Does your style practise pushing or sticking hands? If so what are the reason behind its practise, what are the end goals and the progressions to get there, now does it fit in with your styles other training methods and philosophy? The pushing I practise in baguazhang is seen as a way to safely practise your shoufa and zhangfa (palm methods and methods of the hand). It starts with pushing to find angles, then showing strikes, then adding in strikes before disengaging and moving to unattached free sparring. It fits in with the philosophy of teaching good hand work first before body work or leg work, of teaching from inside to out, close to far which is a philosophy which over rides how weapons are also taught. It fits in with the philosophy of the importance of all the centerlines to the bagua I have been shown. It is taught two hand and free in movement from the start. In comparison the xingyi I train is primarily concerned with single hand pushing the idea behind to dominate the centerline and the top position to find an angle then to hit with maximum force. The CLF I have done had no sticking it went straight to sparring The hakka arts I know has sticking to teach the centerline mainly single hand and double hand as a safe way to spar and add hits whilst looking to unbalance at close range
It's Wing Chun so...yeah. Chi sao is important to it. Build sensitivity, practice using energy given by the opponent, practice trapping and footwork, practice trapping and kicking, practice hitting immediately if the opponent withdraws, practice wu dip do techniques without the swords (and the absolute basics also paralelling the sue mai gwan), allows safe practice when not wearing equipment. Get good at trapping techniques once bridged, respond to breaks in contact by hitting immediately, stay balanced, not commit circular energy which can be redirected easily, trap instinctually and rapidly. The progression is single-sticky hand (dan chi-sao), to rolling + single hand techniques with footwork, to teaching two-hand entry and reactive techniques. I also add in some partner work where one partner, once they have a decent grasp of chi-sao, does non-wing chun techniques to make sure the trainee can respond reflexively and appropriately. It fits conceptually. It mirrors the weapons techniques and philosophy. It lets the bridged techniques be practiced....but I have some criticisms beyond the usual bad Wing Chun technique I see, and things people must do to improve: Many people tend to view it competitively, like getting a hit is 'winning,' and do what they can to achieve that goal. As a result instead of giving forward energy some people will bear weight onto your arms to try to grind down your rotator cuff muscles so they can 'beat' you. It's not enough to work with, just enough to wear you down. This works because you do chi-sao for a while, and because the old swordsmanship saying of "he who strikes second wins" applies to chi-sao because you react to your opponent's movement and trap. Grinding people down like this is not a productive way of training. Rolling too long. Lots of videos out there of people rolling, and rolling, and rolling, trying to feel for tiny openings, again, so they can "win." But you also have to get good at making openings too! You can't just sit there rolling trying to feel for subtle openings. You're trying to hit someone, not do tip-play with a rapier or epee. If your partner is going to attempt things and give you energy to work with, cool If your partner wants to react to what you're doing and they can 'beat' you, you get a chance to train at getting better at making openings. Roll once or twice and do something, because entry should be dynamic and you don't just sit in contact like that. Enter, hit them, bait them, work from their reactions, but don't just sit there like you're feeling the mystic juju from their bong-sao. Too many people stay at range. Entry demands footwork! In order to hit someone you have to close distance. Even when people try to enter they'll try one step encounter a deflection and give up. You have to enter aggressively and keep pressure! Often I have found the most success in just pressing forward aggressively and ripping away the opponent's hands. Too many people view chi-sao like it's the end goal, and spend too much time drilling it. You also have to make time for pak-sao and lap-sao so you can enter space where there is no bridge, and rip, move, and deflect the opponent's hand out of the way. Chi-sao is a compliment to those drills, not above them, and the ultimate goal is to move into dynamic scenario training, weapons training, and where techniques are applicable, to sparring. Too many people don't keep forward pressure butting their structure up against their partners. The goal is to hit if they give any structure weakness, and to give structure which prevents entry on the center line, and the forward pressure has to reflect that, from the legs, through the arms. Too many people don't "play the bad guy." If all you do is wing chun techniques, everyone is used to that. To let people practice what happens when someone breaks contact, someone has to break contact, or give circular energy, or grab, any number of other things wing chun people don't do. As a good training partner you have to actively try to screw with people sometimes to force them to deal with those things that non-wing chun people, or even non-martial artists might do, even when you already have a bridge. Too many times I go to mess with people a little, and I see them basically short-circuit at the unexpected instead of reacting instinctually like chi-sao is supposed to build. Too few people glove up and do chi-sao where you hit the head instead of the chest. Now, it requires good training partners to not turn a reactive free-ish drilling environment like this into sparring, and use it for its purpose. But when you can, it's a valuable tool to gauge distance better than just hitting people in the chest. All in all, too much chi-sao like it's a game and not enough focus on what it's training, and where it complements the other training.
We have a variety of methods of push-hands: 1) Fixed Feet Sensing Hands; soft circling method, working on flowing movement from the waist, transferring weight whilst remaining sunk, integrating the "softening the core" neigong 2) Single Step Sensing Hands; the above, but with forward and backward stepping, working on smooth movement, ting-jin to pick up on the partners intention to step 3) Scattering Hands; exploring the expression of Jin through defensively, absorbing movments ("blocks" as it were) 4) Fixed Feet Uprooting; Taking what has been practiced above and beginning to apply offensively in a free-flowing manner, with the aim of uprooting the partner whilst maintaining your own root 5) Free-Step Uprooting; now both players are able to freely employ the 5 stepping methods to neutralise and counter their opponents force, as well as deliver their own - here we start to see an exploration of the ideas behind the postures of the taiji form
A new Ancient Text I found in my great-great grandfather's cellar here in the US and freely translated from the Gaelic by myself. Told ya TC was created by my family in the Emerald Isle! Please forgive my poor translation skills. Doc Phinney on T'ui Shou in T'ai Chi Ch'uan +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The Purpose of Push Hands Training or After I Post This I'll Think of 50 Other Things I Didn't Say ---------------------------------------------- Translator's Notes I regret I cannot recall the name of the individual who defined PH in a nutshell,words to the effect of Push hands is where you learn to issue force and deal with incoming force. My own PH background is mainly in 2 Yang lines,that of Tung,Ying-ch'ieh and (predominately) the methods of Professor Cheng,Man-ch'ing. Although different T'ai Chi branches have various methods of PH practice the general skills/qualities engendered are the same,so rather than detail specific training methods such as those from my two Yang lines I'll attempt to give a general overview. Text ======================== Sean Dubh's T'ai Chi Push Hands Tome PH practice gives a reality check to and development of your level of relaxation,your structure,mechanics,leg strength,root,proper creation and use of force and like all partner training,intent and attitude.It teaches the discernment and usage of angles in relation to the opponent when issuing or defending. PH practices are integral to TCC.While issuance of force does not at least initially require a partner to practice on,I don't know how the TC practitioner will develop tactile "listening" ability,skill at catching opponents balance or "center", sticking/adhering skills,issuance of power through whatever body part of yours is touching the opponent (hand,forearm,hip,thigh,etc) nor the specific body methods of neutralization/yielding technique without PH methods. Past a raw beginner's level any TC practitioner should begin to exhibit these skills,even crudely, when involved in the various methods of free sparring.Or real violence. In PH training one seeks to execute everything as minutely perfect as possible-if I just push you over without utilization of proper methods it may seem to an onlooker that I've won,but the reality is it was garbage.I lost,even if my partner lost too. PH is a labaratory/workshop where one develops/refines skills.It wasn't created as an end unto itself.Or just for pushing people. While PH is commonly taught and practiced out of various structured patterns note that PH may be just practiced ala "feeding" the same technique repetitively to the partner,a common basic practice but one which can be used exclusively for training eschewing use of a formal "pattern".For testing the partners can just go at it,using a formal pattern to operate out of or no. (Translator's note- I especially hope John Wang,who you all know I have the highest respect for,reads this part below!) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Push hands is NOT about pushing.Using the push is for specific purposes in the training but the purpose of the training is not to develop the best push in town.(Tho' pushes can be quite devastating to an opponent in combat,especially when rather than a long distance push the opponent is slammed at one's feet.Short or long pushes may be used for sending opponent into furniture,or over Niagara Falls). ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Generally "long" power is used in PH,although for more experienced persons the usage of "short" power may be judiciously employed."Short" power is much more uncomfortable and potentially damaging to experience.This has nothing to do with how far one may send the opponent.Not unlike in boxing where one can hit "through" or "into" the opponent's body. I'd like to comment on the usage in English among TC practitioners of the terms throw/throwing/etc. All the instructors I've known,not just mine,whether from Asia or the States,Chinese or no,use these English terms in relation to casting an opponent down,away,etc. It doesn't literally mean an actual throw was used although this can be the case.Generally in PH one doesn't throw the opponent but issues force through their body to execute a balance attack. It's understood when actual throwing is being taught/discussed the term isn't used in the same way as the general statement of "throwing someone out". NOTE-As i don't speak Cantonese,Mandarin,nor the specific dialects of my teachers I do not know what the terms would be in their heads before translation into English. Maybe Xue can help us with that. A common method initially in training is when one has "got" the other's "center" the method is to "follow" them until they can retreat no further and then use the absolute minimum amount of force to achieve the end.As one's proper execution progresses one can increase the issuing as desired including not waiting for them to run out of room to retreat but just operating through the tension-even if minute- in their body. One knows a push was a good one when the opponent is slammed,sent flying,whatever...and you felt hardly anything but a VERY light contact. For practical reasons PH must be practiced in the "fixed step" (no stepping) mode until one has developed-relatively speaking- understanding of and proficiency in the methods and execution.As proficiency increases in this "static" position there comes a time when stepping may be introduced either via the formal patterns or just stepping freely.Watch your angles! Speaking of angles.... When one has "caught" the opponent's balance and is ready to issue one will feel-and/or see,like on a pool table-tho' that's on a flat plane- the myriad of lines (angles) one can issue on. In early training one attempts to issue along the line of least resistance.As one's skill increases other lines may be chosen. As progress is achieved and one can maintain the relative relaxation required strikes,locks,etc may be worked in.Fun, but the vast majority of your PH training should not be these practices.Save those mostly for regular drilling. When executed correctly,and that means still with VERY good relaxation, the speed of PH can increase by a great deal.Fast.Very fast.Until someone makes an error.All speed ranges should be used relative to the ability of the practitioners involved.Don't abandon slower practices because faster may be more enjoyable.Slower is where you can really observe and correct your own errors-and have time to do so. So what skills/attributes are developed from the practices? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Speaking here in the context of unrehearsed training violence,or real violence. A greater state of physical relaxation during execution of technique-being able to use a minimum amount of force to achieve ends.Ben Lo (Cheng's disciple) said most folks use about 10% of their strength,we use about 3-4%. A greater flexibilty (not stretch) in the movement of joints.Any joints.Surprising how a tiny roll of the shouder can offset an opponent's balance.Or taking opponent's force into a hip joint and expelling it back. "Listening" through tactile sensitivity-discerning the opponents "center"=balance point of the body.If one can "catch" this and capitalize on it just a little issuing can have a great effect.)The knowledge and usage of angles come into play here). As can simply leading and yielding, ending sometimes in the opponent simply falling over on their own without any added force from you.Physical relaxation is a necessity for being able to "hear" the the opponent in TC methods. Listening also can allow one to sense movement in the other's body before it is visually obvious.Example-One may find oneself performing a slight lop sau (Southern term,I know) on opponent's arm and disrupting them-because they were about to use their right leg and you thwarted it.You may not have known WHY you did that until after the fact. Somehow you feel the beginning of their muscles firing before the movement is expressed.Not unlike when one feels one's own muscles start to fire but you stop it and never do move externally.It happens but don't look for it.same as sticking/adhering can lead to tying/pinning/trapping opponents arms-it happens,but don't look for it. PH fosters ability to mold/flow to the opponent's body/energy,just kind of filling the gaps as they present themselves while closing one's own.Can lead among other things to some interesting tie ups of the opponent's limbs,spine,etc. There are little things one develops such as a slight amount of pressure can elicit a small body response from the opponent which one can capitalize on,usually by executing a balance attack through the tension in their body caused by their response.But don't look for it.The previous is not unlike the utilization of "an" where one drives one's force into the opponent's feet thereby eliciting an upward (counter) response.Then one can blow them off their feet as they severed their own root. Root is not a static thing,the practitioner shouldn't be glued in place but simply have balance and an operational base to work from even when stepping. The epitome of TC is to accept the opponent's force and by maintaining contact but slightly "getting ahead" of it redirect it back to them. This can be done by gross motions or something as slight as that tiny shoulder roll.But don't get hung up on the epitome.When it happens it has great effect.But don't look for it. And remember if you can feel them they may be someone who can feel you! When two bodies join in combat or training there can be a moment when one feels the two become one,like the T'ai Chi. Then one of the two should become ascendant as the Liang I separates. Hopefully it's you!
