Pushing hands

The slow and gentle movements of the tai chi solo exercise are best known to
students, but there are many other important aspects of the art. Tui shou or
pushing hands is often considered as an intermediate step between the tai chi
slow solo exercise form and tai chi self-defence training.
Pushing hands is practised with a partner and at first sight does not appear as
appealing as the tai chi exercise form. But to exclude pushing hands from a
balanced and complete training regime would be an error if you wish to benefit
in all aspects of the art. Every facet of tai chi is contained within pushing hands
practice.
Relaxation, correct posture, yielding, constant flow and the use of the whole
body as a unit is intrinsic in its practice. The difference between pushing hands
and the solo form is that in the former you are in physical contact with another
person. Maintaining a good relaxed posture, a constant, unbroken flow, and a
correct use of the body, becomes more difficult to achieve. This should act as a
spur to every student - you will have to extend your present skills to encompass
this new dimension to your training.
With practice, you will discover that you become 'as one' with your training
partner. New faculties within you will be revealed as you are led to call upon
hitherto latent abilities.
The main concept involved is called 'central equilibrium' - at all times during
the exercise you must be in control of all your actions. This is exemplified in the
maxim: When one part moves, all parts move. At all times your balance is central,
directed by the centre within the waist. When pressing forwards the mind
conceives the action and moves from the centre (tan tien, two inches below the
navel), the back leg straightens, the front knee bends and the hands move
straight ahead. When retreating in pushing hands, move the hands back and
turn the waist, bending the back knee and straightening the front. Again, all
actions are driven from the tan tien central point.
Posture
1 Hold the head as if suspended from above by a piece of string, tucking the
chin in gently.
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2 Your spine should be straight with the bottom gently tucked under.
3 Leave a gap of one fist width (approximately three inches) under the armpit.
This will require you to hold your elbows away from your body slightly.
4 Relax your shoulders and let them hang down and slightly forwards.
5 Sink your breathing down to the tan tien.
6 Your knees should not go beyond the line of the foot.
7 Your knees should move forwards and backwards, not from side to side.
Single pushing hands
There are eight concepts which cover this first basic pushing hands exercise.
They are: Central equilibrium, Listening, Sticking, Yielding, Neutralising,
Turning, Leading/Following and Attacking.
Central equilibrium
Explained earlier in this chapter (page 134).
Listening
Your mind should be free from extraneous thoughts and open to perceive the
actions of your partner. Do not try to prejudge their actions. Feel their force
through your sense of touch. Is it strong or weak? Is it coming in a straight line or
slightly curved? Only by having an open mind that is listening can any
distinctions be made.
When you first begin pushing hands, listen to your partner's force and
movements without trying to influence the situation unduly. When you have
attained sufficient skill in listening, you may begin to use the methods that
follow, while still remaining subtle and 'open'. At all times you should be
listening, both in attack and defence. Without listening you will not be able to
respond, even to slight changes in attack or defence.
Sticking
During pushing hands practice, contact must be made all of the time. This is
achieved by becoming sensitive and receptive to your partner's movements.
When your partner presses forwards, you must move back at exactly the same
speed, neither trying to get ahead or lag behind, simply acting like a mirror to
their movement. If they turn to the left or right, you follow; when they move
away, you stick to them.
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Yielding
Once the partner has begun to push you, keep your arms firm but relaxed and
start to move away in order to dissipate the forward energy. This is not a weak,
empty motion, but a positive absorption of the attacking force in readiness to
counter it.
The feeling of yielding is similar to that of a spring. When the spring is pushed
in, it moves easily; but no matter how soft the spring, there is always a feeling of
resistance present. Once the pressure on the spring is released, it immediately
bounces out. The term 'soft yielding' is not 'soft' like a piece of cotton wool, but
more akin to a spring or a piece of bamboo.
Turning
During pushing hands or self-defence applications, tai chi defence always
encompasses a turn, no matter how small, in the defending movement. To
oppose an oncoming force could easily unbalance you, but if you drop your
centre of balance low and turn from the centre, you can deflect considerably
larger forces than your own. Turning does not mean just from side to side, but
also upwards and downwards. This idea is exemplified in the saying: Four ounces
defeats a thousand pounds.
Neutralising
The term 'neutralise' can be understood on two levels in pushing hands practice.
From a physical point of view, during practice the acts of yielding and turning
together can be called neutralising - literally bringing your opponent's force
against you to zero. This can be accomplished in many ways and to this purpose
all of the pushing hands practice is aimed.
On another level, pushing hands is neutralising. All of the actions of pushing
hands practice are directed at neutralising an oncoming force and, ultimately, at
controlling and subduing it.
Leading/following
Once you have yielded and turned your partner, their flow of force should not be
interrupted. By applying a small amount of force in the same direction, you may
succeed in unbalancing them and placing them in a position where you can
attack successfully.
Attacking
Once your partner's forward motion has been neutralised, their next movement
will be backwards to regain balance. Stick to them and follow, applying your own
attacking movement. No slack should be left, whether it is moving forwards,
backwards or turning left or right.
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Yin and Yang
All of the previous actions can be encapsulated in the Yin/Yang diagram (see fig.
1, page 13). The two sides of the diagram - one black (Yin) and the other white
(Yang) - look like two fish entwined. You will note that the line dividing them is
not straight but curved: this intimates that there is some forceful element (Yang)
even within the passive receptive (Yin), and vice versa. Remember what was said
previously about the spring-like quality of yielding - firm but soft. When
attacking, the arm may be relaxed, but the movement contains hidden power,
softness and strength - Yin within the Yang. This concept is easily understood
when watching an explosive movement from the tai chi fighting form. Although
the arm is relaxed, the body sends out explosive force meant to impart
tremendous shocking energy. During this fixed step pushing hands, however,
the force is hidden in the actions and softness and slowness are encouraged.
You will also note from the Yin/Yang diagram that the two fish's eyes are of the
opposite colour, again emphasising the idea of the mixing process.
Pushing hands and the mind
During practice your mind should be receptive and clear, with no extraneous
thoughts. Do not think about winning or losing, simply practise and 'feel' the
exercise. The nearest experience to this state is the empty clarity of meditation,
but in this instance you are in constant motion. The feeling of detached
awareness, of being there but not being there, of moving with the motion rather
than being the instigator of it, is very clear.
Investing in loss
The notion that you can gain by actually losing, or at least by being prepared to
lose, may seem preposterous. But if you consider your own past experience you
will find this is the case. When you have won at something in the past, did you sit
down immediately and evaluate why you won? Did you ever consider that
winning in that instance was good for you in the long term? Of course not:
having been brought up in an era of 'winners and losers', it would seem
unnatural. Investing in loss is intrinsic to pushing hands practice.
Yang Chien Hou is the man who exemplifies tai chi greatness. His behaviour is
an example of investing in loss (see page 20). When asked how he had become so
proficient in free-style pushing hands, he replied: I have lost one thousand
times. I have lost ten thousand. But now I do not lose anymore. Each time I lost I
learned. But I still followed the principles of not using strength but skill'. To
defeat a greater physical force with skill takes time and practice. It will not come
overnight.
The implied belief throughout tai chi teaching is that there is something of
greatness within each human being, and that the training involved will allow
this greatness to shine through without human interference. Lao Tsu, the great
Taoist philosopher, said that we should be like a flowing river — soft and pliant,
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following the flow of the universe rather than opposing it. Tai chi exemplifies this
teaching: when the flowing river meets an obstacle like a rock, it flows around it,
over it and eventually through it. Nothing impedes its ever onward journey.
Great is the force of water and its teaching.
The following two pushing hands exercises are structured with each side
knowing exactly what the other will do. These are known as fixed step, pre-set
pushing hands. A pre-arranged exercise in which both sides move around is
called moving step, pre-set pushing hands. When a two man drill is called
free-style, each side may use whichever technique they wish within the
prescribed rules.