Originally Posted by
taai gihk yahn
absolutely - however, if u look at the "older" Yang set I earned, u see:
- much lower stances
- different footwork that looks more like entry/throw type stuff
- no over-extension on the moves
of course, this doesn't matter a whit if u don't actually practice the moves, but the point being is that I think it was there at one point, but got removed to: make the form easier for people to learn; de-martialize it so it dud b more "health" oriented; make the form more aesthetically pleasing;
push hands makes sense if u look at it as learning how to set up entry for a throw - like how to get into position for grip dominance, over/under hook, etc.; problem is that it doesn't practice this - stationary push-hands eliminates it, moving push-hands is limited by rule-set as well;
for all intents and purposes, there's really no reason to retro-fit taiji at this point anyway - may as well learn it for what it's worth as a health practice, go study another grappling system for the goods; only thing would be that push0hands as a sub-set skill could give u some purchase in terms of "listening" skill, except it's done in such a limpid manner by most people that it really wouldn't transfer well...