Tai chi does not deal with abstract concepts.
In self defence, failure to evade an attack means that you will be compromised, hurt or injured.
There is no room for abstraction.
We must deal with the really real. 

A punch is not theoretical. It is tangible. So is the pain when you fail to deal with it successfully.

Businesses seek to make money. They accomplish this in many ways.
One method is 'abstraction'.

Instead of handling money with your hands, you are encouraged to use 'electronic' methods of payment:

1. Credit card
2. Debit card
3. Store card
4. Standing order
5. Direct debit
6. Mobile phone contract

These all serve to distance you from the transaction itself.

Zen is concerned with what actually exists. What is right in front of you. 
In this sense, it is not in any way philosophical.

Reality can be experienced directly.
It is tangible.
The danger with thinking too much is that it serves to distance you from what is real.

Freedom means the ability to move easily and readily; without preparation or preamble.
In any direction.

You cannot have a fixed plan in mind.
You must adapt, change and improvise.
Flow smoothly with the changes, move with what is happening, avoid conflict and resistance.

A person who lacks spontaneity is often like a robot; a conditioned machine.
They are dull and zombie-like.
They say the right thing at the right time.

But they are mannequins; smiling pretty and appropriately, but the eyes are not alive.

Spontaneity is a major theme in the internal arts.

Strangely, so few people are capable of this, or really understand its meaning and value.