Which Is Better For Training?

Which is better for training pushing hands? To have partners that play rough? Or those who try to push properly using the techniques of taiji?

First, to get better at pushing hands, you must train with the right mentality. If the mentality is "I must not lose", "I must not let him push me", it matters not who you partners are. You will still not reap the benefits of training. So first, you must go in with the mentality, "I will let them push me." That said, which makes for better training?

Actually, there are things to learn from both. When your partners play rough and use brute force, you learn how to relax and use their force against them. When your partners push properly using the techniques of taiji, you have to relax even more than them to sense their force. So in both cases, you do learn more about pushing hands.

However, when your partners are rough and use brute force, all you need to be is more relaxed than them, and you will be able to use their force against them. In a way, you just need to make less mistakes than them and you will be able to use their force against them. But when your partners use the techniques of taiji, then you must not just learn to relax, but you must not have any mistakes in order to be able to sense their force. So while you can learn from both, you learn more from the latter.