Peace

Principle: Lose to win: Slow hand beats fast hand: Stiffness

In Chinese culture, a taboo exists against touching people you are not close to. It is considered inappropriate and could be seen as overly familiar.
Chinese, instead, tend to be satisfied standing at arm's length, and they stand even further when meeting strangers. There is little to no touching unless it is with family or close relationships.

Their recoiling and stiffening from physical contact with others, even those close to them, demonstrate an intuitive understanding that touch is a powerful communication tool. This stiffening behavior isn't found only in the Chinese; Westerners also suffer from it, perhaps for different reasons.

Since applying Chen's Taiji is a close, intimate encounter, slow push-hand movement reduces a student's psychological anxiety by teaching them to overcome their tendency to recoil from physical contact and demonstrates why it is good to do so if they are open to it. This is especially true when students have partners supporting their martial arts growth. Those students who, over time, refuse to relax with contact could suffer from depression, anxiety, and a host of other maladies that will hamper their skill development.

However, there was a payoff for advanced students playing the dummy for beginners; they received what Sifu described as "stupid energy," unskillful and untrained attacks that kept them on their toes. But more importantly, following Sifu's wishes for them to "lose" meant they could "win." Sifu could respond by leading them through the various avenues of escape from the different push-hand movements.

He would investigate in depth and uncover the high, medium, and slow aspects of applications nested within the push-hand movement with his advanced students, allowing them to "touch his hand," and feel the correct posture, angle, and intention to use.