Taiji is both a good exercise for health and a good martial art for self defense. [1,2]\u00a0 In the West, it is usually known as a good health exercise for senior citizens; however, it can also be practiced as a good martial art.\u00a0 Furthermore, Taiji is a good art to learn for people of all ages, including youths and children, although we are a long way from attracting a lot of children to Taiji. [3]\u00a0 To learn Taiji as a martial art, “push hands” is an integral component of the practice.\u00a0 This article gives an introduction to push hands.
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Fundamental Basis of Taiji As a Martial Art:<\/strong>\u00a0 The fundamental basis of Taiji as a martial art is that you don’t oppose an attacking force head on, because then the winner will be the bigger and stronger combatant.\u00a0 Instead, you shift your position to avoid a head-on attack, and at the same time apply your own force to supplement\u00a0 the attacking force along the same direction or nearly the same direction.\u00a0 This will avoid being hit, and at the same time may cause the opponent to lose his balance. \u00a0 When the opponent senses that he may be losing his balance, then he will change course, e.g., by pulling back, i.e., reverse the direction of his motion.\u00a0 Then you change the direction of the force that you are applying, and change from being in a defensive mode to an offensive mode.\u00a0 To properly execute this sequence of actions, you need to be able to have a good sense of your opponent’s motion and intent so that you can quickly change your own motion.\u00a0 This is precisely what push hands tries to train you.<\/p>\n What Is Push Hands?<\/strong>\u00a0 In practicing Taiji as a form, you usually practice alone.\u00a0 To practice push hands, just like in one-to-one combats, you practice with a partner.\u00a0 The purpose of push hands is to have two people in contact with each other, and using various moves such as some of the moves in various Taiji form sets, each person tries to get the other person off balance (e.g., by pushing or pulling).\u00a0 Push hands provides an opportunity to apply the various Taiji forms in a combat-like situation to create an opening to attack your opponent by causing your opponent to lose balance.\u00a0 Push hands is practiced via initially a series of choreographed-exercises for the two participants (e.g., one-hand, two-hand, stationary, and moving choreographed-exercises), and later to non-choreographed free-style push hands exercises.<\/p>\n Learning the Art of “Ting” (Listening Power):\u00a0 <\/strong>As discussed earlier, in order for you to decide what your next move be, you have to be able to have a good sense of your opponent’s motion and intent.\u00a0 For example, if your opponent is pushing you in direction x, then you need to deflect that force at least slightly away from direction x and at the same time turn you body so that the attacking force misses you or glances off you.\u00a0 However, you need to detect your opponent’s motion, and better yet detect his intention, at the beginning of his movement to give you sufficient time to mount a defense and counter attack.\u00a0 This detection is primarily via the “feel” at your point of contact with your opponent, i.e., where your hands are touching. [4]\u00a0 This is the skill of “Ting,” which in Chinese means listen, which in this case means “listen” to the stimuli that you feel through the skins of your touching hand.<\/p>\n By relaxing your body and mind, you can sense better your opponent’s motion and intent, because the stimuli that you feel in your hand will come mostly from your opponent and will not be mixed up with the stimuli that your body generates from tensing up and your own response.\u00a0 Furthermore, by being relax, it is much more difficult for your opponent to sense what you are doing or your intent.\u00a0 Therefore, relaxation which is the underlying basis for why Taiji is a good health exercise is also an underlying basis for\u00a0 why Taiji is a good martial art.<\/p>\n Building on Top of Relaxation:\u00a0 <\/strong>Several other techniques build on top of the base of relaxation of body and mind.<\/p>\n Eight Push Hands Movements:\u00a0 <\/strong>There are eight basic hand-moving patterns in Taiji Push Hands.\u00a0 These movements are practiced during push hands exercises.<\/p>\n Summary:\u00a0 <\/strong>Taiji is both a good health exercise and a good martial art.\u00a0 Push hands is an important training method of Taiji as a martial art.\u00a0 During push hands, you are in an environment with an opponent, and you try to use many of the forms that you learn from Taiji form exercise to try to get your opponent off balance to create an opportunity to attack.\u00a0 You practice relaxing your body and mind, to root yourself to a stable stand, to yield and to listen (or “Ting”),\u00a0 and then counter attack with power (“Fa Jing”).\u00a0 Taiji is well known as a good exercise for senior citizens.\u00a0 However, it is also a good exercise for all ages, including children. [3]<\/p>\n [1]\u00a0 See, e.g., “Health Benefits of Taiji”<\/a>.<\/p>\n [2]\u00a0 See, e.g., “Martial Applications of Taijiquan.”<\/a><\/p>\n\n
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