For other uses of the term, see Pushing Hands For other uses of the term, see Pushing Hands Pushing hands, (推手, Wade-Giles tui1 shou3, pinyin tuī shǒu), is a name for two-person training routines practiced in soft style Chinese martial arts such as Pa Kua Chang (Baguazhang), Hsing-i Chuan (Xingyiquan), Tai Chi Ch...

Pushing hands, (推手, Wade-Giles t'ui¹ shou³, pinyin tuī shǒu), is a name for two-person training routines practiced in internal Chinese martial arts such as Pa Kua Chang (Baguazhang), Hsing-i Ch'uan (Xingyiquan), T'ai Chi Ch'uan (Taijiquan) and I Ch'uan (Yiquan). Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on Mandarin. ... Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell(ing) and yin means sound(s)). This article describes the most common variant called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... Nei chia (Chinese: 內家; pinyin: ; literally internal school) denotes the soft style group of Chinese martial arts, in distinction to the wai chia (Chinese: 外家; pinyin: ; literally external school) or hard style group, which is associated especially with Shaolin Quan (Shaolin Chüan) and its many derivatives. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... BāguàzhÇŽng is one of the three major internal Chinese martial arts, the other two being Xingyiquan (形意拳) and Taijiquan (太極拳). BāguàzhÇŽng literally means eight trigram palm, referring to the trigrams of the Yijing, one of the canons of Taoism. ... Xingyiquan (Chinese: 形意拳; pinyin: Over the centuries, many different variations of the art have evolved, so significant portions of the following article may not apply to every extant style of Xingyiquan Xingyiquan (or Xingyi) claims to specialize in deceptively soft, linear, low attacks and quick yet solid footwork appropriate for the... Tai Chi Chuan or Taijiquan (Chinese: 太極拳; pinyin: ; literally supreme ultimate fist), commonly known as Tai Chi, Tai Chi, or Taiji, is a nei chia (internal) Chinese martial art which is known for the claims of health and longevity benefits made by its practitioners and in some... Yiquan (Chinese:意拳; pinyin: Yìquán; Wade-Giles: I4 Chüan2; lit. ...

Overview

Wu Chien-ch'uan and student Pushing Hands, circa 1930

Pushing hands is said to be the gateway for students to understand experientially the martial art aspects of the nei chia (內家 nèi jiā or internal style) martial arts; leverage, reflex, sensitivity, timing, coordination and positioning. The theory being that there is a limit to the amount of physical conditioning available from performing solo form routines, so pushing hands adds the weight of the training partner's pushes onto the legs of the student, legs already bearing the student's own weight. The student then has to deal with the extra work load effectively from a martial point of view before returning their own pushes to the partner in turn. In that sense pushing hands is a contract between students to train the defensive and offensive movement principles of their martial art; learning to generate, coordinate and deliver power to another and also how to effectively neutralize incoming forces in a relatively safe environment. Pushing Hands This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Pushing Hands This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... Wu Chien-chuan 吳鑑泉 Wu Chien-chüan (Wade-Giles), or Wú Jiànquán (pinyin), 吳鑑泉 (1870-1942), was a famous teacher of Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan) in late Imperial and early Republican China. ... 1930 (MCMXXX) is a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

Interactions of the Five Chinese Elements 五行

File links The following pages link to this file: Five Elements Categories: User-created public domain images ... File links The following pages link to this file: Five Elements Categories: User-created public domain images ...

History

Pushing hands is said by T'ai Chi's Chen family to have been be created by Chen Wangting (1600-1680) the founder of the Chen style Tai Chi Chuan and was originally known as hitting hands (da shou) or crossing hands (ke shou). Chen was said to have devised pushing hands methods for both empty hands and armed with spears. Other T'ai Chi schools attribute the invention of pushing hands to Zhang Sanfeng. The Chen style (陳氏) is considered to be the senior branch of the five main Taijiquan family styles and the third in terms of popularity. ... Zhang Sanfeng was a semi-mythical Chinese Taoist priest who is believed by some to have achieved immortality, said variously to date from either the late Song dynasty, Yuan dynasty or Ming dynasty. ...

Training pushing hands

In T'ai Chi Ch'üan, pushing hands is used to acquaint students with the principles of what are known as the "Eight Gates and Five Steps," eight different leverage applications in the arms accompanied by footwork in a range of motion which proponents say will eventually allow students to defend themselves calmly and competently if attacked.

The Eight Gates (八門 bā mén):

P'eng (掤, py péng) - An upward circular movement, forward or backward, yielding or offsetting usually with the arms to disrupt the opponent's centre of gravity, often translated as "Ward Off."

Lü (履, lǜ) - A sideways, circular yielding movement, often translated as "Roll Back."

Chi (擠, jǐ) - A pressing or squeezing offset in a direction away from the body, usually done with the back of the hand or outside edge of the forearm. Chi is often translated as "Press."

An (按, àn) - To offset with the hand, usually a slight lift up with the fingers then a push down with the palm, which can appear as a strike if done quickly. Often translated as "Push."

Tsai (採, cǎi) - To pluck or pick downwards with the hand, especially with the fingertips or palm. The word tsai is part of the compound that means to gather, collect or pluck a tea leaf from a branch (採茶, cǎi chá). Often translated "Pluck."

Lieh (挒, liè) - Lieh means to separate, to twist or to offset with a spiral motion, often with the metacarpal and carpal bone area of the thumb as the contact point. Lieh is often translated as "Split."

Chou (肘, zhǒu) - To strike or push with the elbow. Usually translated as "Elbow Strike" or "Elbow Stroke" or just plain "Elbow."

K'ao (靠, kào) - To strike or push with the shoulder or upper back. The word k'ao implies leaning or inclining. Usually translated "Shoulder Strike," "Shoulder Stroke" or "Shoulder."

The Five Steps (五步 wǔ bù): Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell(ing) and yin means sound(s)). This article describes the most common variant called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... Gravity is a force of attraction that acts between bodies that have mass. ... Tea leaves in a Chinese gaiwan. ... The metacarpus is the intermediate part of the hand skeleton that is located between the fingers distally and the carpus which forms the connection to the forearm. ... In human anatomy, the carpal bones are the bones of the human wrist. ...

Chin Pu (進步 jìn bù) - Forward step.

T'ui Pu (退步 tùi bù) - Backward step.

Tsuo Ku (左顧 zǔo gù) - Left step.

You P'an (右盼 yòu pàn) - Right step.

Chung Ting (中定 zhōng dìng) - The central position, balance, equilibrium. Not just the physical center, but a condition which is expected to be present at all times in the first four steps as well, associated with the concept of rooting (the stability said to be achieved by a correctly aligned, thoroughly relaxed body as a result of correct T'ai Chi training).

The Eight Gates are said to be associated with the eight trigrams (Bagua 八卦 bā guà) of the I Ching, the Five Steps with the five elements of the Taoist Wu Hsing (五行 wǔ xíng); metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Collectively they are sometimes referred to as the "Thirteen Postures of T'ai Chi Ch'uan" and their combinations and permutations are catalogued more or less exhaustively in the different styles of solo forms which T'ai Chi is mostly known for by the general public. Pushing hands is practiced so that students have an opportunity for "hands-on" experience of the theoretical implications of the solo forms. Traditional internal teachers say that just training solo forms isn't enough to learn a martial art, that without the pushing hands reflex and sensitivity to another's movements and intent are lost. Each component is seen as equally necessary, yin and yang, for realizing the health, meditative, and self-defence applications. The bagua (Chinese: 八卦; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: pa kua; literally eight trigrams) is a fundamental philosophical concept in ancient China. ... The bagua (Chinese: 八卦; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: pa kua; literally eight trigrams) is a fundamental philosophical concept in ancient China. ... Alternative meaning: I Ching (monk) The I Ching (Traditional Chinese: 易經, pinyin y jīng; Cantonese IPA: jɪk6gɪŋ1; Cantonese Jyutping: jik6ging1; alternative romanizations include I Jing, Yi Ching, Yi King) is the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. ... Chinese Wood (木) | Fire (火) | Earth (土) | Metal (金) | Water (æ°´) Hinduism The Panchamahabhuta (five great elements) Prithvi/Bhumi (Earth) Ap/Jala (Water) Agni/Tejas (Fire) Vayu/Pavan (Air/Wind) Akasha (Aether) In traditional Chinese philosophy, natural phenomena can be classified into the Five Elements (Chinese: 五行; Pinyin: wÇ”xíng): wood, fire, earth, metal, and... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ... Chinese Wood (木) | Fire (火) | Earth (土) | Metal (金) | Water (æ°´) Hinduism The Panchamahabhuta (five great elements) Prithvi/Bhumi (Earth) Ap/Jala (Water) Agni/Tejas (Fire) Vayu/Pavan (Air/Wind) Akasha (Aether) The five elements usually refer to wood, fire, earth, metal, and water in East Asian philosophy. ... Yin may refer to: Yin Dynasty, another name for the first historic Chinese nation and dynasty, the Shang. ... Look up yang in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A large statue in Bangalore depicting Shiva meditating Meditation is the practice of focusing the mind, often formalized into a specific routine. ... Self defense refers to actions taken by a person to defend onself, ones property or ones home. ...

Pushing hands trains these technical principles in ever increasing complexity of patterns. At first students work basic patterns, then patterns with moving steps coordinated in different directions, patterns at differing heights (high, middle, low and combinations) and then finally different styles of "freestyle" push hands, which lead into sparring that combines closing and distancing strategies with long, medium and short range techniques. These exchanges are characterized as "question and answer" sessions between training partners; the person pushing is asking a question, the person receiving the push answers with their response. The answers should be "soft," without resistance or stiffness. The students hope to learn to not fight back when pushed, but rather to allow the direction of the push, the intent of the one asking, to determine their answer. The intent thereby is for the students to condition themselves and their reflexes to the point that they can meet an incoming force in softness, move with it until they determine its intent and then allow it to exhaust itself or redirect it into a harmless direction. The degree to which students maintain their balance while observing these requirements determines the appropriateness of their "answers." The expression used in some T'ai Chi schools to describe this is "Give up oneself to follow another." The eventual goal for self-defence purposes is to achieve meeting the force, determining its direction and effectively redirecting it in as short a time as possible, with examples provided of seemingly instantaneous redirections at the highest levels of kung fu by traditional teachers. Pushing hands also teaches students safety habits in regard to their own vital areas, especially acupressure points, as well as introducing them to the principles of chin na and some aspects of the manipulative therapy or tui na also taught in traditional T'ai Chi Ch'uan schools. At a certain point, pushing hands begins to take on aspects of ch'i kung, as the students learn to coordinate their movements in attack and defense with their breathing. Sparring is a form of training common to many martial arts. ... Alternative meaning: Kung Fu (TV series) Kung fu or gongfu (功夫, Pinyin: gōngfu) is a well-known Chinese term used in the West to designate Chinese martial arts. ... Acupressure (a portmanteau of acupuncture and pressure) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) technique based on the same principles as acupuncture. ... Chin Na or Qinna (æ“’æ‹¿, pinyin: qín ná, Wade-Giles: chin2 na2) is a Chinese term describing joint-manipulation techniques for self defense used in the Chinese martial arts. ... Manipulative therapy involves use of body work or massage therapy and other physical manipulation of the body for healing, such as osteopathy, and chiropractic. ... Tui na (推拏 or 推拿, both pronounced tÅ«i ná), is a form of Chinese manipulative therapy often used in conjunction with acupuncture, moxibustion, Chinese herbalism and qigong. ... Qigong (Simplified Chinese: 气功; Traditional Chinese: 氣功; Pinyin: qìgōng; Wade-Giles: chi4 kung1; Thai: ) is an aspect of Chinese medicine involving the coordination of different breathing patterns with various physical postures and motions of the body. ...

See also

• Chi Sao
• Ching
• Dantian
• Nei chin
• Taijitu
• Tao Te Ching
• Wudangshan