Zhang Sanfeng
Pushing hands is said by t'ai chi's Chen family to have been created by Chen Wangting (1600–1680), the founder of the Chen-style t'ai chi ch'uan, and was originally known as hitting hands (da shou) or crossing hands (ke shou). Chen was said to have devised pushing hands methods for both empty hands and when armed with a spear. Other Tai Chi schools attribute the invention of pushing hands to Zhang Sanfeng.