The Hand is not to......

......move by itself. The sending out of tenacious energy in T'ai Chi Ch'uan is to be originated from the waist and legs in co-ordination with the practitioner's thought, chi and spirit. If one pushes with his hand only, one has no way to lift his opponent from the ground into the air. Thus it has been said that T'ai Chi Ch'uan does not have to use hands and that which uses hands is not T'ai Chi Ch'uan. This applies not only to the framework but also to T'ui Shou.

Quoted from an article by Dr Chi Chiang Tao which was published by West & East Monthly, 1965.