I wouldn’t know if it is the same in Chinese, but the most common English name of the first movement in our matching set, “push,” seems a bit misleading. In the solo form, a preconceived image of push gives some people the idea of shoving their arms forward, or of leaning their torso into the direction. Instead, the action is to uproot- to control or unbalance another body’s center of gravity. To play well with gravity as your partner, and to move around direct opposition, search for the upwards vectors inside your own structure and the body mechanics of each movement.
Similarly the name of the game “push hands” is the literal translation of tui shou, and perhaps gives some people the wrong idea of how to play at first. For example, the hands will get fixed in one place as the person tries to lean into that point. Leaning is actually the beginning of falling and is ruled out once the root is tested. Testing the root can be done without any pushing and in fact without any hands. The refined sensitivity and adaptability of the hands can be developed in the wrist, forearms… in fact the point of contact could be anywhere on the arm or torso.
Other than pushing in direct opposition to an external pressure, there is another kind of internal pushing away from the ground. This requires expansion like the pushing that creates the surface tension of a bubble, or that allows a sprout to express up through the earth from the root. In the final position of “push,” the fingertips are delicately extending like petals. They are purposely sensitive like they are testing a fresh coat of paint to see if it has dried.
The practice of tai chi reveals that the power to uproot comes from the connection to the ground, accessible through a balanced, vital center, and intentional awareness reaching all the way to the tips of the fingers and toes. With this discipline you can train to stay soft and to use hardness only at the most effective moment.
Imagine you are digging to uproot a weed- you angle a shovel down, then cantilever up, and then toss the weighty earth up and out. Getting underneath, rooting down, is the first preparation phase for uprooting. As the shovel goes down sometimes it needs to seek a few times for the soft spot where there is give, working around rocks or other roots. Imagine pigs rooting around in the ground with their noses, or the intelligence of tree roots in a dry climate as they seek a source of water.
When the shovel angles up, perhaps sometimes the shovel sticks in the ground and even trips you because it was not the right moment to change direction. Or then, when attempting to toss a load of dirt that is too wet and weighty, notice if you stumble because your body goes along with the weight of the full shovel. Are you uprooting yourself in order to achieve your goal?
An analogy for uprooting yourself in life is when you want to improve your family’s status by getting a good job, but you are under pressure and no longer present at home. Or if you are trying to break up a fight by stepping between two people, and end up brawling on the ground for a dominant position. This is over investing in reaching an external goal to the point where the primary goal is sacrificed.
In push hands the primary goal is to maintain a dynamically balanced center. To move your partner from their spot is an external goal which can be distracting when not unified with the first primary objective.
Escalating rooting drills to apply them to moving step rules, stand at the edge of a circle and ask your partner to charge at you from the center- the goal is to stay inside the boundary and move the other person out. Upon making contact can you absorb their weight, adjust your stance and turn them outside of the circle? This type of turning is often called a crank, but to make the turning possible, the most important intention to activate the turn is ”Root Up!”
“Root up!” is a thought that helps use the simultaneous downward pressure in the lower part of the body to support upward movement. So that when the action lifts up, you sit back down at the same time. Then there is an expansive sensation in the torso, with the lower ribs staying down and the others above free to articulate.
This may seem like a counterintuitive play on words if you always think of rooting down. “Root up!” is a short cut to synthesize two opposite directions to make one whole action.
Push Hands Now 