with fast strikes.

Then I do inch punch training and fa-jing testing chi sau.

Then we get together and spar with the intent and the craziness.

At that point no onlooker can tell the difference between a real fight except in the end, no one's hurt.

Then do the forms again and maybe take a walk and talk about pleasant things relaxedly, inside feeling happy and full of chi but still like a cat ready to pounce.

I think that is the best way to learn wing chun.
It culminates into a terrifying experience and the only way to keep from getting hit is to resign yourself to death, but when its all over, you realise that no one's hurt and everything's pleasant.

I had a troubled childhood.