"Energy training" is a halmark of a fantasy based martial art. No funtional trianing method uses "energy training".
Watch any performance based human activity that is applied in real time against resisting opponents. All of these activities, whether combat related or not, will look almost exactly the same in application as they do in practice... boxing, BJJ, judo, MT, wrestling, volleyball, basketball, soccer, the list goes on and on.I would agree that a fight will look nothing like Chi Sau, however I would not agree that the concepts and skills developed by Chi Sau are not applicable. It is rare that a technique trained in the gym will look EXACTLY the same when applied on the street.
The clinch work of MMA, wrestling and MT comes directly from real time application and looks the same in practice as when done for real... which is why it works and chi sao does not.If you are in a clinch or close range situation and you are exerting forward energy and you "find" a hole to slip through, this is end result of the Chi Sau practive. It may look nothing like the training but the attribute is a direct result of such training.
Forms done in the air, techniques done against a wooden platform, and rolling hands in a manner that cannot be done for real.So my question to KF and T is what makes WC training and the application of concepts any different than any other art?