Josh Waitzkin's Push Hands Training Videos

Josh pushing hands with Daniel Caulfield, Session 1 (2003-11-24). (00:16:48)

This is the first video in the "training camp" series, which started a couple of weeks after Josh won the Gold in the 2003 World Kuoshu Championship in Brazil.

Here the push hands is with his most frequent training partner, Daniel Caulfield (yellow shirt), who also won national and world championships in 2004. They start out with slow, warm-up pushing. As the pace gradually picks up, the action remains clear, with lots of useful throwing, pushing, and neutralizing techniques.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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Josh works out for a couple of minutes with Hank, who is both a full contact sanshou and push hands medal winner, and it gets a bit rough - but well worth watching.

Then, Josh works with Jay, who has less experience in push hands, and we see a good example of soft handling and circling around.

From: Josh Waitzkin

To watch clips of Josh's push hands training, click on picture

Josh and Daniel go at it twice in this clip, with some excellent throws and some good escapes from close calls.

In between, Josh pushes hands with Steven Asherman, and Grandmaster Chen rescues him after a couple of minutes.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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In this workout, Josh and Daniel focus on aggressive throws and preventing throws by spinning with them.

They take turns, and in the second half get some guidance from Grandmaster Chen, who is out of camera, on the sidelines.

The clip starts with Josh warming up by doing some practice rolls.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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Josh and Daniel Caulfield getting ready and staying loose (2004-07-03). (00:01:56)

This most interesting video shows the workout Josh and Daniel Caulfield did immediately before their first matches at the 2004 National push hands championship in Orlando Florida. The warm-up is fast paced but very relaxed and includes some revealing footwork.

In this competition, Josh went on to win 5 Gold medals and 3 Silver medals and Daniel won 5 Gold medals as well.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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Josh pushing with Jan Lucanus and Daniel Caulfield (2004-11). (00:01:47)

This is the last day of Josh's Training Camp, which was organized for William C. C. Chen's U.S. team competing in the 2004 World Push Hands Championships in Taiwan.

In this video, Josh, Jan Lucanus, and, and Daniel get a nice, moving-step workout, and there's punching and kicking practice going on in the background with Max Chen.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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This is a moderately paced, round robin push hands with Josh, Max, and Jan C., showing lots of good moves and throws.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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Josh explains and demonstrates how to throw or takedown a push hands opponent. He and Max work with Jan C. and Jan L. to practice close-in maneuvering and effective throws, making for a good lesson.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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Irving Yee, a Tai Chi champion in the lightweight division, is the center of attention in this high energy video.

He pushes hands with Calum, followed by Max, followed by Josh, ending with a session of repeated attacks and throws.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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This is the final video of Josh and Daniel pushing hands before the world championships, and it shows that they are ready. They clearly know each other's tricks, which forces them to work that much more intensely and creatively.

In the background, we see Max and Calum practicing fixed step push hands, and there's even a few interesting minutes where Grandmaster Chen is pushing hands with advanced students.

From: Josh Waitzkin

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Josh works with his back against the border, with Tom repeatedly making forceful attacks. Josh uses a variety of effective methods that include rooting, slipping, circling around, and giving way suddenly.

From: Josh Waitzkin

To watch clips of Josh's push hands training, click on picture