[Tango-L] Tango and tai chi push hands

[Don Klein]

Jim--

As a practitioner/player of both I generally agree, but I find two 
essential differences, in tuishou (push hands) the object is to find the 
duifang's (partner's) center and uproot him/her-- although many times 
the game is played stopping just at that point to make the partner 
aware--whereas in tango both partners should always be aware of the 
other's center .  And there is the bodily concept that was so 
disconcerting when we started dancing more serious tango:  
disassociation, where in taijiquan the general principal is that the 
torso is like a plank:  the shoulders stay aligned with the hips.

Best to all in both practices,

Don


On Thu, 03 Feb 2011 09:32:16 -0600 Jim Gillette wrote:
> There is another 2 person activity that is interactive, starts with guided movements or choreography and evolves to an intuitive, shared, moving experience.  It is tai chi push hands.  Most practitioners of the tai chi form don't move on to push hands in the US.  Many more do in China.
>
> I do and love both and find many similarities.  I did weekly PH in a park in LA for years and now do the same with a group in San Antonio.  In tango(particularly close embrace), I always want to sense and interact with my partner's center so that we stay together and share the experience more and more subtlety and decisively.  In PH, the same sensing interaction occurs with the difference being that perception of the person's whole body, particularly the center allows one to push the other off balance.
>
> PH players get high in quite the same way as tango dancers and it becomes a very positive addiction just like tango.  PH players can sit around and discuss the process and subtleties for hours just like tango dancers.
>
> It goes way beyond lead and follow or mental move and respond with moves learned in a class.  It becomes a simultaneous, interactive sharing that develops the mind-body in the context of a cooperative/competitive game.
>
> Just like in videos of close embrace dancers, so much of what is going on cannot be captured, only inferred.  It is the same with PH.  Most PH is played "fixed foot".  Here is a vid of "moving foot" to give an idea of how that can occur.
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdynHj5FsO0
>
> Here is a link to our FB page.
>
> http://www.facebook.com/pages/San-Antonio-Tai-Chi-Push-Hands/138662649497058
>
> Best wishes to all who love, practice, and develop their mind body sensing with another person.  And gosh, if you can do it in an embrace, to music, then it's about as good as it gets.
>
> Jim