Pushing is Not Pushing

"The body is like a floating cloud.
In push-hands the hands are not needed.
The whole body is a hand
and the hand is not a hand."
- Cheng Man Ching

"The body is like the surfaces of the sea.
In push-hands the hands are needed,
The whole body is needed,
The hands are waves at the shoreline of the sea.

When the hand is not a hand, what can it be?
When the body is like a floating cloud, rising from the sea,
Its hands are gone, its feet are freed,
With nothing to touch, to push, to pull, to flee.

Clouds can become a screaming hurricane,
The Sea a roaring tsunami.
A single finger on the Buddha's hand
Can inspire millions to clap, hands free."
- Mike Garofalo

What the heck am I talking about? Why are our observations or suggestions so flacky, imprecise, New Agey, enigmatic, unclear, quasi-poetic, meaningless, paradoxical ... ? The tendency for Tai Chi and Qigong players to utter these paradoxical remarks reflects the thoughts of many of the Zen (Buddhist-Taoist) believers and students who practiced these mind-body arts. Both Yang Jwing-Ming and Wong Kiew-Kit have a number of books that discuss this topic.

The "themes" here include: the small is significant, the small is part of the larger whole, think in terms of the complex factors, interdependence and interrelationships.