Push-Pull
Added 2025-09-23 20:18:48 +0000 UTCA partner activity that fuses elements of Bulldozer and Tow Truck. Partners share weight and momentum at collision range, learning to recycle gravity, foster safety, and transform pressure into adaptive play.
Setup
Roles: push-puller and stumbler.
Partners begin face-to-face, within arm’s reach.
The push-puller clasps the stumbler’s upper arms (shoulders, biceps, triceps area) with their palm. Keep fingers together in a hooked shape for safety.
The stumbler drapes their arms over the push-puller’s—outside to inside. The push-puller’s arms thread inside to outside. Their arms interlock.
This creates a mutually bound structure: one body nested within another, with weight and alignment shared through the arms and torso.
Terms
Collision range: The distance at which, if either partner loses balance, stumbles, or steps forward, their bodies will collide.
Collision line: The direct path of collision.
The activity
The push-puller leans slightly to one side, crisscrossing their head past their partner’s collision line to avoid head-to-head contact.
The stumbler maintains a forward lean throughout.
From here, the push-puller explores two forces:
Push (bulldoze): Taking one or more steps forward to drive the partner back.
Pull (towing): Clear head and body from the partner’s direct path, step back, and root into the ground. The arms act like a rope, pulling the partner into unoccupied space.
As the push-puller, pull while the stumbler stays committed to leaning forward. Let them fall and rotate into the path you cleared, inviting gravity and momentum as the primary movers. Anchor your base to the ground and use your arms like a rope to transmit force, rotating and drawing your partner forward and around. Let the ground do the work.
Analyzing the video
Starting within collision range, the two partners interlock arms. The push-puller leans slightly off-center, crisscrossing their head to prevent collision. The stumbler keeps steady forward pressure. The push-puller starts bulldozing, driving their partner back, then transitions to towing. The push-puller roots into the ground, clears their head and torso from their partner’s forward trajectory, and uses their anchored body as an axis to pull and rotate their partner into unoccupied space.
Through LMA’s wu wei, the push-puller recycles gravity and momentum, letting them carry the partner into emptiness. This push-pull cycle repeats, then they switch the direction of the pull.
Partners keep their gaze low, toward each other’s hips. This aligns the spine and head while hiding the face.
Off-balancing
The most effortless way to move someone is to off-balance them. Off-balancing means a person’s trunk (center of mass) leaves their roots (base of support) into unoccupied space. Off-balancing is itself a movement, so it requires unoccupied space to fall into.
Safety, gaze, and haptic sensitivity
Partners keep their gaze toward each other’s hips. This aligns the head and neck with the spine while protecting the face from direct impact.
The hip-level gaze also expands peripheral awareness of both partner and surroundings.
The push-puller should try to disappear from their partner’s direct line of sight as they pull, leaving only the safety of empty space.
For the stumbler, the obstacle before them (their partner) should move out of sight, leaving only empty space to safely enter.
However, for the push-puller, the optimal moment to pull is felt, not seen. This activity cultivates haptic sensitivity—timing emerges through touch, not calculation or memorized steps. You can feel a partner’s trunk leave their roots before you can see it.
Mouthguards and headgear are recommended for added protection.
Progressions and variations for push-puller
Experiment with different arm shapes, body shapes, contact points, and positions. Notice which connections feel deep or shallow, and how each variation stabilizes or destabilizes your base.
Transition your holds as you switch between pushing and pulling—let one flow into the next.
Alternate between left and right push-pulls. By directly comparing sides, you can see what makes the movement successful or unsuccessful for fine-tuning.
Switch roles more frequently—trade roles after each push-pull instead of after a full set, cultivating responsiveness and adaptability.
– Sam
