Tai Chi Chuan, or “Grand Ultimate Fist”, comprises three distinct practices: the form, tui shou or “push hands”, and sans shou, which is pretty much kick boxing on a raised platform unbounded by ropes.
Tui Shou introduces hands-on competition with an opponent. We compete at full speed and intent, unusual in martial practice, but with tight constraints to make play safe and keep competition even. We play not to win, but to cultivate in each other:
- physical balance;
- agile reaction;
- calm under fire; and
- balancing yin (defense) with yang (offense).
Because play proceeds at full speed, we get a great workout with risk only of bruises and fingernail scratches. In hundreds of hours of play, under rules much looser than the ones below, on hardwood floors, with players of mixed gender and size – I never saw anyone get hurt. That said, it was normal to see action between consenting players turn into grappling, which is not at all why we play tui shou.
So:
- trim fingernails before play, or wear light gloves; and
- follow closely the rules below.
Spirit of Play
Push hands is a game played to develop:
- reflexive agility;
- spontaneous issuance of fa jing; and
- calm under fire.
Therefore, we attack:
- to help our partner improve;
- to cultivate our sensitivity to partner’s vulnerability;
- to learn to attack without exposing ourselves to counterattack.
Matches
- Begin and end with palm over fist.
- Stop when the bell sounds or tempers flare.
Rules of Play
The ideal push is just “bad dancing”.
No punching, grabbing, kicking, or arm locks: just push without punching and draw off balance without grabbing.
No contact above the shoulders or below the waist.
After disengaging to free your hand to push, first land that hand gently before pushing, so it is not a strike.
Neither physical nor cardio strength should prevail:
- stronger player must suppress their excess strength;
- no point is awarded if strength prevails; and
- play should pause if either player is winded
A round is completed when:
- either or both players move a foot;
- either or both players touch the ground;
- three seconds after either player issues fa jing.
Play stops when:
- players lose contact. slowly start over;
- the mood becomes unpleasant, either angry or frustrated.
Start with players’:
- left feet fwd, toes alongside each other;
- left hands back to back;
- right hands lightly touching, not grasping, the other’s elbow.
Switch orientation after every round to build ambidexterity.
Instructor Certification
There is no need for an instructor to win a lot, but they must:
- know the above rules and demonstrate their application in over several trial sessions;
- demonstrate reflexive yielding and sticking in live play; and
- demonstrate balance and flexibilty.
Surprise Attack: An illustrative story
After years of tui shou practice at Grandmaster Chen’s studio, where I developed my skill against some of the best in the world, one day Master Chen took me aside for solo practice. I always hated these carve-outs.
Master Chen would always ask me to execute the same simple technique, (“Pull me out.”) and I would always fail. He would offer his right arm so I could reach under it with my right hand and pull him off balance past me. I never got it right. Until I figured it out.
Instead of dropping my butt to drag him, I kept my weight forward and pulled myself down into the ground, lifting up against his arm to generate the force down and straightening my core to drive my hips forward. Master Chen easily came uprooted. I knew before he said it that I had at last succeeded, and Master Chen quickly confirmed. At last!
Master Chen then signaled the end of our mini-session the usual way.
“Okay,” he said, turning to lead me to my next tui shou partner. “Now you…”.
And then he hit me. At full speed, with full power. I am pretty sure he did not hold back because the blow was with his right firearm and directed at my chest facing to my left, so there would be no harm if it landed. And it landed. I was shocked.
“Good,” said Master Chen, with a surprises smile. “You swallowed the impact.”
I thought he had belted me pretty good, but with his encouragement I realized I had held my stance by reflexively collapsing at the knees, driving them forward to maintain my center of gravity, and I had gotten my forearms up in time to absorb the impact. I was terribly pleased with myself, feeling like Daniel in The Karate Kid after Mr. Miyagi threw all those unexpected shots at him. Then Master Chen hit me again.
Same safe attack, same absorbing defense. As always with Master Chen, I did not ask him afterwards what that was about. It seemed obvious: I had successfully defended a surprise attack. In tui shou competitions, the referee indicates when to begin. Attacks will be sudden and disguised, but they are not pure surprises; we will be intently watching for them. Master Chen’s attack was a pure surprise. So I thought I knew what had happened.
What I missed at the time was something deeper: Master Chen knew we loved tui shou, and could see the tricks and techniques we all used to defeat opponents and bring trophies back to his school, but as a fighter he was interested only in what we could do reflexively.
Neo On Ice: Another Story
One winter’s night, striding down Broadway in NYC at a good clip in dress shoes with hard heels, I set my left heel down on black ice. My foot shot out and I experienced every sensation of an uncontrolled crash to the ground, but came to rest standing like Neo dodging bullets, facing 180° in the opposite direction. Apparently my right foot held and I swung around it like a weather vane, at the same time reflexively doing the Neo back bend to control my core center of gravity usefully.
The neat thing is that this is Master Chen’s favorite move in tui shou, and he demonstrates it often, even at tournaments. And I do recall one time deliberately exposing myself to a push and successfully defending the attack with a classic “Neo”. When I looked up I saw that Master Chen had witnessed the whole thing and was more surprised than impressed.
At any rate, here again we see that we practice tui shou mostly to develop sound reflexes, and not just in martial play.