Went to push hands in the park in Austin, today.  A really nice group of people.  Old and new friends.  If you’re looking for Push Hands in Central Texas, check out Austin Pease Park push hands here.

Tai Chi the sport is a great one.  Today I pushed with several people.  Very different styles.  Some teachers, all students!  Very different attacks and counters.  An excellent workout.  Last weekend they had a visiting push hands teacher in town.  I was away in Japan, but I heard it was good.

The object of stationary push hands is to push or pull to get the other person until they lift their foot.  If they raise a foot then the other player gets a point.

The video above, is a stationary push hands video here, from Taiwan.  Click here if you can’t see it.  Notice how low they get, lowering center of balance to increase their root and make it harder for their opponent to push.

Another push hands allows contestants to move their feet and the goal is to use Tai Chi to push the other out of a circle.  Moving push hands video here from a competition in Beijing in 2003.  The video is below, or you can click this link if you can’t see it.

Here’s another good video, from Beijing in 2000:

As you can see from these videos, moving push hands is far more than just a few old people in the park moving slowly!  And while it’s hard to see the techniques in play, rooting and breaking your opponents root are fairly clear.  In actual combat, the push is just one of the tools of the tai chi player.

Good Tai Chi fundamentals greatly aid one’s push hands practice:  soft body, strong root, sit hip and elbow, listening.

Tai Chi is kung fu.  Tai Chi is a martial art.  Tai Chi teaches you how to use your power.

David

Great link for more push hands resources:  http://www.egreenway.com/taichichuan/pushand.htm