A non-competitive traditional Chinese exercise has won favor among a group of US middle school students in Foshan City, South China's Guangdong Province.

The American students Tuesday practiced "pushing hands" of taijiquan between two people, with 70 students from the No. 2 Middle School of Foshan.

The US-based Washington Culture Exchange (WCE) and the Guangdong International Sports Exchange Center jointly organized the event, which brought 60 middle school students and parents from the United States to the city to study the martial art.

The local students taught their US guests tuishou, or "pushing hands" and played as their opponents.

"Pushing hands," a part of taijiquan, or shadow boxing, is also known as "adhering hands" or "whirling hands."

The attacker must push over the defender in 20 seconds, but cannot move their feet or touch any part of the defender except for their arms and trunks.

"It is a rhythmical, non-competitive exercise between two people," Gan Jiakang, the deputy president of Foshan Martial Arts Association, was quoted by China Daily as saying.

"It's a brand-new thing to me, totally different from the kung fu that I imagined before," said 15-year-old Matt Lytle from Seattle.

"Playing 'pushing hands' makes me know martial art is an exercise that needs the player to listen to the partner's body movement, learn his or her expression in eyes and internal feelings. Moreover, martial art needs the player to keep balanced, and it's helpful to improve one's health," said Jim Murphy, the director of the WCE. "But martial art meant combat and war to me before."

Murphy said he will continue playing "pushing hands" with his wife when he gets back to the United States, and he hopes to visit Foshan again in the future to learn more martial arts.

More than 1,000 students at the No. 2 Middle School of Foshan are learning the art of "pushing hands."

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2006)