Pushing Hands

Ignorance can be thought of as a sort of amorphousness: a lack of shape, or order, or definition, or refinement. Your energy system can be thought of as a bundle of filaments or tentacles or dimensions. An ignorant state is one in which these tentacles are dull and massed together: agglutinated. Through correct practice each tentacle should unravel from the mass and start to shine with spirit. This requires what we call single-weighted practice - practising one thing at a time - working on each tentacle individually. So, when practising the Form, we usually have one principle strongly in mind: we will concentrate on sinking, or keeping the sacrum in, or turning the waist, or rounding out at the beginning of each posture, or having our energy focused and directed at the end of each posture, etc. Flitting around from one thing to another is generally regarded as a lack of discipline, and will not develop strength of character.
However, when practising with another person interactively, this one-dimensional aspect of your practice has to be abandoned so that the spirit can rise and start coordinating all these different facets that you've worked hard to develop independently. When this happens the tentacles start working together, stimulated by the immediacy and reality of the other person's presence. It is very important to appreciate that the reality you enter with another person is very different from the one you inhabit on your own, and that pushing-hands should never be another version of solo practice. When confronted by what my teacher calls "the miracle of the other" it is crucial that your humanity and compassion are stimulated to make a real heartfelt connexion otherwise that miracle is rejected and the real energy of the situation - the between-energy - doesn't take pride of place. This between-energy encourages the situation to manifest its uniqueness and teach the two of you its secrets. This will only happen when you abandon your expertise for the sake of heightened togetherness. If your tentacles have become beautifully bright and unraveled through your own hard work and dedication, then you must be prepared to give up that state so that entanglement with the other's energy can take place. It's these entanglements that will enrich and deepen your humanity, not your solo practice. This is why the partner work in TaiChi and Heartwork is so important, without it, no matter how hard you try, you're still just practising another aspect of self.
As a teacher of TaiChi I can honestly say that it is only those students who quickly develop a passion for the partner work that interest me. They are the ones with heart, and, so often, they are also the ones who have suffered.