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 _______________________________________________ Tango-L mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/tango-l
