An

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Katas containing this technique

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An (按), known in English as push, is one of the eight gates of taijiquan. It is performed by placing the palms on the opponent's body or arm; another source briefly describes it as pushing with the palms. It differs from the gate ji precisely in the palms, because ji pushes with joined arms. An belongs, together with peng, lu and ji, to the four basic gates (ba men) and closes their sequence peng, lu, ji, an. In the simplified 24-posture form it is the fourth, final movement of the Lan Que Wei group (Grasp Sparrow's Tail) and follows ji. In competitive tui shou (push hands) the goal is to push the opponent out of the circle or to unbalance him. We have not been able to document who first described an as a separate gate.