If we take the classical

forms from t’ai chi and attempt to use them in a
fighting sense, they will probably work against someone who is not a
trained fighter, (inexperienced street fighters included) provided that
we have practiced for long enough. But take these classical techniques
and pit them against a modem day trained fighter and we see a different
story. Fighters just don’t attack as they used to 400 years ago. We no
longer use large open stances in order to gain more power; we use centrifugal
force with more normal western boxing stances to gain power.
We no longer attack and then leave the attacking portion there for someone
to grab, we use whipping types of attacks which are very fast, full of
power and get the fist or foot in and out with great speed not giving
enough time for someone to use a grappling technique. What we are not
taught in our t’ai chi training are the most advanced techniques of
“Technique to gain no technique.”