I was talking to one of my teachers and I had mentioned how I thought push hands would be popular with teenagers today and I was surprised when he told me he wouldn't want to teach them. He felt that they were not capable of grasping it and would rather wait till they were 30. I have seen young people in video at chen village doing push hands and I was wondering what other people thought about this.
Hi jbarry
What is push hands?
Sunrise 🙂
Same. What is "push hands"? Sounds interesting.
I think it depends on the individual. If the youngster is focused on the tai chi discipline then by all means teach him/her. If they are mucking about in class then they are unlikely to take it in properly anyway.
here is an example of push hands, if you google you will see many kinds for health and competition.
I was talking to one of my teachers and I had mentioned how I thought push hands would be popular with teenagers today and I was surprised when he told me he wouldn't want to teach them. He felt that they were not capable of grasping it and would rather wait till they were 30. I have seen young people in video at chen village doing push hands and I was wondering what other people thought about this.
30! That sounds like a long time to wait. I wonder what his reasons are for that? Surely if you started at 10 then you would have understood how to practice taiji quan push hands, in the correct manner - with the aid of a competent teacher, in at least 3 to 5 years, when you are a tenageer in the prime! - with suficant training of course. Like you mention jbarry, people in the Chen village are practicing push hands at a young age, so why make people wait, sounds like the mark of a incompetant teacher to me!:) Although i have heard that some teachers / masters will only teach their students push hands when they have grasped the basic principles. And this is not only measured in years, but in other ways like personal, individual aptitude etc etc. For example, i am only 19, but believe i have understood the basic, theoretical principles of push hands training enough to start of training in the correct manner. Plus i have i competent teacher - as without this you could be 60 and still not be able / ready to train in push hands!
I think it depends on the individual. If the youngster is focused on the tai chi discipline then by all means teach him/her. If they are mucking about in class then they are unlikely to take it in properly anyway.
I defiantly agree with this. As mentioned, in my previous comments and the above quoted post form caveman, it purely depends on the individuals skill level, mentality and willingness to learn (all overlap somewhat, or go toward helping each other progress). The teacher you have herd say 'i won’t teach push hands until they are 30', jbarry, indicates that this person does not appreciate the fact that everyone is different. Why 30? you should asking him! What will he do when he comes across a person who is naturally talented in taiji quan and is capable of learning push hands in a year, 2 years? not teach them? I accept that some teachers like their students to have fully understood the fundamentals before progressing onto push hands, otherwise is just deteriorates into a grappling mach (not one that is going to nurture the gong of reaction timing, sensitivity and propreioception, generally). However, and equally, some individuals are ready to learn push hands in a relatively short period of time. If a person trains 2 to 5 hours a day, 7 days a week and another trains 1 hour twice a week, then the former will progress, i would think, a lot quicker, and thus be able to start training in push hands sooner.
Any ways, that is my though on the topic. Cheers, Pete.
At least if you're 60, you can only rely on the principles and can't rely on muscular strength. Maybe that was the teacher's thinking, although it would be quite a big generalisation.
I will ask, I will be the flea on the dog and when he swats me I will hopefully be his shadow. He is pretty good at push hands and won some championships, I think over the years possibly he has met alot of interesting Tai Chi people and maybe some burn out has set in(after all TC is undergoing a lot of flux)? Maybe its because its a lot of power to give to the young. Its considered bad cricket to teach people of bad character. Perhaps you can ask your teacher what is their opinion.
My teachers teach to all ages and all levels.
Oh, I see what it is now. Looks like it takes a lot of concentration to keep that going for so long...
George
After awhile it becomes 2nd nature and you learn to conserve your energy, its sorta like Rock, Sissors, Paper game.
The reason may be there is the problem of the player who has little control or bad intentions, cracking a few elbows(sorry) or other injuries. I was watching a tournament and one guy was consistantly using cloud hands/single change creating a bad situation for the other competitors, I heard one elbow from 30 feet away. Amazingly he was not corrected by the judges.
Who could ever really know the reason why some believe it's ok and some not to learn push hands early on (or not as the case may be).
I personally believe that if a person shows dedication to learning the principles and truths behind anything then age should not be an issue.
All Love and Reiki Hugs