The following is from Sifu Stier, www.shenmentao.com/forum. It was copied by me from the TJQ section of this forum regarding this subject. It is very revealing and clarifying IMHO:
Most of the TCC Form Sets commonly seen nowadays are training sets meant to develop basic physical attributes and skills. They are not usage or application sets, and thus normally do not include much evasive footwork, if any at all.
Such footwork is presented at more advanced levels of training in the older large frame styles of TCC via separate form sets, which are intended to develop fighting usage skills. In more modern large frame styles of TCC, which do not include usage application sets, such evasive footwork will only appear in its methods of Tui-Shou, Ta Lu, San Shou, and other partner drills.
The traditional small frame styles of TCC typically contain the subtleties of fighting footwork within the form set, or at least imply its existence in using shorter, higher stances, follow-up steps, more frequent stepping to different compass directions, and so forth, than is typically seen in most large frame TCC form sets.
Doc
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