Don't Push Too Hard

Yesterday, I was pushing hands when I realised that my opponent was using a lot of brute force. He was using the strength of his arm to push, rather than the strength from his legs. So I tried to use it against him. I kept pushing in, trying to use his force against him the moment he moves, trying to seal off his movements. I kept moving in, pushing his limits, trying to seal off his movements even before he gets to move much.

In the end, I kept committing myself too much. I kept pushing him limits, not giving him space to breath, and in the end, I found out that I was delving too deep into enemy territory. There were a few times when I over committed and lost my balance instead, having pushed too far. By trying to prevent my opponent from moving, I ended up going in too deep with my force, allowing him to use it against me.

The moral of the story is that, the more allowance you allow your opponent, the more allowance you are giving yourself. My teacher likes to say, "Give your opponent 30% chance to escape, and you are giving yourself a 30% chance of escape too."