Impressions from the Hannover Push Hands Meeting 2019
This was my first but certainly not last time at the annual Push Hands Meeting in Hannover. I came with “an empty cup”, not knowing what to expect. I´ m not a beginner in Tai Chi, that I have studied for 25 years, but pushing hands has always been a subject that I thought I could develop more. I have had my eyes on the Hannover Meeting for many years, but there was always something else …
Well, once there, the first day I had my competitive shoes on and in the free pushing I really wanted to prove myself, but over the five days I came to understand more of the underlying principles of the soft pushing and that Pushing Hands really in its essence is about forgetting your ego and letting go. Tai Chi!
Nils and the team supported with great leadership by setting the stage – inviting for free push in a friendly atmosphere – allowing beginners to take the first steps on this fantastic journey. The arrangement and the logistics were superb. Thanks!
For the workshop instructors I can only give my highest praise, so competent, willing and able to share their profound insights. Both the external aspects and perhaps even more important, the internal aspects were well demonstrated and trained in these workshops. A true experience in finding the deeper level of Pushing Hands. Thanks!
Back home I tried some of the newly found principles in the form and gained more great insights. Some fellow practitioners were more than happy to hear about the Pushing Hands Meeting and we also tried some of the exercises from the meeting. So, the sharing continues.
Finally, those were fantastic five days that gave me more insights to Pushing Hands and Tai Chi than I have had in a long time. Thanks everybody for sharing in the workshops and the free pushing!
Next year is the 20th year anniversary of the Push Hands Meeting in Hannover and I can only recommend anyone interested in this topic to attend.
Author: Karl Bergfors
https://www.taichi-qigong.se/
16 April 2019
Sweden
Images of the last years
Video of the Meeting
Images: Nils Klug