The title of the book “Tai Chi Push Hands – The Martial Foundation of Tai Chi Chuan” is intriguing. In general, students of the Tai Chi (Taiji) chuan is not encouraged to learn Push Hands until they have a solid foundation of practicing Tai Chi chuan. However, after reading the book, I realize the brilliance of the authors and highly recommend this book to anyone who either wants to learn Tai Chi Push Hands or deepen their knowledge of their practice of Tai Chi chuan.
Tai Chi chuan is an ancient Chinese healing art as well as martial art. By design, Tai Chi chuan possesses the elements of both and provides the benefits for both. The underline reasoning is that one can’t physically protect himself against the attack of an opponent if he is not healthy both mentally and physically. It is essential to cultivate one’s health while developing his martial art skills. Nevertheless, when guns, cannons, missiles and drone strikes become available, fights using fists and kicks can only attract action movie fans. The intricate maneuvering of Tai Chi chuan will require years or decades of learning from a master as well as diligent practice to be proficient. This certainly is challenging for people in the 21st century when time is the most precious resource. On the other hand, science has proven that even simplified Tai Chi chuan can provide huge health benefits. No wonder globally millions are learning Tai Chi while a good percentage of practitioners are not aware of that Tai Chi chuan is a form of martial art.
Push Hands is a two-person drill and its ultimate goal is for self-defense and fighting. After being fluent in a Tai Chi chuan form – preferably a long form, i.e. Yang 108 form or Chen Old-Frame Routine One (Lao Jia Yi Lu), one is ready to learn Push Hands. For training purpose, Push Hands has certain routines to follow. To laypersons, it may seem like a set of choreographed movements without a clear objective. In practice, a practitioner is learning how to utilize the Tai Chi Shi San Shi (Thirteen Postures): Peng (ward-off), Lu (roll-back), Ji (squeeze), An (press or push), Cai (pluck), Le (split), Zhou (elbow), Kao (bumping and mostly by shoulders), Zuo Gu (look left), You Kan (look right), Qian Jin (step forward), Hou Tui (step backward), and Zhong Ding (central equilibrium) to advance his martial skills and power to a much higher level. Once people are well-versed in the drill, he can further employ any of the movements in a regular form to subdue or attack his opponent without exhausting himself because he is supposed to borrow the opponent’s incoming energy and redirect it. This is easy said than done. Without developing one’s own Jing (martial power), he will not acquire the listening aptitude to detect the opponent’s Jing not to mention to execute the fine techniques of Zhan (adhering), Nian (connecting), Lian (attaching), and Sui (following). Without adhering, connecting, attaching, and following, one will not be in the position to borrow the opponent’s Jing and lead it to the emptiness.
Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, is a world-renown martial art grandmaster and an expert on Qigong. He has devoted himself to Chinese martial arts and healing arts almost 60 years. He authored 35 books and 80 videos of several Kung Fu forms, Tai Chi styles, and Qigong exercises. He has trained thousands of students, teachers, and champions if not more. David Grantham is a student of Dr. Yang. David is also an author as well as certified instructor of the internal art. “Tai Chi Push Hands” is their latest collaboration. I appreciate that the writing format adheres to Dr. Yang’s long-term scholarly style with clear explanation, thorough research, ample references of Chinese classics on Tai Chi and Qigong, and a complete manual of Push Hands training with photos.
In this book, you will learn the theory of Tai Chi Push Hands, which is profound and you don’t want to miss it even if you don’t intend to learn Push Hands because it reveals crucial Tai Chi chuan fundamentals. Rooting, Uprooting, and Centering are essential to correct Tai Chi chuan practice; oftentimes they are absent. Central Equilibrium, Yin and Yang, Substantial and Insubstantial are not always well understood nor executed. The book explains why they are relevant and provides simple exercises for people to hone these skills.
Dr. Yang is humble and never boasts himself as an authority on any subject even though he is well qualified. He mentioned the Push Hands drills in the book are just the ones that he learned in the Yang style Tai Chi, which include Two-person stationary Push Hands, Two-Person Moving Push Hands, Tai Chi Rollback-and-Press Push Hands, International Push Hands, and Two-Person Free Style Push Hands. It is impossible that one can learn any two-person martial art regimen without a partner. It can be puzzling to understand exactly how to execute the coiling, spiraling, and turning by looking at photos even though the moving direction is well marked on photos. If you have learned Yang Style Push Hands, this book serves as a good resource book for reference. For anyone who is interested in learning Yang style Push Hands, I recommend that you use it in conjunction with two Push Hands teaching videos taught by Dr. Yang (Tai Chi Pushing Hands: Courses 1 & 2, YMAA Publication Center, 2005 and Tai Chi Pushing Hands: Courses 3 & 4, YMAA Publication Center, 2006). Once the COVID-19 Pandemic is over, you need to seek a teacher or a partner to gain the real-life experience by pushing.
In case you are not interested in learning Yang style Push Hands or any Push Hands, I still suggest you read this book for a few justifications. Aside from the aforementioned valuable Tai Chi fundamentals and their drills, one can glance through those Push Hands drills and obtain a general idea about the art. The last chapter of the book “Martial Applications in Push Hands Practice” explains how kicking, striking, wrestling, and Qin Na (Joint Lock) can be applied freely once a person is proficient in Push Hands. This helps to elucidate why Tai Chi chuan is considered the ultimate grand martial. The two preceding chapters of “Tai Chi Qigong Practice” and “Taiji Jing Practice” are my favorite. Practicing those movements not only can strengthen people’s martial power but also can make them much healthier.
Tai Chi chuan is an art to express the natures of Yin and Yang and how they transform from one extreme to the other. One way to comprehend it is through its benefits on both health and martial power. Only when we practice it at both health and martial level, we can totally appreciate its profundity and realize how both sides complement each other and make it whole.
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Dr Yang is the pre-eminent world expert in Chin Na, which is a lot like Push Hands in that your body can’t go in 2 directions at once. In other words, PHs locks up your frame and makes you easy to uproot similarly to Chin Na, which locks up a joint.
Anything you have a chance to learn from this Master, your learning from one of the best on this planet. He is probably the leading master of Tai Chi and Qigong in this country! Every course that he offers on DVD is excellent done. I have expanded my knowledge and skills thanks to him. I have followed Dr. Yang for over 35 years. Any books, videos or clinics you have the opportunity to obtain you first, will not be dissatisfied, secondly, it will be the best investment you have ever made to understand the universal complex simple system for improved health and a martial art as an asset on the side. Don’t pass up any opportunity to learn from one of the best teachers this country has to offer.
Thanks for the recommendation, Violet. It’s a very informative book which I probably wouldn’t have come across without your article. All the best to you.
Andrew
Andrew, thanks for your feedback..