Push Hands Workshop

Still Mountain Tai Chi Kung Institute In cooperation with

Wushu Federation Philippines & Tai Chi Union Phils. presents

STANDING: To Develop Root, Structure, Line & Energy Tai Chi Push Hands Workshop Series I by Chris Vogel ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ ƒ

A 4-hour workshop Either on 11 Nov, 2007 (Sun) or 18 Nov, 2007 (Sun) 10:00AM-3:00PM (1hr Lunch) At the Wushu Federation Rizal Memorial Complex, Manila

About Chris Vogel Chris has studied Tai Chi for many years and has had the good fortune to learn from a number of very high level teachers. A few of Chris' more well known teachers include: Grand Master Chen Xao Wang, Grand Master Chen Zhang Lei, Grand Master Li Shu Dong, George Xu, Grand Master Zhu Tain Xi, Grand Master Ren Guang Yi, and Zhang Xu Xin. Specializing in the fiery Chen Style, Chris also practices Yang style and has been exposed to several other styles. Chris believes that which style a student chooses is of little importance compared to the quality of teacher. All styles are just different expressions of the quest of learning how to build, move, and issue energy.

Fees & Inquiries Workshop Fee: P1,500 (includes handouts and snacks) Reservation Required: P500 reservation down payment is needed to ensure participation since the Workshop is limited to 14 Participants For Inquiries: Ed Sevilla Mobile:0917 549 1949 Land line: 823 0750 E-mail: [email protected] Chris Vogel Mobile: 0917 547 8900

Chris teaches the 4 "treasures" of Tai Chi: Qi Gong, Silk Reeling, Forms, and Sticky Hands and offers a very unique teaching method. Chris' basis for sticky hands practice and teaching comes from the lineage of Cai Songfong, the teacher who was the inspiration for the book "Warriors of Stillness".

The first of several intensive hands-on workshop series focuses on – Qigong and how it creates a usable “structure”, types of “contact”, and a listening “connection” and how to produce and direct a “chi ball”. We will explore standing’s crucial role in developing energy skills along with how it relates to the other major facets of push hands. We will also explore the essential skills of how to contact and connect to you partner, and how to produce and use your chi and intention to listen to their root, structure, and movements. Inside Three Panels w/ 2 Folds

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TaiChi-PushHands Module I:

Standing: To Develop Root, Structure, Line & Energy for Tai Chi Push Hands The key and cornerstone of Tai Chi or any internal Martial Art is the daily practice of Qi Gong or “Standing Meditation”. It develops one’s root, structure, internal energy, and contributes to overall good health. In this first of a series we will focus on the mechanics, imagery, and sensations of standing and explore how they relate to push hands practice. We will link this focus to the concepts of achieving the proper contact with one’s partner, how to develop a “listening” connection, and using intention to direct one’s energy in working with the “The Point” of contact. Standing: Essentially, learning the depth and profundity of tai chi requires that we break it down to smaller and simpler components in order to make its complex subtlety understandable and practicable. Thus, the learning of “deflecting a force of a thousand pounds with a mere four ounces of strength”, had to be painstaking slowed down to the tai chi pace and further “frozen” into a standstill to put into microscopic feel the fine and subtle details of energy work. In this workshop, the essential forms and practice of standing shall be explored along with goals of using them as a means to understand and develop the “internal power” of Tai Chi. With this, Inside Three Panels w/ 2 Folds

one can also bring this understanding into the practice of one’s moving Tai Chi form. Root: The development of the quality of “rootedness” is the special stability to withstand being easily pulled and pushed. This is an essential aspect of push hands and like most other body and mind tai chi qualities, having root involves a combination of factors. Rooting involves a high level of relaxing and sinking one’s energy that allows one to use the force of gravity and the stability of the ground and the lower members of our body as a constant ally in the balancing game of Push Hands. Through a system of the practice of Standing one can understand how one’s practice can lead to acquiring this quality. Structure & Line: One of the main push hands qualities that standing builds is “structure”. Good structure will feel springy, connected, and strong, but never stiff. It is sometimes referred to as “iron wrapped in cotton”. Another quality that standing builds is the ability to shrink and shift one’s centerline. Contact: Along with the development of a usable structure, one has to learn how to use it. The first step in using one’s structure is the type and quality of contact with a partner. Here it’s a balance of not being too light, but also not being too heavy and using muscle. We will explore the various levels and types of contact. Connection and Chi Ball: Connection is extremely important in push hands. The combination of contact and connection give the push hands player the ability to “stick” and “listen” to their partner. We will explore types and levels of connection. We will also explore how to

produce and direct what we refer to as a chi ball. A metaphor for what happens in push hands would be to: “throw the water on the rock, and it will find the cracks”. In our case the water is chi, the rock is your partner, and the cracks are their energy holes, which you can flow into and use to your advantage. Standing and Push Hands: Push hands is the tai chi way of putting one’s abilities “under a microscope”. Building and using energy will be explored in this workshop. Push hands actually tests whether you can use the energies developed in standing, silk reeling, and forms. There are many realizations that can come only through doing push hands with a competent instructor. In this workshop we explore: 1. Contact Intention on One’s Partner – Simply stay neutral to listen to one’s and the other’s energy. To distinguish the quality of our own and the other’s structure. 2. Covering Lanes of Attack on You – Avoid being double weighted and ensure exits so that we are not jammed into a “corner”. 3. Connection and Chi Ball – How to form a clear connection with your partner and how to send chi in them to listen to their structure and energy holes. These are a few of the understandings we pick up from pushing hands with the teacher, that we can bring into all our practices - our standing, our form, our lives, and our own push hands with others.

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