I get the general idea that you feel that David Peterson didn't get the same regular, in-depth training as some others, and consequently that certain others received, but I'm still rather vague on what the actual, observable differences are. What should we be looking at? Could you share a couple of examples?
Do you not see any difference between his clip you posted and the ones of MK I posted? The contrast is stark if you ask me.
Well, a lot of what DP teaches is not so observable, because although his forms run the same patterns, he teaches 1:1 application ideas to each action, and since they don't spar you only see these applications done in one-step demonstrations. Things like
taan-sau to block round punches, or
soh-sau to block kicks. In an article he wrote on the
soh-sau technique, which others call
gam-sau, he wrote how it can be modified to block round kicks as well. He doesn't describe exactly how, but trying to block any kick with a single palm is nuts. If they actually did free sparring with any sort of intensity they'd find out quickly how crazy these application ideas are. The action is done downward in the forms, so some people look at it literally and think of how it can be applied in terms of 1:1 scenarios and miss what it's actually showing.
But just looking at their training clips,
DP:
MK:
, you can see how DP is still all about techniques. He does an entry technique and tries to touch his partner's face with his palm and then stops. If the partner then tries to move all four arms get into a tangled mess like they don't know what to do. Some times they stalemate and their arms are tangled for a moment, and you can see their muscles struggling as they think of a way to outsmart the other guy in a game of tag. This is making a game out of the whole thing and is really useless for fight training. DP doesn't have the basic elbow ideas the system is all about, so instead of using the elbow to clear and maintain striking lines coupled with tactical footwork and body mechanics, he stands, tangled in their arms, and looks for ways to go around them.
On the other hand, in MK's clips you don't see them pausing on each others arms trying to think of a way to outsmart the other guy and get around each other's arms. You don't see single "gotcha" techniques that slip through. You see training of tactical footwork and use of the elbows to cut angles on the partner as they drive forward with the aim to hit and keep hitting while cutting off the partner's ability to stop or counteract it. Even at high speeds there is no tangling and muscling, because the fundamental strategy and tactics are different. While this is not fighting, you can see how it is part of VT fight training in learning how to continue one's flow of attack through instinctive reaction even at high speed. If you always pause and play this point game of smarts while attached to the other guy's arms, you're not really developing anything useful.
This is a bridge toward free fighting where there is no pre-contact. If you never even spar, you won't have a clue what
chi-sau is in reference to and will miss the point entirely. You see, in WSL's school they didn't have regular sparring, but this was because the serious students went out to fight every week, and so training time was spent mainly with
chi-sau/gwoh-sau drills to iron out problems that appeared in real fights. Less serious students, or visitors would never taste the reality of fighting and think
chi-sau is all they needed to do and all there was to it. Missing out on this important piece meant that their
chi-sau itself got turned into a competitive game, rather than a platform for developing correct behaviors for combat and drilling out errors made in real fighting/ hard sparring. Without free fighting, they wouldn't even understand enough footwork. I think this lack of practical experience can be seen clearly in DP.