For those who have used both Japanese and Western planes...

I think the tuning by tapping the blade is much easier because it is just simple. No backlash.

By far, the wooden planes are easier to use physically. Push or pull? Who says you can’t do both?

In accomplished hands, they are equal given equal wood. A plane is just a jig for holding a piece of steel. Nothing special about it.

Just relax and go with it. There is nothing inherently difficult. A few hours with a wooden plane trying different woods, different planing directions, and holding styles is more than enough to get a feel for it.

Things to learn:

How to skew the blade to change the apparent pitch.
How to plane with the grain instead of against it.
How to hold it square to the edge.
How to deal with endgrain.
How to switch between hogging out big chunks and taking delicate wisps of wood.

-- Woodworking shouldn't cost a fortune: http://lowbudgetwoodworker.blogspot.com/