Quote Originally Posted by Mr Punch View Post
Anyway, my personal op is that trapping is almost accidental: a product of having good forward elbow position and the right energy when your strike hits an obstacle, and using that to flow round/blast through/pin down/all three that obstacle.

It should never be looked for.

I don't, OTOH, see any problem with choosing to beat the **** out of someone's arms if head-hunting/body shots are proving difficult however. I don't see that as chasing arms, just an extension of 'nearest (viable) target, nearest weapon'. Good strikes to the arms can use chum/unbalancing/uprooting etc etc and still disrupt/control the centre.
No argument from me with that, the whole concept of "ENTRY TECHNIQUES" is that you try to strike and your opponent stops you, then you control the arm preventing the strike and attempt another hit, if this is then prevented, the blocking arm is again controlled and trapped to allow free flow of blows to whichever area chosen.

As an aside using my experience of working as a bouncer as well as developing self defence understanding for public service types, casualty nurses, police, prison staff who deal with violent types on a daily basis yet CANNOT use strikes without facing an inquiry, I have gone down the direction of controlling situations and resolving them through more passive techniques rather than the simple elbow in the nose option.

Application always depends on the level of violence faced, number of assailants and whether weapons are involved. In my mind chi sau gives you the experience to feel and respond instinctively to situations, to control and trap an attacker to give you time to make the conscious decision whether they are no longer a threat and let the situation defuse, or that they need some time to ponder their next move and knock them out