Follow your opponent and not yourself.
When you follow your opponent, then your hands can distinguish and weigh
accurately the amount of his force, and measure the distance of his approach
with no mistake.
(Li
I-Yu)
Pushing
Pushing is the action of moving something using the
application of force.
Force requires something to push off; this is called resistance.
Resistance is the opposing force.
Tai chi never uses force against force, so it can only be applied when there is
very little resistance.
We only ever apply 4 ounces of pressure.
This is easy to say but quite difficult
to employ in actual practice because it means stopping every time you encounter
resistance.
You must be like sand or water; offering no resistance in your own body and not
working against resistance in others.
How is sand or water powerful? Momentum and weight.
Body
Use the body to deliver force, not the hands.
If you can de-stabilise your opponent by taking their balance, you can employ
force without receiving resistance.
Keeping your hands within the range of your feet will help in this endeavour.
Yielding
Softness and yielding are yin qualities.
They require physical sensitivity and
awareness.
Instead of pushing, you must yield into the opponent.
This is accomplished by allowing your body weight to move.
Pushing hands is an exercise in
yielding; you relax your own body enough to allow the opponents force to move
you and then you shift your weight in order to move them.
Should your partner present more than 4 ounces of resistance during the
exercise, you must stop pushing immediately.
Once you learn not to push against solidity, your physical tension will start to
fade and your body will begin to use gravity creatively.
Knowing when to stop
The key to '4 ounces of pressure' is stopping as soon as you
experience resistance.
If your body is loose and floppy, you will not want to push or use your arms for
strength.
Our school places great emphasis upon not pushing against force.
We regard strength versus strength to be a major folly.
Once you can feel the difference between using your weight and using force, it
is easy to realise why.
Beyond the class
People push for things in various aspects of their lives.
If things do not go their way, they push, and then push a little harder.
When learning tai chi, pushing is fruitless because the skills will only come
once you stop pushing.
The attitude of not pushing is called
wu
wei.
For it to really affect your life, it needs to extend beyond the class.
Page created 3 April 2000