History
Pushing hands is said by t'ai chi's Chen family to have been created by Chen Wangting (1600-1680), the founder of the Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan, and was originally known as hitting hands (da shou) or crossing hands (ke shou). Chen was said to have devised pushing hands methods for both empty hands and when armed with a spear. Other Tai Chi schools attribute the invention of pushing hands to Zhang Sanfeng.
In recent history pushing hands has become a part of modern competitive Chinese martial arts, especially those devoted to internal arts. Within this context, pushing hands is not an exercise to develop skill but a competitive sport.
Read more about this topic: Pushing Hands
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