Softness and yielding are yin qualities. They require physical sensitivity and awareness.
Instead of pushing, you must yield into the opponent.
This is accomplished by allowing your body weight to move.

Pushing hands is an exercise in yielding; you relax your own body enough to allow the opponents force to move you and then you shift your weight in order to move them.

Should your partner present more than 4 ounces of resistance during the exercise, you must stop pushing immediately.
Once you learn not to push against solidity, your physical tension will start to fade and your body will begin to use gravity creatively.

'Reasonable force' requires you to be cautious in how you treat an attacker.
Do not make it an emotional event.

Be practical and expedient.

Your aim is to incapacitate temporarily. It is not to exact justice or vengeance.

Sets are not self defence.
They are fixed pattern, and serve to train accuracy, positioning, timing and movement.

The skills they teach can be taken into self defence if they manifest under pressure without contrivance.

In practice, the sets are about habit.
They encourage a certain way of moving, a habitual approach to attack.
This is what you take into self defence.

When facing a single tree, if you look at a single one of its red leaves, you will not see all the others. When the eye is not set on one leaf, and you face the tree with nothing at all in mind, any number of leaves are visible to the eye without limit. But if a single leaf holds the eye, it will be as if the remaining leaves were not there.

 (Takuan Soto) 

The conventional use of strength involves the application of force at a given, specific moment in time. If the aim is to break an arm, the individual exerts for a moment and the effect occurs.

The problem with this is that it is tiring. It wears you out.
Exerting the muscles is not very energy efficient because most of the effort accomplishes nothing; it feeds back into you when resistance is encountered.

'Internal power' is altogether different. Exerting never occurs.
The limbs are imbued with strength at all times, so an arm break would be performed with no more force than raising a glass of water to your mouth.

Where does the power come from?

It comes from unifying the body and projecting a wave of kinetic energy (jing) throughout the entire structure as and when necessary.
It is the wave that breaks the arm, not the local muscle strength.

If you lack composure, you will not see what is right in front of you.
Being calm is utterly essential.
You need to remain detached, emotionally aware and at ease.

This is the real reason why white belt syllabus students practice 'escapes'.

As soon as you use tension, you have failed.
Even if you eventually prevail, it has cost you an unnecessary amount of effort and is not tai chi.

Correct use of alignment, timing, pressure and positioning will enable you to skilfully defend yourself.

A kung fu class would not be a kung fu class without combat.
Kung fu, however, is not about fighting - it is about self defence - and the two are rather different.

Fighting is about contesting yourself against another, besting them in combat and perhaps obtaining a prize.
Self defence is about escaping harm - using the minimum degree of effort and commitment.
There are no prizes or runners-up in self defence; if you lose in a real life confrontation, you could die.

Class practice must skirt the edge of reality; tasting the danger without running the risk of serious injury.

There have been some pretty weird definitions of 'internal' from various instructors across the years.
A lot of needless debate has been carried out.

Whole-body soft movement is quite unique and easy to identify.
If you have received an internal strike, you are unlikely to confuse it with anything else.
Anyone who has tried to grapple with a real kung fu person tends to be amazed by their malleability.
The fluid, adaptive approach creates a sense of 'fighting with yourself' or with water.

What people find most odd about kung fu is the ease of the art.
A small movement produces a disproportionate consequence; and no muscular tension is ever used.
Yet it works.

To accomplish this, the tai chi classics must be adhered to strictly, with no deviation.
Yielding must be your first and last thought at all times.

We adopt a 'grass roots' attitude to kung fu, going right back to the basics.
Students explore the human body, physics, biomechanics, principles and martial theory.
They discover the difference between jing and li; and come to recognise the significance of tao.

Such an adventure is not for the half-hearted. This is no quick fix.
The syllabus is lengthy and thorough, but you can study it at your own pace.

Apprenticeship involves following the syllabus of one particular instructor.
Learning the art their way.
It is literally the cliché: "My way or the highway..."

Being an apprentice entails strict adhesion to the instructor's approach at all times...
No deviation. No debate.

Do not push on impact.
That way, the kinetic energy will travel out of your body instead of just bouncing back.

Your intention goes through the opponent, not your punch.

Upon impact, your hand/elbow/knee sinks slightly into the opponent before bouncing back off again.
This process occurs naturally and need not be contrived.
If you pull off too soon, 4 ounces of pressure has not been established and the power will diminish.

We offer beginners classes that anyone may attend.
New starters and students with different levels of commitment are all welcome.

Whilst there are grades and belts, the onus is very much upon individual progress and achievement.
You can train as hard or as casually as you like.

Students often make the same mistakes when attempting fa jing:

1. pushing upon impact
   - this approach is external in nature - the classic 'punch through the opponent' strategy
   - it is not tai chi
2. 'cocking' the pelvis and/or shoulder
3. lunging forward
4. an obvious build-up
5. jerky
6. a step
   - your step should occur because of the release, rather than to cause the release
7. tension in the striking tool
8. overall tension in the body
9. emotional tension: anger, aggression
10. forcing

Fa jing is altogether different to these approaches.

We teach baguazhang as an extra to tai chi. We do not mix and match.

Why bother learning a second art?

1. It's fun
2. It's hard
3. It is sneaky and deceptive
4. It makes your footwork smoother
5. It improves your spatial awareness
6. It works well against multiple opponents
7. It challenges you physically and cognitively
8. It encourages spontaneity and improvisation

Any student who wants to put in a little extra practice time between lessons can learn baguazhang.