I was free sparring with a much larger opponent when it was obvious that toe to toe sparring, trying to hit, grab, and lock are really hard.
So I thought back to Dr. yangs Taji book and his five doors and footwork. I started applying this and as he attacked I was working around his forward line of attack.
Its easy to yield and redirect someone who is charging at you but a big guy who is moving slowly forward but strongly is very difficult to yield and redirect. So I changed my tactic to moving around him trying to open the five doors and using stepping.
For example as he attacks, I step forward and to the left bringing me to his right side outer. This diffused the on coming attack and I felt in a much better place to counter.
It made me realise that footwork is so essential but not often discussed. there is very little written about it other than how to close the gap.
When I was working the footwork and focusing on entering the doors it really felt like a much better technique.
I am now using more Bagua style circle walking and avoid straight line attacks as they are the most difficult to me.
If anyone out there has some insight into this partical practice it would be great if they could share their thoughts.