Vol 21, Issue 3/2005

»Those who would obtain the Tao must bring Yin and Yang into harmony«
The eight trigrams and sixty-four hexagrams and their significance to Push Hands

Out of the formless One of the Wuji arise Yin and Yang, and from their interaction the 10,000 things. The unfolding of this phenomenon is depicted in more detailed fashion within the four images, the eight trigrams and the sixty-four hexagrams. The account of the creation of the world they provide can also be observed in Christian mysticism and the insights of modern physics as well. In his article, Jan Silberstorff derives guidelines from the interplay of Yin and Yang for growing in the practice of Tuishou, which essentially concerns increasing one’s awareness of and utilizing one’s own energy and that of one’s adversary. In his view, the outcome of a confrontation – which may involve a physical struggle or may be decided upon first contact – is decided by the magnitude of the difference between the opponents’ respective attunement to energetic processes. The state of Wuji can be re-attained by those who, through devoted training, find the way to a complete harmony of Yin and Yang.

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