There are different styles of Taijiquan, each with its own features not only in the set-pattern routines, but also in the push-hand and free-hand exercises between two partners. In this respect, the Chen style, which originated in Chenjiagou (Chen Family Gully) in Henan Province and from which many other major styles were derived, has aroused particular attention among taijiquan followers at home and abroad. A study of its fighting techniques, even in a rough outline, may give you a better understanding of taijiquan as a whole and enable to gain better results in health building and self-defence.

    Push-hand exercises are done in the following ways in regard to hand, foot and body positions:
    - Single-hand pushing with both feet fixed, or with either or both moving forward or backward;
    - Two-hand pushing with fixed or mobile foot positions;
    - Hand-pushing with feet parallel;
    - Hand-pushing in turning steps;
    - Hand-pushing with body in full contact;
    - Pushing with hands moving freely;
    - Hand-pushing with both upper and lower limbs moving freely, which actually falls into the category of free-hand combat.

    Push-hand exercises involve contact not only of the hands, but also of other parts of the body. The contestant is required, as the saying goes, "to plunge into the fight with the whole body," usually using the following tactics:

    l. Leaning in spiral-like movement

    Body contact in hand-push exercises is called "kao," literally meaning "leaning" and involving an exertion of force, or release of "inner strength" against the opponent. Going up and down in a circular path, the partners' interlocked arms seem to be sticking together in a spiral-like movement. There is sticking in leaning and leaning in sticking. There are eight basic skills in leaning:

    1) Parrying: With inner strength released forward-upward;
    2) Deflecting: With inner strength released sideward;
    3) Pushing: With inner strength released forward;
    4) Pressing: With inner strength released downward;
    5) Pulling: With inner strength released downward-backward;
    6) Swinging: With inner strength released outward-sideward;
    7) Elbowing;
    8) Leaning with the whole body.

    Attack the opponent with any part of your body when it touches and sticks to the opponent, with a force and speed in keeping with the oncoming force, so that the latter will be neutralized and come to no avail. When the opponent loses balance, throw him down in the twinkling of an eye. This is what is called "moving one thousand catties with four liang." (1 catty = 1/2 kg; 1 liang = 1/16 catty.)

    2. Releasing force through bends and stretches

    The ancient Chinese philosophy explains all phenomena in the universe as an interplay of yin and yang, literally meaning the dark and sunny side of a hill and figuratively meaning two opposing principles, one being feminine or negative and the other masculine or positive. A hand-push bout is made up of many pairs of yin and yang movements -- bending and stretching, closing and opening, soft and hard, void and solid, light and heavy, slow and fast, lax and tense, short and long, internal and external.

    After some training in Chen-style taijiquan, which stresses "internal work" rather than "external work," your body will be filled with inner strength like a ball inflated with air which is outwardly soft but inwardly hard. This kind of inner strength will stand you in good stead in push-hand exercises, if you know how to turn an oncoming force to good account.

    In sticking to the opponent and following his movements, avoid a solid force by using a void one and a heavy force by using a light one. In releasing your inner strength, bend and stretch at the nick of time and according to the direction, distance, speed and magnitude of the oncoming force, so as to overcome the opponent by neutralizing or annulling it in a spiral-like movement. Use your arms fully stretched at a long range, your elbows at a middle range, and your whole body at a close range. In attacking, strike out in a way that the opponent will not be able to see your hands and be seized with fear the moment he sees them. Then he will be put into a passive position, and be finished when the strength lying latent in you is released at the right moment and at the right place.

    3. Grasping and flipping

    While sticking to the opponent in a spiral-like movement, catch hold of any part of his body you come into contact with to intercept and counteract his force, and then overthrow him with a flipping force -- crisp, explosive, penetrating and electrifying.

    4. Strike with lightning speed

    Attack the opponent suddenly with big or small body and foot movements, or in a fixed body and foot position. Remain still when the opponent remains still, and take him by surprise the moment he goes into action and you feel the slightest force coming from him. Release your inner strength in such a full burst and at such a lightning speed that it will unsettle his nerve, strike terror into his heart, sap his vital energy, and make a short work of him.

    In a nutshell, the fighting skills in Chen-style taijiquan are characterized by a surprise element in crisp, snappy forces released in leaning and sticking, as a best example of how to combine hardness with softness and voidness with solidness. 

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