To compensate for my shoddy practice habits, I'm reading about tai chi chuan push hands right now.

Tai chi chuan can be divided into two different practices: the form, a set of fairly rigidly defined postures and movements; and push hands, the sparring practice. Unlike, say, boxing or karate, the idea isn't to hit the opponent, and unlike judo or wrestling, you're not trying to grapple or overpower the opponent. Push hands is about unbalancing the opponent - finding the point where the opponent is off-center and exploiting it, turning the opponent's force on itself. Picture a massive dam holding back a river. One trickle of water finds a weak spot and suddenly, *wham*, the dam crumbles under its own weight.

The trick to doing this involves sticking to your opponent, sensing your opponent's next movement, and turning it... slightly. And doing this while remaining completely relaxed and centered yourself.

Here, from Xiang Kai Zhang's "A Study of T'ai Chi Push-Hands":

Therefore the Explanation of Practice says, "The body is like a wheel; the waist is the axle." Since the body is like a wheel, if there is pressure on the left, turn to the left. If there is pressure on the right, turn to the right.

This is natural law. But if you want skillful practice, the hands responding as the mind wishes--this is not a very easy matter. It is also said, "Looking up, he seems even higher. Looking down, he seems even deeper. Advancing, he is even further away. Retreating, he is even closer." The meaning of the first three sentences is that one leads the opponent's force so that it comes upon emptiness. That is to say, if he attacks upwards, I lead him even higher. If he attacks down, I lead him even lower. If he attacks straight in, I lead him further. In each case, I follow his incoming posture and direct him to an empty place. I neither struggle nor oppose. The fourth sentence explains the inability to retreat (from a T'ai Chi boxer). If the opponent advances and I retreat, I crowd myself into a corner.

It's a very paradoxical state of mind - alert and moving, still and centered. Leading by following. Going right where THE MAN wants you to go, and then a little further, and then a small twist....

For me, the fun part is trying to apply this to everything in life. Not to mention figuring out how to do even the first part of this in actual push hands practice.

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The rest of the essay totally rocks, by the way.

I'm also fond of this bit here:

The four points listed below are the most important principles for developing the knack of push-hands:

3. Stability: In fixed step push-hands, you are allowed to alternate which leg is in front, but you are not allowed to step away. This is because the purpose of push-hands is to make the legs and waist a strong foundation. If the opponent oppresses you, you must be able to use leg power (literally, sitting the legs or dropping into the legs) and the turning of the waist to neutralize his posture. As you become accustomed to this, the waist and legs will naturally have kung-fu. ["kung fu" actually means "mastery"]

4. Closeness: Whenever you search for and listen to the opponent's energy (applying leg and waist kung-fu), you must stay close in for your movements to be effective.

Slow, circular, stable & close. When you're doing push-hands, you're never supposed to lose contact with the opponent. Some of the most basic push hands practice has two practitioners facing each other, touching wrists and gradually swaying back and forth. At the advanced level, it can start out this way, but quickly becomes like watching two waterspouts bouncing around each other. Which is (wooo!) pretty cool.