Pushing hands like a mirror

Author: Dragi Bedina

Yes, Johan* was right saying at his last weekend's seminar, that "if we
have done taiji for 3 years and we havent done any pushing hands, then
we may as well say that we have lost 3 years."
Taiji is an art, with so beautiful movement, that brings joy to the one who performs
it and to the observer as well. But like in every art we may produce results that are
shallower, less perfected or on the other hand the ones with deep meaning and
perfection. If somebody is really serious to perfect one's taiji then one soon realizes
that he/she will have to put in a lot of practice and leave no stone unturned.
Pushing hands is one such huge stone which must not be neglected in our practice.
By pushing hands techniques we are learning how our body works and how our partner's body
work. We usually presume and imagine that we already have good taiji but once we are
confronted with a partner who overthrows us just by a simple push, pull or turn then we soon
realize that something is terribly wrong.
Pushing hands work like a mirror in which
we perceive our real (and not imagined!)
posture and movement. Johan was telling
us that there are 6 harmonies which we
have to abide by: 3 externals and 3
internals. 3 externals are: connection of
hips with shoulders, elbows with knees and
hands with feet. That means we have to see
that if we move shoulders in one direction
(most often) we have to move the hips as
well; in the same line, same direction at the
same time. The same applies to the other
two harmonies. At the two day's seminar
we had hundreds of opportunities to try and
test that skill on ourselves and on other people. If by chance we forgot to turn the hips, we had
no strength to throw the partner; if we turned the shoulders but not the hips, we lost the
balance etc.
3 internal harmonies are: spirit or mind has to go along with intention; intention harmonizes
with qi (energy) and qi with strength. These three internal harmonies are more difficult to
understand, specially if we are more of a fighter nature and less mystical which we often are
because taiji is a martial art. Nevertheless, with years of practice and experience we will grasp
these interlinked aspects automatically. And again, pushing hands works here wonders.
Especially, we realize how much brute strength we or our partner still uses. Taiji theory tells us
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that we must not use physical strength -
because the power of qi is diminished if we
use only or too much physical strength.
How much did we use it to stay on our feet
when pushing with a partner and trying to
uproot him/her? Johan told us that more
than 95 percent of us used too much
physical strength. We could see that the
next day when some of us had bruises! But
still that was an ideal situation to learn, to
explore.
So,
we
can
say,
that
pushing hands also helped us to realize how rooted we are, whether or not we bend forward or
backward. Did we sink our qi in the feet enough? And did we feel the qi at all? Standing
meditation helps here immensely, so if somebody thinks that pushing hands consist only of
fighting, he/she is wrong, because we had a nice session of standing meditation and relaxation.
This technique helps us to realize which parts of the body are still tensed, it helps us to let go
and loose the tension and to sink the power or qi.
Thanks to Johan, we have heard, seen and experienced ourselves in hundreds of ways how taiji
principles work. Looking at him, it seemed so easy nothing mystical and very logical. One
appreciative thing about him is that he really wanted us to understand and to teach. He said
that he had got that attitude from his teacher. Sometimes you attend some seminars where
you hardly get anything except losing your money. Especially, pushing hands is not only a
display of how 50 guys are trying to push against a master. Again, taijiquan is an art why
should we be afraid that somebody sees it or try to make it obscure? Maybe that was necessary
in the past, but today, to hold onto something and like Gollum in the Lord of the rings make
taiji 'my Precious', well, if we enjoy that game!? Probably not, as taiji itself is limitless and it
goes far beyond of what we have ever imagined. No secrets, only a good teacher and a lot of
practice.

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* Johan Duguet is a long time taiji and other martial arts practitioner. He is a student of Master
Fu Nengbin in the line of Grand Master Chen Zhenglei. More on his web site. From 23rd to 24th
March 2013 he conducted a pushing hand seminar in Slovenia.
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