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.

The Whole Body Must Move

Something that my teacher told me today during a practice session. I was telling him that I still feel breaks in my movements, in how force is moving. Somehow, I am still not able to move continuously, to flow from movement to movement.

He went on to explain that I am still not moving my whole body. Yes, my legs are moving, and the movement is translated to my arms. But my body, as in my torso, is not moving enough. The "gears" that move are not just the main joints like the knees, hips, shoulders and elbows, but even the muscles and organs in the torso needs to move. I guess this is one area that I will be working on for my practices.

Power From the Feet

My teacher mentioned a small little point today that I thought I should share. When shifting your weight around, such as when you are pushing with your back leg, the power comes from the sole of the feet, and not from the hips. A lot of the time, the kua is not relaxed, the muscles around the hip area thus become tensed and power cannot be properly transferred from the feet up to the rest of the body. I think what he means is ultimately, relax the kua so that the power from the feet can reach the rest of the body, to where it is needed.

It's All In The Kua

The other day, I was pushing hands with my teacher, when I was able to feel that it was my kua that was allowing my teacher to keep pushing me. Every time I was unable to turn my kua properly, I was unable to neutralise his force, and instead there was a slight resistance on my part that allowed my teacher to use it against me.

In the end, it's all in the kua. Whether you can neutralise your opponent's force and use it against him, or not, it all depends on whether you are able to relax and turn your kua. I guess that is one area that I will be focusing on in 2013.

Difference Between Good and Great

The difference between good and great is, one trains until he is tired, the other trains even when he is tired.