First let me get this off my chest.
I am not a fan of the new buzz phrase “Pressure Testing” Let’s just call it what it is “Sparring”. It makes as much sense to me as when they started calling trucks SUV. And before someone pops up telling me they are not the same because sparing is in a dojo with padding and light striking…. You’re either too young, or too new to martial arts to be in this conversation…sorry, it is how I feel. Talk to the older guys, of which I am probably on the younger side of, that trained MA in the 60s, and early 70s. And occasionally in the later 70s. I started in 1972 Japanese Jiu jitsu (no pads, just carpet, in a fencing studio, with fencing foils and fencing masks on two walls), and as late as 77 I had a TKD teacher laugh at the request for pads and protective gear that some of his students were asking for…. And we were on a tile floor and in pre-olympic TKD, there were takedowns.
We sparred, we did not have pads, protective gear or mats. That is why learning how to fall was imperative. And now before someone pops in and tells me that can’t be true because people would get hurt. Well, we did, bumps, bruises, cuts contusions sprains and breaks. And you know what, we never even thought of suing anyone, nor did out parents who took us when we were kids. You were there to learn how to fight, you’re going to get hurt, we knew it and they knew it (my parents my father was military, my mother was ex-military at the time and both were in medicine, they did not like seeing me hurt, but it was all part of MA then) However, I was lucky, I did not break anything until much later when I was training Shaolin Long Fist in the 1990s, then I broke my ankle...twice.
Another thing I want to mention, since so much Aikido has appeared in this thread. I don’t think a lot of folks understand what higher lever Randori is. You go into that and don’t know how to fall, or don’t know how to react, mostly on instinct and reflex, you will get hurt.
Agree with you 100% there. I think everybody should fight "golden glove boxing" at least once in his lifetime (I did once in my life). When you face an opponent who tries to take your head off, you will understand what a fight may look like - you try to knock your opponent down before he tries to knock you down. To be kind to your opponent is to be cruel to yourself.
I don't agree 100% as it applies to taijiquan, or any CIMA for that matter, and the next post will tell you why
There is nothing martial in push hands . It just another tool to develop certain skills similar to a punching bag. San shou is the closest thing to fight one can experience in taiji. But not everyone is ready invest in pain and injuries .
There is inly one way to test one skill under stress: is to deal with uncooperative partner preferably who know how to punch , kick and wrestle. Gotta invest in loss heavily
I both agree and disagree, but then maybe you are saying the same as I am about to, you just did not add enough detail. Saying push hands is a tool, is, at least to me, is beating a dead horse at this point. Yes, it is a tool everyone should know that. But it is a little more than a simple tool if trained correctly. However, it is less than sparring.
If all you are doing with push hands are the drills, stationary one hand, two hand, moving two hand, 3 step, for corner, then it is simply a tool. But if you go to the next level where it is freestyle, then you learn how to apply the principles of taijiquan to a conflict. And I must tell you, I have done push hands with some old Chinese guys who will pop you in the head if you lose control of their hand and they see an easy opening, who will joint lock you and/or use Shuaijaio to knock you on the floor. Still not sparring, still a bit restrained, but leading to it, and it is a very important part of leading to sparring and fighting. It is using taijiquan based on its principles and applying it to conflict. Add that to an understanding of the 13 postures and you are ready to go do some sparring, and probably a lot of losing at first. But as Bruce Lee said, and my Yang Shifu also said (and to be honest I don’t think Shifu has any idea of what Bruce Lee said) “invest in loss.”
If you use Sanshou to “Pressure test” Taijiquan that is fine, just as long as you are staying within taijiquan principles of relaxed power, body unity, etc. If you are just doing Shanshou taking the stance of a boxer, hoping around the ring like a boxer, using muscle to overcome the opponent and punching and kicking like a kick boxer, you are doing Sanshou, not taijiquan and IMO not learning how to use Taijiquan, you are however learning to use sanshou. And if that is the case, why do Taijiquan at all, just train sanshou. And yes, I have trained both.
That is why I both agree with what you said and disagree with what you said.
Chen Xiaowang told a story once about a seminar he was giving in Europe. He said he had been wondering if his taijiquan would work in a real fight, because he had never been in one (apparently the Chenjiagou matches didn’t count). He said during the seminar a student attacked him, his response was a reflex action from his taijiquan. He felt bad about it, but the guy left in an ambulance. From what I gathered it sounded like he hit the guy, very hard, in the chest and caused a heart arrhythmia.
Also, I no longer do Chen, not working on Wu and only doing the Short Sun form I learned and modified. I had a minor epiphany last week, forms don’t matter, nor does style, internal does (not Qi flow, but body units, proper use of force, relaxation, etc,) and how that is applied to application and SD. So I returned to Traditional Yang style, working on getting the Jian and Dao forms back. After that, if I am able to get one of the 2 fast forms back, it’s all good
• [WOTD-ETD 09] No.30 葉遠星 VS 李沅剛 綜合格鬥 
