Entering

In pushing-hands we have a scenario in which one person attacks and the other yields. Roles are then reversed, and so forth. Yielding is usually described as the action of sticking, turning, sinking and retreating which neutralises the oncoming attack, putting you in an advantageous position. This is all well and good but it omits the most important part of correct yielding which is the initial leap towards the oncoming energy - what we call the entering. This leap happens in the heart which opens compassionately to embrace and welcome the attack. This needn't be lovey-dovey. In fact it shouldn't have any passive element at all. If the energy coming towards you is aggressive then your entering is likely to be equally so. On one level at least you must match the passion of the attack. The image I used to find useful is that of an angry toddler about to strike you with a harmless weapon of some sort. You wouldn't yield and then attack - it wouldn't be appropriate. You would see the attack coming and then quickly leap forward to remove the weapon from the child's hand as he draws it back to launch it at you. It is exactly the same in Tai Chi. Before the oncoming energy has started to come forwards you should have leapt into it and embraced it. Then the situation will often diffuse before there is any explicit confrontation since you have sensitively and compassionately taken the wind out of their sails so to speak. To manage entering you must be joined to the situation: your heart must have openly embraced the situation before you enter it. So where does it all begin? It begins with that invisible aspect of your awareness which you can only trust to be working for you. It cannot be "turned on" but it can be developed through compassion, through putting the other first. This is difficult in pushing-hands because the exercise is continuous. We find it more useful to practice discrete attack/yield passages - one person attacking and the other entering and yielding. The slightest indication of an attack should trigger your openning and entering. Practising this way you will learn to stick with your heart. The best example I know of apart from my teacher is Dr Chi. If any of you are lucky enough to own the video of him doing the Forms then watch carefully. You will see that each posture is preceded by a leap of energy and spirit towards the imagined oncoming energy. It is this leap of lightness that yields, not the subsequent turn of the waist. John noticed this in Dr Chi's pushing-hands as well. Before he turned to yield he would perform an almost involuntary tiny turn in the other direction to throw his hand and spirit forwards into the oncoming push. This action was so slight it was almost not there but it made all the difference. Speak to anyone who worked with Dr Chi and they all say the same - when you pushed him he wasn't there but at the same time he was all over you - he did not retreat, his heart would not allow it. This is a high level and has nothing to do with trickery or technique or taking advantage. It is no longer a matter of me and you because the heart of the yielder has openned and entered to consume the whole situation. The yielder is at once all around the attacker. This can be practised in any situation. It is simply a matter of embracing connexions as they happen, or rather, as they are about to happen. An aspect of your entering sensitivity feels things in embryo and is able to transform them before they fructify, so, on one level anyway, you create your own good fortune, but only if you practice entering. Good luck.