Posted by bruce ching on September 20, 1998 at 09:58:15:
In Reply to: I guess I want the best of both worlds! posted by Jenny on September 16, 1998 at 23:19:34:
: lets just say I have checked EVERYWHERE within an hours travel and got a blank!
Looks like it's time to travel further. Hands-on experience is important for any martial development, and especially for 2-person contact exercises like pushing hands.
: I do have a request though, could you possibly describe pushing hands? I now it doesn't compare to actualy seing it, But It would at least give me some clue!
Pushing hands is a 2-person exercise that helps to bridge the gap between solo practice and free-fighting. One of the problems with descriptions is that a whole range of practices can come under the label of "pushing hands," ranging from very basic restricted exercises to practices that are close to sparring. But a few basic ideas run through the range of pushing hands exercises: 1) you're learning to maintain your own balance while disrupting the balance of your practice partner; 2) you're developing and learning to apply the basic "energies" of taijiquan -- peng, lu, ji, an, cai, lie, zhou, kao; 3) you're developing tactile sensitivity to, and understanding of, your practice partner's movements, so that you can deflect and evade your partner's attacks and take advantage of any resulting instability in your partner. As for what one of the pushing hands exercises looks like, Paul Chou's website has a video clip of pushing hands; click on the link I'm enclosing to go to his website's main page, then click on the tag "Push Hands."
- bruce ching