Pushing a line of people

by Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy on 2013/01/03

This exercise has nothing to do with the demonstration by some masters being pushed by a line of people, mostly more than ten, to demonstrate how strong and rooted they are. This is an exercise Master Chen Zhonghua used at a workshop in Victoria, B.C. Canada in 2006 to train the pusher to get used to the experience of pushing into something very strong but is human. An exercise before this one is to push the wall, which provides static resistance. The pusher has to deal with:

  1. Resistance.
  2. Difficulty in lining up his/her own energy to push through the line of people.

Of course an exercise like this also is a lot of fun.

About Chen Zhonghua Taiji Academy

Chen Style Taijiquan 19th generation disciple. International Standard Bearer of the Practical Method system of Hong Junsheng. Second generation master of Hunyuan Taiji. Been teaching internationally since 1985. Educated in the West with a Master's Degree in Education. Highly accomplished through the lineage of two great masters. Disciplined, precise and powerful. He teaches a complete system of taiji based on the principle of yin yang separation; indirect power as a core concept; movement and tranquility as the source of action. In both theory and practice, his taijiquan deals with the problems of double-heavy. He is a real treasure of the heritage of taijiquan.

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

cshum00 January 3, 2013 at 12:30 pm

There are a lots of reasons why pushing a line of people here is not happening the same way as in demonstrations made by some masters.

First, the line of people here is doing what the master would usually do. They are trying to maintain their root instead of pushing. And the pusher here, is doing what the line of people usually do; which is to push the master out.

Let’s look at the good looking demonstration scenario. The master is not pushing but the line of people are pushing. Because the line of people are pushing, they are all tightly connected to each other. And when the master does something to the person right in front of him, all the people on the back feel it. It is because the line of people are causing the tight connection with the push.

However in this scenario, the line of people are loosely connected. They are not pushing each other but keeping the person in front of them from moving back. So the pusher push the first person, the second one hardly feels it. In other words, in the good looking demonstrations, the line of people are giving their frame away for the master to push.

Of course, higher level masters find ways to make people give their frame away without knowing. Or more sophisticated techniques which allows Jin to flow through. Which is often referred in Chinese as Tong (通). This is somehow related to Silk Reeling and what Master ChenZhongHua refers to peeling.

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pingwei January 4, 2013 at 8:44 pm

Never saw this video before. I think it is the way master Chen wanted to demystify that one can push against a group of people in a straight line. “Gigong” masters do such kind of tricks all the time.

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