Push Hands

7 Basic Steps of Clear’s Internal Push Hands

November 2, 2009 By Sigung Clear Leave a Comment

I recommend that anyone reading this post on Clear’s Internal Push Hands first read the previous post and watch the video on the right.

Once you have read the previous post and seen the video and worked on some of what is being shown then I recommend you read and step by step put into practice what I am listing here.

Both People Place Both Hands Below the Neck and Above the Waist
Relax and Sink your Root/Energy
Try to Feel the Other Person’s Root/Energy
Slowly Push -When you think you have found their root/energy -If you are correct they will either easily move or they will have to adjust their position and change their root/energy so that they are not easily moved
Keep your Root/Energy Down and Hidden so that the other person can not find it
If the other person finds your root/energy then try to adjust (sink more and let the body turn a little) so that they can not move you – Use the Ahhhhhhh Method
Continue to Play this game until you can easily hide your root/energy so well that an opponent can not find it and until you can easily find someone’s root/energy

The next post on Internal Push Hands will be a list of the training stages from beginning to quite advanced.

Filed Under: Push Hands Tagged With: internal push hands

Clear’s Internal Push Hands

October 30, 2009 By Sigung Clear 2 Comments

I have begun calling the primary Push hands method we practice Clear’s Tai Chi Internal Push Hands method. I originally learned the method from Ma Yeuh Liang when he was 95 years old. He and his wife (Wu Yin Hua) were the head of Wu Style Tai Chi and were the senior living Tai Chi masters by age, years of practice and knowledge in the world at that time.

Wu Yin Hua’s father and grandfather were both famous and her grandfather was Wu Chien Chuan the founder of the Wu Tai Chi system. Ma and Yin Hua were already married and famous Tai Chi practitioners in China in the 1930′s. When I learned internal Push Hands from Ma in 1994 I was told that Ma invented what he called NO STYLE Push Hands because he found that it was the fastest way to really build internal skill and ability. After 15 years of practice and working with this method I have come to understand why he felt that way.

First of all if I want to check the average person for how much real skill and ability they have I can play this kind of internal push hands with them for less than 1 minute without shoving them and know exactly what they have and what they do not have. In fact, most of the time when I play this with various Tai Chi folks they push themselves off of me while they are trying to move me. All I do is stand there and feel what they have and do not have. I have worked with the Internal Push Hands method long enough to find a lot of things not originally taught to me but that have come to me as a result of practice and analysis and research. So, over the long haul what I have done with the practice has made it mine. Stating this I must give all credit to Ma. Without him I simply would not have this level of ability today.

When Clear’s Tai Chi hosted Liu Ji Fa (one of the Wu lineage inheritors) here in Tennessee for 2 weeks in the fall of 2008 he told me that No Style was not the name of this method and that it is not taught or practiced publicly so in order to maintain the integrity and not mis-attribute something to Ma that is innapropriate on my part I will hence forth be using the name Clear’s Tai Chi Internal Push Hands Method for the name of this specific practice. I of course will always give credit to my sources of influence which obviously include Ma but also Don Ethan Miller and Uncle Bill (Willem de Thouars) amongst others.

It is my hope that this new name “Clear’s Tai Chi Internal Push Hands method” Internal Push Hands for quick reference will also help to alieve some of the confusion that I have received from so many serious Tai Chi students / teachers when they call me asking about learning real internal skills from me and I start talking about Push Hands. The word Internal is what I hope will set this apart as in all reality it is the primary difference between this and every other version of Push Hands that I have seen.

Here is a free video that gives some basic beginning instruction on this.

Filed Under: Push Hands Tagged With: internal push hands

Tai Chi Push Hands Fighting Benefits

October 29, 2009 By Sigung Clear Leave a Comment

Here is a list of Tai Chi Push Hands Fighting Benefits:

Creates Iron Body -Ability to Withstand Hits (Only some versions)
Develops the Ability to Feel an Attackers Intent (Learn to Feel the Intent of Incoming Strike)
Develops the Ability to Hide Your Intent
Develops your Ability to Move Much Quicker
Develops your ability to Hit Very Forcefully
Builds your ability to really apply Tai Chi for self defense

* Push Hands is not Self Defense but it builds a lot of attributes that are highly desired for self defense in terms of understanding speed, strength, position, balance, breath, receiving, diminishing and diverting power and mental and emotional states under stress

Other Tai Chi Push Hands Fighting Benefits

Develops tremendous Heavier Power striking ability
Ability to direct your strikes deep inside the body of others
Ability to receive heavy destructive strikes and dissipate them
Ability to easily move or position an opponent
Learn and Understand various speeds, positions, body types and power
Sense/feel what the opponent is doing and quickly respond
Better rooting
Learn to Sense/feel energy
Learning to Move energy

Learning how to achieve deep relaxation while engaging in an active and stressful physical activity

Let me add that the calmness while in motion has saved my life in traffic accidents several times now the last time being less than 2 weeks ago when my car hydroplaned into the middle of an intersection at 35 miles per hour on a road where the speed limit is 50 and there was oncoming traffic.

Also it goes without saying that Of course you really must have a knowledgeable teacher to work with and to put your hands on and feel to get the real understanding.

Filed Under: Push Hands Tagged With: Tai Chi Push Hands Fighting Benefits

Tai Chi Push Hands for Self Defense

October 28, 2009 By Sigung Clear Leave a Comment

Tai Chi Push Hands for Self Defense is a bit of a controversial subject. Let me start by laying any fears you may have to rest by first stating that I do not mean that you should jump into your Push Hands stance or position and then wait for the attacker to get into exactly the right position before using your Tai Chi skills. You should be practicing your Tai Chi form and various ways and methods / positions with your Tai Chi Push Hands so that you can use your skills in any position that you might find yourself in. Please refer back to this post anytime you see me writing about Tai Chi Push Hands for self defense or any Tai Chi fighting applications.

So what do you have to do to learn how to to use Tai Chi Push Hands for Self Defense? You should really be learning the energetics and applications in a very very Freestyle Push Hands kind of way so that you are used to applying your art from and to all kinds of positions. You should also focus on learning and understanding the internal aspects of what is going on. This means at first that you go very very slow and only pick up speed once you have truly gained deep insight and understanding.

By the same token you must take care to make sure that the way you are practicing Tai Chi Push Hands is a method / way that really impart skills. If you are practicing a poor method or without a real specific understanding right up front of how this or that particular Tai Chi Push Hands practice will translate into skill development then I recommend that you gain understanding of what you are after and trying to do first or simply find a more personally constructive aspect of Tai Chi to work on. I tend to approach it like a card game. I know how to play Go Fish and Crazy Eight and 5 card poker. If I go to play a new game of poker and I do not understand how to play then I certainly will not be putting any money on it and if the rules continually change to my disadvantage or after awhile I can not see any benefit then I stop playing that game and find a game I understand and can derive benefit from. Oh Yeah, just in case you want to know. Go Fish builds your memory. Crazy Eight builds a certain aspect of deductive reasoning flow.

As far as the external application of Tai Chi Push Hands for Self Defense there is a great big difference between an unskilled shove and a proper Tai Chi application of force and direction. You also want to develop internal power in your Tai Chi and learn how to apply that internal power. To do this you must practice with your focus on feeling and learning as opposed to moving or shoving the other guy.

Of course you really must have a knowledgeable teacher to work with and to put your hands on and feel to get the real understanding.

In the next post I will list a number of fighting benefits of Tai Chi Push Hands for Self Defense.

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Mind Body Spirit Health Benefits of Tai Chi Push Hands

October 27, 2009 By Sigung Clear Leave a Comment

Following are Mind Body Spirit Health Benefits of Tai Chi Push Hands

Please post questions and I will elaborate in future posts.

Of course I must include that you really must have a knowledgeable teacher to work with and to put your hands on and feel to get the real understanding. This is even more true when working on the Mind Body Spirit Health Benefits of Tai Chi Push Hands and any Tai Chi for that matter.

Mind Body Spirit Health Benefits of Tai Chi Push Hands include:

Better structural alignment
Quieting the mind
How to achieve deep relaxation while engaging in an active physical activity
Better balance

Learning and Understanding
Learning and Understanding more about oneself
Learning and Understanding more about others
Body states under various conditions
Mind and Mental States under various conditions
Emotional States under various conditions
Breathing
Chi Energy flow
The connection of the Mind to the Breath
The connection of the Mind to the Body
The connection of the Breath to the Energy
The connection of the Mind to the Energy
The connection of the Body to the Breath
The connection of the Body to the Energy
Learning how to influence the Mind, Body, Breath and Spirit
of Self and others & really facilitate Deep Medical Intuition Healing

Of course there are more Mind Body Spirit Health Benefits of Tai Chi Push Hands. As I answer questions about the ones I have listed here I am certain that some of them will come to light.

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Tai Chi Push Hands for Competition

October 26, 2009 By Sigung Clear Leave a Comment

Tai Chi Push Hands for Competition is a Tai Chi practice whereby two practitioners will make arm or/and body contact in some form and then attempt to push, pull or otherwise unbalance each other. There are many ways to play and many different reasons to play. Some versions of Tai Chi Push Hands are very structured with limited motion and play while other methods are very unstructured. In Tai Chi Push Hands the complexity of play ranges from very simple to quite difficult and complicated to learn.

Often Tai Chi Push Hands for Competition play involves stationary foot positioning. The winner of the Tai Chi push hands contest is the person who can keep their feet in the same place and does not get moved.

There are also stepping and moving versions of push hands and typically the winner and loser are determined by who can unbalance or move the other. The loss is determined by who gets unbalanced or moved in a way that indicates a loss of control.

Some Tai Chi Push Hands play is very competitive and is played in a tournament format. However, more often those who are serious about Tai Chi will play push hands for reasons and benefits other than competition.

At Clear’s Tai Chi we seldom play Tai Chi Push Hands for Competition and mostly focus on skill development and internal training.

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Tai Chi Push Hands for internal development

October 23, 2009 By Sigung Clear Leave a Comment

At Clear’s Tai Chi we practice Tai Chi Push Hands for internal development and internal skill enhancement. We rarely play Tai Chi Push Hands for competitive purposes due to the fact that we mostly focus on skill development and Push Hands for internal development.

I have included a list here that will detail some of the reasons to study Tai Chi Push Hands for internal development and try to give some insight into the real benefits that can be obtained through a careful and deep study with willing and like minded partners. Of course you really must have a knowledgeable teacher to work with and to put your hands on and feel to get the real understanding.

Builds your Internal Body Structure, Integrity & Health
Helps you to Quiet Your Mind
Develops mind power and ability
Creates Iron Body -Ability to Withstand Hits (Only some versions)
Develops the Ability to Feel your own Energy
Develops the Ability to Feel Energy Inside Others
Develops the Ability to Feel an Attackers Intent – Learn to Feel the Intent of an Incoming Strike
Develops the Ability to Hide Your Intent
Develops your Ability to Move Much Quicker
Develops your ability to Hit Very Forcefully
Enhances Mind Body and Spirit Abilities and is a prerequisite for more Advanced Training

There are more reasons than I have listed here to practice Tai Chi Push Hands for internal development. Please comment on these and ask me questions. After I have seen some posts and posted a response or two then I will add more.

Filed Under: Push Hands Tagged With: Tai Chi Push Hands for internal development

Push Hands Sensitivity

August 31, 2009 By Ben Sterling 2 Comments

tai-chi-2 Here is Sigung Clear’s response to Phil’s essay on sensitivity.

Phil’s original article is in italics and indented. Like this.

Sigung Clear’s responses are bold. Like this.

The term Sensitivity has a number of differing connotations it is variously is defined as

the state or quality of being sensitive; sensitiveness.
Physiology.
- a. the ability of an organism or part of an organism to react to stimuli;
- b. degree of susceptibility to stimulation.
Electricity – The ability of a radio device to react to incoming signals, expressed as the minimum input signal required to produce a specified output signal with a given noise level.

This has several interesting interpretations when applied to the martial arts. In martial terms sensitivity (“listening” or Ting jing) may be defined as the skill or ability of perceiving an opponents intention through a heightened state of tactile sensitivity using the whole body.

The other facet that is important to know when applying this to martial arts is “the ability of an organism or part of an organism to react to stimuli;” and “to react to incoming signals, expressed as the minimum input signal required to produce a specified output signal.”

In martial arts and particularly in Tai Chi the specified output signal is a trained response or responses that can be applied when desired and as necessary in the amount desired.

In a living organism (in this case a human being) the variability is increased quite a bit in order to deliberately hide the response from the opponent until it is to late for them to counter and also to be careful to not fall into a trap that a skillful opponent may have set or be setting. It is also important to realize that the opponent may change at any time in order to spring a trap or as a direct result of sensing what you are doing and then responding to it.

One of the benefits of being alive is that we can continually fine tune our sensitivity so that we can feel more and deeper with less and less input from the sender.

The traditional method of developing sensitivity is the practice of push hands. which is generally seen as the bridge to developing self-defense skills. To effectively sense or capture the opponent’s center of gravity immediately upon contact is the primary goal in push hands. Its self-defense strategy is to allow your opponent to come in and make contact with you so you can “sense” or “listen” and thus control, deflect and lead/entice their power/body into a disadvantageous position (lead into emptiness).

Certainly this is one skill to develop. There are quite a few others including but not limited to the following:

Learn to feel or capture isolated or systemic tension in the opponent and use that tension to control or move the opponent thereby leading them into emptiness.
Find the opponents source of power and cut it off or move it including surrounding it so that only emptiness can be perceived by the opponent.
Feel the opponents mind intent and block it, disperse it or mislead it.
Capture the opponents Breath
Find the line of force that the opponent is attempting to use and do one of the following:
- Divert it by changing the vector
- Divert it and then push or pull it
- Disperse it
- Receive and Borrow from it
- Neutralize it
- Affect it with energy – A book in itself

This sensitivity needed to capture the centre is acquired over thousands of hours of slow, repetitive, exercise and then later adding more “realistic,” , fast, martial training; forms, pushing hands and sparring.

I have found that the best way to develop real sensitivity is to work on building sensitivity by sensing and feeling while both receiving and giving but not in a set pattern.

In the beginning this must be done very slowly so that the student has time to interpret what they are feeling. Most people want to go way to fast too early and miss building the sensitivity skill to anything beyond a very basic level and then wonder why they can not perform the master level feats.

So, first sense or listen with your body and mind, then feel, then interpret and then work on various responses of all different kinds and then learn to do the same thing with less physical effort, better positioning with your energy and your mind. All of this should be done exceptionally slow and without much exertion until you have mastered it to such a degree that speeding up is the next obvious step. Then, you will find that speeding up while maintaining the skillful work is not very difficult. This is the Tai Chi way.

The other aspect of this skill is sensing inside your own body. Truly deep softness is a skill that requires the practitioner to feel when they are using physical force and using or holding tension.

To do this you must feel inside your own body and be able to release, relax and let go. All while still achieving an end result. No small order but this is definitely a skill that can be developed to a high level.

The softer you are the easier it is to feel and neutralize an opponent. The trick is to NOT collapse but to relax and get soft while your structure is correct and stable and your energy is in the correct alignment and malleable as your will sees fit. Anyone correctly working at this level understands why and how the mental aspect of all of this is so extremely important to the point of being at least 90% of what is going on. The work can be physically and mentally tiring and difficult. Mental strength is the key to overcoming these obstacles as well.

Some modern masters believe this progressive push hands approach is unnecessary and has been abandoned completely in favor of a more geometrical system that uses principle derived techniques as its foundational framework.

I have found that the senior masters have trained the way that I have described in this article and that if they are not teaching this method then none of their students have anything remotely near the kind of high level ability that the teacher has unless the student is quite an exceptionally extremely gifted and lucky individual.

Regardless of which approach is used, sensitivity or listening is developed by following two key principles. The first is to relax, sink, dissolve all tensions and simply let go. The second is to follow your opponent.

I agree with the above and add that here this point: There are a lot of different exercises and ways to think, practice and play to properly accomplish the ability to really sense and interpret.

For example, to follow your opponent feel inside them and feel where the energy wants to go and how deeply are they connected. If they are only connected to the level of pushing with their shoulder then perhaps the rest of their body and energy is moving away in response to their own tension. Learn to feel that split in the opponent’s internal intention and where the energy is and is not and where it is going and you will begin to see where the real training starts.

You must be relaxed, sunk and without tension in order to do this with any real ability or skill. The idea is to make this second nature.

All of my intermediate students can do this and my senior students can feel the separation and tension or split in an opponents energy without having to make physical contact with the opponent.

The manner in which you develop listening energy is expressed in the Tai Chi classics.
“Through silent remembering and thorough examination, you will gradually arrive at the state of being able to follow your own mind. The fundamental is to forget yourself and follow others. In this way you can listen, otherwise your mind is so full of tension and anxiety…
…you cannot hear anything else.”

Developing sensitivity is therefore a crucial building block for the improvement of interpreting (understanding) and neutralizing skills in any of the internal arts.

EXACTLY! BRAVO!

Filed Under: Push Hands Tagged With: Push Hands Sensitivity

Sensitivity in Tai Chi

August 28, 2009 By Ben Sterling Leave a Comment

The following is an essay written by Phil a long distance student. As part of his training he was asked to write down his thoughts on sensitivity in Tai Chi. We will follow this up next week with Sigung Clear’s response and thoughts on the subject.

The term Sensitivity has a number of differing connotations it is variously is defined as

the state or quality of being sensitive; sensitiveness.
Physiology.
- the ability of an organism or part of an organism to react to stimuli;
- degree of susceptibility to stimulation.
Electricity.
- the ability of a radio device to react to incoming signals, expressed as the minimum input signal required to produce a specified output signal with a given noise level.

tai-chi This has several interesting interpretations when applied to the martial arts. In martial terms sensitivity (“listening” or Ting jing) may be defined as the skill or ability of perceiving an opponents intention through a heightened state of tactile sensitivity using the whole body.

Developing sensitivity is therefore a crucial building block for the improvement of interpreting (understanding) and neutralizing skills in any of the internal arts.

Filed Under: Push Hands Tagged With: Sensitivity in Tai Chi