Push hands

[Mokona]

I took Tai Chi Chuan for a year, and learned te form and movements but I haven't the skill in feeling my chi or building it up yet.

So my question is actually in relation to push hands. A friend of mine who practices Kung Fu is very agressive and is always on edge and has it down really well.

 

I'd like to improve myself, and am curious on tips to become better at pushands?

[Iyoiyo]

Building sensitivity is something that comes slowly, at least to me and my fellow students. I think the best way to improve is to simply practice push hands drills with a variety of partners until you are able to sense pressure easily.

[UTI]

Yeah, practice practice practice, it's not something you learn by only repeating movements or doing exercises alone. I shouldn't say too much though, I'm not good at pushing hands. At the last place I trained eventually beat my teacher and his senior student, but where I train now my teacher is having me focus on getting the basics right before I start practicing pushing hands under him. He's very adamant on learning to relax, have the right alignments, and using force properly from all angles without loosing one's center. I agree with him, there's no real point trying to wrestle down his students with poorly understood theory and too much force. I'd only mess my intuition up. Practice practice practice.

[Martial Development]

Practice with lots of people, those who are better and those who are worse. Do not restrict yourself to the members of your own school, as they probably all have the same blind spot(s). DojoScore can help you find local martial arts practice partners.