“What Happened to Push Hands?”

When I notice an article about tai chi, before I even take in the headline or the authors, I have a response formulated. I need to ask “what happened to push hands?” Further down that train of thought I think, “Where is the article about the World Cup in Taiwan?” I must point out what is being conveniently omitted for now, because it is potentially being left behind at the disservice of the next generation.  In the USA most people I meet are surprised to find out that tai chi push hands is a competitive sport played by world class athletes around the world. Having been first introduced to tai chi by my grandmother, who attended weekly class in her local park and found it helpful in preventing injury from falls, I was also surprised when my partner taught me the game ten years ago. That was the beginning of my journey to win the World Championship title in Taipei this October, with the help of former world champions and the best teachers in the US. 

As competitors were arriving to the arena on the first day of the two day event, a volunteer struck up a conversation with me while I was warming up, practicing my form. Why was I interested in tai chi? I explained that I was there to test my tai chi skill in the push hands ring, and that this goal made me practice harder and smarter. Tournament contests have shaped my training in a sincere and disciplined way since my first one in 2015. He smiled back, “so you are really interested in gravity.” When I told the volunteer I would not be demonstrating my form in the competition, I explained that the solo part of my practice is for preparation, as well as mental and physical health. I could perform it anywhere anytime, but I had to come to the World Cup to meet the best players who shared my goal. 

Push hands is the key to experiencing tai chi as a living art form, feeding innovation through collaboration.  I see a future of tai chi where martial artists from around the world integrate push hands into their practice to further cultivate the ideas of great tai chi teachers, and continue to adapt their training and contests to meet the needs of contemporary society. A signifier of a healthy contemporary tai chi culture will be athletes in tai chi who take their studying, conditioning, and sportsmanship to their fullest extent. We would see more women and young people playing at a high level than we do now. The alternate future of tai chi without push hands may become more and more of a ghostly presence, no matter how popular it may become for safe and effective senior fitness classes. 

Push Hands is the real test of the underlying principles of tai chi. Without interacting with another body, how do you know the power of moving like water, or the flexible strength of rooting like a tree? When you go back to do your form after playing push hands, you won’t just be imagining you are a crane- your muscle memory will engage the need to root, and activate the connection from the toes to the fingers as if they are actually able to move somebody.  An embodied understanding of push hands is essential in order to understand tai chi, and when practice is also grounded in a philosophy of peaceful martial arts it trains a unique skill set that can be applied across other martial arts and social interactions as well. 

The most recent “Why Not Try” article in the New York Times is well researched, so I believe it was an intentional omission by Cindy Kuzma to leave out any specific mention of tuishou, Push Hands, or tournament competition in her recommendation to start tai chi. Or perhaps it never came up in her interviews. This is one typical example of press and mainstream media representing the familiar face of “the ancient art of tai chi,” serving their readership with reassuring confirmation of what they already think they know. Medical researchers and health professionals report about benefits for tai chi practitioners that are generalizable to any physical activity, speculating about specific impacts related to its low stance and slow pace. As a teacher and personal trainer the ongoing scientific research is good news and sometimes quite interesting to consider. What I was searching for were at least a few respectful nods to the martial aspect of the art. Describing the basis of the form – blocks, punches, throws, kicks – the author chooses the vague word “interaction.” Kuzma also mentions that only advanced students engage in sparring practice. Push hands is not mentioned, and why should it be if the main audience for tai chi is for seniors? She is reassuring her readership that they will not be challenged or need to “interact.” However, she also hints that people may be waiting too long to start. 

Push hands can potentially be introduced safely at any stage of learning tai chi depending on the individual’s common sense and good sportsmanship. A good player can adapt to play with anybody under all kinds of circumstances. In addition to practicing with tournament rules my training partners and I play many different games that prescribe handicaps and emphasize different skills. I trained while very pregnant by playing lightly what we called “4 ounces,” or “hemophilia,” and my young students named “feather touch.” While in the weeks leading up to my World Cup Championship it was important to play to exhaustion and challenge my stamina, drilling techniques could be done as a warm up, or to recover after hard rounds. Drilling with light force builds sensitivity. Some people prioritize this to the extent that they don’t include any forceful play at all. Still, at the highest level of competition, the point is to have access to your full potential with the most efficient response. 

The most exciting thing about teaching my youngest students is that they discover tai chi techniques in an experimental and creative way through push hands play. Doing the form together first gives us a common language, and a relaxed focus that keeps us safe in close contact, as play gradually gets faster and more competitive. It’s similar to making them eat their vegetables before they can have push hands for dessert. The one gives the other purpose. Integrating push hands is important for tai chi to reach a future audience, and bridge generations. 

Other than the love of the game- the full bodied sweaty workouts, the unpredictable chaos of overlapping circles, the fun of winning and losing- it was a fascination for great teachers who experiment and live true to their ideas that brought me to study internal martial arts, then kept me coming back to Grandmaster William Chen’s school for Tai Chi Chuan, and eventually to represent the WCCCTCC team in Taiwan. William encourages all of his students to put his theories to the test through tournament experience, and the school had produced several world champions over the last two decades. My husband was already a senior student there when we first met, and now we like to say that our 3 year old daughter is his youngest student. She shows him her slow low movements, balancing and extending in the air, aiming a sword, playing and discovering what tai chi is all over again. 

The practice of peaceful self defense has the potential for social impact beyond health and wellness for individuals. Other articles on WebMD and Health.com about health benefits for seniors emphasize that classes help older people to get outside and socialize. Push hands suggests that there’s a lot more to getting outside of ourselves, into our instinctive nature, and sensing the nuances in another person dynamically from moment to moment. Working with partners physically and contemplating competition, aggression, and play opens up the idea of deepening and improving human relationships. On a larger scale, there is a dialogue questioning the role of martial arts in contemporary times, innovation and cross cultural collaboration in traditional ways, and (allow me to make a leap) the philosophical underpinnings of our responsibility to each other and the future of our planet.