I have a question about an application I have been taught for single whip. First off, I am a beginner in Wu style taiji, and the applications we are shown are in no way meant to be applicable to real life self-defense situations at our level. The application we are shown (we don’t practise it, for reasons that will become clear) for single whip is that the index finger and thumb of the “crane’s beak” (is that what it is called?) are used to strike the eye of your opponent. Now, is it me, or is this a really dumb application for single whip? It doesn’t seem like it would work in real life, even with heavy modification. Also, it doesn’t seem to chime with the way single whip is done in the form. Could someone please help me out here? 