I just got this interesting email from a colleague residing in Shanghai
08/11/2011 15:20
I just got this interesting email from a colleague residing in Shanghai, who I have played push hands with on a few occassions.
I have been developing a really big push hands curriculum for about a year now. It is based on using the eight gates theory of taiji as it is applied into sixty four changes as shown in the yijing. So basically each individual energy has seven smaller, cooperative energies that go with it, representing all of the changes of the yijing. It also emphasizes extreme softness, and a lot of mental and energetic work. There is a big focus on the middle dantien in this work, as it promotes total ease of movement and supports principles such as following, yielding, not opposing, and cooperation in stressful situations......
...the efficacy of this material was driven home to me when I was forced to defend a Chinese university student against a very angry Kazak man. The situation was entirely diffused using push hands skills on physical, emotional, oral, and energetic levels. No one was hurt, punched, thrown, or inconvenienced, and yet the physical skills of push hands were one of the most important parts of diffusing the situation
This is a perfect example of what I keep trying toget across to all my students... Taijiquan teaches us how to neutralize regardless of the situation. What we learn in class is to be digested and then used in everyday life.
Peace
Rod
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