Knowledge

The mood on the day before the competition was incredibly tense and exhilarating. Starting from the afternoon, competitors around China began streaming in one by one, greeting one another like old friends. When it came to the time of measuring our body weights, these competitors stripped down to their underwear, and that’s when I really noticed how lean and muscular they were. I could tell each of them had put in a lot of time and effort into their training, and they even kept their weight as high as possible within the weight category they are fighting in.

My objective for joining the push hands competition was simple: to pressure test myself against other competitors to see how I would fare, so I could identify the areas to improve on. The competition uses a double elimination bracket system, which meant participants need to lose twice before they are eliminated. This was great news to me, as I believed I would be able to acquire more experience from this competition regardless of winning or losing. Unfortunately, during my first match, I accidentally pulled my left shoulder and right thigh muscles, and was unable to compete in the subsequent push hands matches… Nevertheless, I’ve gained plenty through that one round.

Set Your Own Tempo
During my match, my opponent came in strong and fast, and my body reacted to it subconsciously. I tried several times to regain back my control, but kept reverting back soon after due to the intensity of my opponent. And as expected, once I played into his game, I was not able to beat him in terms of his physical abilities. Setting my own tempo is something that I haven’t quite comprehend yet, but I believe I’ll have to accumulate even more push hands experience to truly appreciate.

Overall, the three of us from Singapore really enjoyed the trip, and would have loved to stay longer had it not been for work commitments. We trained a lot, ate a lot, and made many new friends along the way. We look forward to the next time we meet again!