everything wrote:basically push hands is great, but doing push hands in taijiquan context of push hands is the worst way to do it.
Giles wrote:everything wrote:basically push hands is great, but doing push hands in taijiquan context of push hands is the worst way to do it.
Under some circumstances this is true, unfortunately, but it all depends on whether you - consciously or unconsciously - see tuishou as an end in itself or as a vital element in feedback loops with solo practice and with self-defence and/or sparring. Some people approach tuishou with the extreme idea of "softness, sensitivity, harmony, universal love, dance of the cosmos, don't push me, cuddle me". Funnily enough, there's often a lot of passive aggression going on under the surface. Others automatically see it as a pissing contest, "ain't no son of a b**** gonna push me. And if he does, I'll get him back even worse." This usually results in clenched muscles and teeth to match. You just have to know why you're doing push hands and on this basis keep changing the parameters in a productive way. Let's make push hands great again!!
Walk the Torque wrote:What gets me is the people who, once having realized their approach to winning is not working, decide that what I am doing is somehow sub-standard, warranting their critical analysis.
My first teacher on answering a fellow student's complaint that their partner was not soft, replied, "if you feel hardness, its coming from you".
This has stuck with me not only in terms of hard/soft, but in general, if I cant handle someones force I must be deficient somehow. My tai chi should be good enough to handle anything; if it isn't then best to work on my tai chi.
So when asking the question how to improve your PH against different partners, I'd say maintain your integrity. If you are working to a set of principles, stick with them. If you lose, lose maintaining your principles; if you win, win maintaining your principles. Dont give up the near for the far
Walk the Torque wrote:So when asking the question how to improve your PH against different partners, I'd say maintain your integrity. If you are working to a set of principles, stick with them. If you lose, lose maintaining your principles; if you win, win maintaining your principles. Dont give up the near for the far
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