Internal Strength
Overview of Push Hands
by Mike Sigman *

This article has been published in 2002 by Mike and is republished here with his permission. It was scanned from his original article, so it may contain some spelling errors.

Below is an overview of the highlights and salient points of push-hands. Too many people look at push-hands as some sort of competition that somehow determines their overall knowledge of Taijiquan. This is too narrow a view. Understanding the broad picture of push-hands in the study of Taiji will help in more realistic progress in the special skills that define Taijiquan.

The Importance of Jin:

"Jin " refers to a special, skilled strength, a "learned" strength as opposed to the intuitive strength we use automatically. There are many "jins" in all martial arts, but the core strength of Taiji is called either "nei jin" (internal jin) or "j)eng jin." It is present at all times in push
hands as it is in all real aspects of Taiji. "Peng jin" can be used up, down, away from the body, or toward the body and those directions of usage are peng, an, ji, and lu, respectively.
"Jin" ("ch'in") was poorly translated in the early days as "intrinsic energy" and discussions of jin using the term "energy" have done much to take Taiji down impractical, non-Taiji paths. Because a translator can read and write Chinese does not mean that their translations will reflect the understanding of a bona fide and skilled Taiji practitioner.
"Standing" exercises are a good way to develop basic jin. One simple example (there are many variations) of standing would involve the practitioner standing in a relaxed posture with both arms/hands out in front, palms outward.
Pretend a partner is pushing with maybe one ounce of pressure against both palms. Relax and let the imaginary pressure compress you into your back leg (do not extend outward toward the pressure). Pressure goes from hand to elbow to mingmen to back leg. Your imaginary "partner" should feel a solid but relaxed presence in your palms.
Constantly check for joints that are tightening up . . ., relax them. Head up and balanced, arms are propped up from the waist, not lifted by the shoulders.
Even though your arms may be above those of your oppo- More complete jin is developed by prac-nent your force can be below his by forming a push from ticing forming jin paths from the waist to lower down with subtle adjustment of the body. the hands, to the shoulders, to the elbow, or anywhere on the body. The mental formation of jin paths to move and power the body throughout a Taiji "form" is one good way of practicing and developing jin. The practice of forming and using relaxed jin in push hands is the essential reason for push hands training.
In push hands the basic jin is maintained toward your opponent at all times, but lightly. Even if your opponent is coming toward you and you are moving backward, he should feel no resistance, but if someone said "stop" and checked you, the "grounding" path would still be there.
Your jin path is always directed slightly up under any force the opponent puts on you. You can mentally arrange the direction of your force with no obvious physical movement after a period of correct practice. You should always be in a balanced position so that you can mentally arrange a strong path in any of the basic four directions at any time you want. In other words, you should always be in "central equilibrium" so that you can manifest jin with your mind in any direction from any position.
If you pull, push, lift (by pushing up, not shoulder lift), it is always just a mentally arranged direction of this basic force from the ground. If you pull or push downward, it is at least partially a mind-body path of the weight, (i.e., "peng lu ji an" are just directions of basic body "paths").
Single-Hand Push Hands
Single-hand push hands is a beginning way to practice maintaining and using a jin path in coordination with a partner. The biggest bugaboo is that the shoulder gets tight and the exercise becomes an arm exercise rather than a good jin
exercise. If takes a certain amount of conditioning to get the shoulder minimized and to turn and twist the body with just the waist and legs, so a person must patiently work in that direction. The amount of "jin" felt between the two partners is almost non-existent, but it is there. Single-hand push-hands should be looked at as a necessary beginning jin drill with concentration on the path from hand to foot in all positions of the circling.
Double-Hand Push Hands
Double-hand push-hands drills are also done for extended amounts of times in order to practice using jin at all times in more complex situations and positions. The path is always from point of contact with the partner to the ground . . . emphasis should be on the path to the back foot. The other important emphasis is that the waist is what turns the arms and torso around.
The vast majority of non-Taiji push-hands can be spotted immediately because of the fixed torso/weight and the arms moving independently ..., not to mention that few people know how to present correct, relaxed jin when pushing hands. The problem of choosing to "win" over choosing to show/practice jin skills is the most problematic hindrance to real Taiji, today.
The "Peng, Lu, Ji, An" sequence that is stressed as so important in push-hands patterns (or in "Grasp Sparrow's Tail" in the Yang style) should be recognized as simply a practice of using the basic jin for "Up, Toward the Body, Away from the Body, Down," respectively. The "postures" are not the important part; the principle of jin direction is the essence. Generally speaking, push-hands, particularly the 2-man fixed-step pattern, uses only peng, lu, ji, an and does not use cai, lieh, jou, kao or qinna, etc., unless there is an agreement to do so between the partners.
"Rollback" is a bad translation that has caused many people to go off on a narrow tangent from the full usage of "Lu." The technique of "rollback" is indeed one of many things a practitioner can do using correct "lu" power, but the practice should concentrate on correct "lu jin," not on a technique which can be applied with even external strength (and usually is). Just because someone turns their waist, it does not mean that they are using the nei jin or doing proper Taiji.
Freestyle Push Hands
"Freestyle" push hands can be a more or less open contest between people in order to further the practice of Taiji jin skills. "Push hands" is generally considered to be either "civil" or "martial." "Civil" is what most people are agreeing to do when they do "friendly" push hands of the freestyle sort, but many push hands enthusiasts drift rapidly into the quasi-"martial" push hands in their eagerness to win.
In other words, if they do not have decisive jin skills, most people will go to muscle, throws, aggressiveness, etc., to win . . ., all the while implying that they are only doing "civil" push hands, when in fact they are not. Most people know so little about Taiji that they are not even aware of this differentiation. Using brute force in "civil" push hands is considered very low level or "not Taiji." In "martial" push hands, just about anything goes and it is a pure contest.
As an example of formal contests, the Chen Village (Wen Xian) tournament is currently not a martial push-hands tournament . . ., the rules have been diluted for safety's sake due to complaints about injuries incurred in the past. However,
this dilution of the rougher Taiji skills now allows a lot of non-Taiji competitors to enter and "win" in some divisions. A shuai-jiao player won his division some years ago and recently an American judo player won his weight division. In other words, the "winner" of a vague "push hands" match does not necessarily have to be good at actual Taijiquan. A lot of people do not seem to understand this, even though common sense should make it obvious.
Good freestyle push-hands using good jin skills also implies that the jin skills have been strengthened. Just having mild jin skills does not assure a win against muscular non-Taiji skills in a push-hands format. In Taiji, most people want to know the "secrets," but knowing the so-called "secrets" about jin, reeling silk, and other training is no good unless the "secrets" are trained up to a decent level.
Tactics
Understanding and using some basic jin ("peng jin" or "nei jin") is the threshold entrance to real Taiji and control of the other person's balance using jin is the major study in push hands. Forms, push-hands mimicry, and buzzwords are not in themselves badges of Taiji; the use of the nei jin is the hallmark of Taiji.
Using jin that is "under" the other person's force is the basic entre to understanding push hands tactics. The old saying "when I go low, he is always lower" (something that can be done without sinking physically downward) is the key to Taiji tactics once someone learns to use the mind to lead the jin where it is needed and in the direction desired.
"No resistance" is one of the major admonitions of Taiji. Yes, there is force used in Taiji, but never as a pure resistance. Deflecting an opponent's force or limbs into an "empty" area may use a minor force and a "fa jin" or even a "long jin" may use a strong force, but a resisting force is not to be used.
"Change" is the key to Taiji tactics. If your jin (not strong muscular strength) is under the other person's incoming force, then he cannot push you without moving himself up off his base. The direction of upward jin can also determine the lateral direction that the opponent is pushing himself toward. This is an example of taking the opponent's force and "changing" it. At the same time, of course, you are also "borrowing" the opponent's force to make the "change." If the opponent pushes, you pull, borrowing and changing in a similar fashion.
"Controlling the opponent's center" is the essence of your goal. Generally speaking, the idea is to control the opponent through his arms until he is put off balance or "has no root." Naturally, this can be done without Taiji jin skills, also, so the goal needs to be reached using jin skills, if one is truly interested in learning Taiji.
There are several areas that an opponent is more exposed to being off-balance. The most obvious directions are an orthogonal line backward between his legs, an orthogonal line frontward between his legs, and any direction upward. There are some other directions, depending upon where the opponent has committed his weight, also.
There are many other tactical ploys, but "under the opponent's force," "no resistance" and "change the opponent's force" are the critical points of "controlling the opponent's center" in the beginning. Naturally, as in a real martial situation, you should take advantage of a chance to push the chest and, in return, you should not allow your chest to be touched to avoid a losing position.
The main areas of the opponent's balance should always be thought of: a straight line forward and backward between the legs.
Non-Taiji Push-Hands
A lot of "non-Taiji" players' tactics can be spotted without subjecting yourself to the battle first. Naturally if you "lose" to these sorts of tactics, any after-remarks appear to be "poor loser" comments, so pick your opponents wisely:
1. Large, heavy guys (and many other types) often sink forward onto the front leg and stick the back leg out as a brace. A brace is not the same as jin and it is easy to spot the people who are using the back leg as a brace. Heavy people with mass can be difficult to move in a "fixed-step" environment..., this has little to do with Taiji and it should be obvious. I am always amazed at the people who think "good Taiji" is what determines the winner in all shoving matches.
2. Many competitive players assume a low, wrestling crouch (all the talk about central equilibrium and other things goes out the window). The "duck down and come-up-pushing" tactic is the hallmark of many of these types. It is the same tac-tic used by linemen in high-school football. Why this is considered "good Taiji" by some people is puzzling.
3. A lot of people stiffen and snatch with jerky moves. There can be no jin when the muscles tighten and stiffen like this so it will not be Taiji push-hands. The rule in Taiji is to "stick;" people who constantly break contact with stiff jerks or leaning back out of the way are not doing Taiji push-hands using nei jin.
4. Commonly seen are a lot of people who obviously fight to regain their balance, move their foot to come back in, etc., with the worry on "winning." The instant rush to recover the balance they lost (that should have been the end of the engagement) and jump back in is a good sign that "non-Taiji push-hands" is being played.
5. Probably the most common sign of "non-Taiji push-hands" is in people who begin their "pattern" with very a obvious still torso and arms winding in circles from the shoulders. "Freestyle" players are too often seen simply using arm strength, regardless of any "rooting" ability or throwing ability, etc.
Taiji push-hands is designed as a precursor to sparring and real fighting. One of the reasons for the "civil" appearance of real Taiji push-hands is that certain body principles must be maintained and martially-compromised techniques should not be used. A couple of examples of a martially-compromised situation are:
1. Leaning far back to avoid a push. Since this exposes the groin and knees in a way that would be hazardous in a real martial situation, the technique should not
be used in valid push-hands. Besides, leaning back and breaking contact discards the idea of "sticking" that is used in real Taiji.
2. Since real Taiji fighting uses shoulder, head, and elbow strikes, techniques that ignore those possibilities should not be used since realistic training is compromised. Watching many competitive matches, we often see a player whose head is close enough for a head-strike or shoulder-strike by his partner. Many "duck-do wn-and-come-up-pushing" types have obviously never encountered a down-shaking "Kao" or they would probably think more of the benefits of "civil" push-hands, as opposed to the "win at any costs" amateur game they now play.
In other words, a lot of people do Taiji very roughly thinking that the "civil" way is insufficient. They do not realize that the "civil" method looks fairly civil because they do not use many brutal techniques while allowing for them, to a large degree, in a practice format.
Conclusion
Taiji has some interesting and hard-to-acquire skills that involve thoughtful, dedicated training. It is a waste of time to talk about jin skills and yet to do "push hands" with normal wrestling muscles, etc. The best line of approach is to leam about real jin skills from a qualified teacher (not many of those, yet) and practice moving jin by turning the dantian area. Things are improving in the Taiji world and a lot of the current charades will sooner or later be replaced by excellent Taiji. You could be one of the first real Taiji practitioners, with a little correct practice.

In an interesting article Daniel Levitin gives an empirical figure of the time needed to become a master in any art:

“Ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert — in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is the equivalent to roughly three hours per day, or twenty hours per week, of practice over ten years. Of course, this doesn’t address why some people don’t seem to get anywhere when they practice, and why some people get more out of their practice sessions than others. But no one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”

[Source: Daniel Levitin : “This is Your Brain on Music”]

 So know we have a rough idea on how much and how long we need to practice.