The Tai Chi Push Hands is performed by two partners collaborating to improve each other's skills. It involves disrupting your partner's balance without resorting to the use of brute force. As you tune into your partner's rhythm and energy, you develop a keen intuition that enables you to sense their intentions and movements.

While you are practicing this form of harmonious movement, your partner's skin, muscles and spine will communicate important information to you. Use all of your senses to predict your partner's actions. Once you achieve movement harmony with your partner, you can redirect his or her strength and use it to your own advantage.

This redirection of energy is essential to the Push Hands exercise. It is used in lieu of the hitting, kicking or shoving that is often seen in other martial arts. In a sense, this form of "combat" serves a higher purpose. Imagine what could happen if we were able to redirect any verbal hostilities that are presented to us. Perhaps, we would discover an easier way to resolve conflicts and hopefully lead a less stressful life.

With these ideas in mind, it is important to understand that the Pushing Hands exercise is not merely a form of combat. Push Hands also serves to help the practitioner integrate the yin/receptive and yang/assertive principles. Although yin and yang are opposites, they are reliant upon each other in order to achieve wholeness. When you integrate yin and yang, your communication skills will improve, as well as your health and vitality. To learn more about these concepts, contact us at Aikitaiji.com

Watch videos of tai chi push hands integrated into the aikitaiji curriculum.

See museum for pictures of aikitaiji students practicing push-hands in sugarhouse park
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