Tai Chi Push Hands Modules
1) Standing: root, structure, line, energy
The key and cornerstone of Tai Chi or any internal
Martial Art is the daily practice of “Standing”. It
develops root, builds internal energy, structure and
contributes to overall good health. We will focus on
mechanics, imagery, and sensations and explore how
it relates to push hands practice.
2) Contact:
Upon contacting your partner, don't push or pull
them, simply stay neutral. This is where you use the
“structure” you develop by standing. It will feel like
“iron wrapped in cotton”, or like a spring. You must
cover any “lanes” so that your partner cannot hit you.
During this process, sense yourself, be comfortable,
and constantly come back to your standing practice.
Avoid being single weighted and ensure exits so you
are not jammed into a “corner”. We will practice 1
and 2 hand push hands to explore the many facets of
“contact”.
3) Connection and Chi Ball:
Your daily standing practice enables you to acquire
the skill to expand and contract your “chi ball”.
Think of your chi ball as an energy sphere. With time
you will learn how to control the size and shape, and
use it to find your partner's energy holes. In this
module, we will develop listening skills, while at the
same time explore how to produce a chi ball and learn
how to direct it at a partner.
4) Aim: concept and applications of aiming at a
person.
Without “Aim”, you cannot affect a person with your
contact. Unless you affect them, they will continue to
affect you, thus pushing you around. If your partner
has good aim, it will feel like they are constantly “on”
you, like you are always in the sights of their “gun”.
The best tai chi players never take their aim off of
their partners. Through whatever movements are
taking place, they are constantly adjusting their aim.
They can easily uproot and make their partners “fly”.
This is not because they are stronger, it's because
their aim is so good, most of their energy is directed
on their partner's “center”. We will spend this
module learning to develop this very important skill.
5) How to work “The Point”:
The point is the physical point where you contact your
partner. NEVER push or pull the point. This is one of
the hardest practices for people to learn. You work
around the point, thru the point, put never push or pull it
directly. The best “push” will feel very light to the
pushing partner, and unstoppable to the partner being
pushed. In this module, we will learn to recognize and
produce a skillfully used “point”.
6) Neutralization/Direction:
How to neutralize your opponent. When your partner
“aims” at you, you must do something to take their aim
away. NEVER push back against them. This is
probably the hardest thing for people to learn. You must
“join” their direction, aim or point them away from
yourself ( your center ), and then aim back at them. In
tai chi, it is often said that you don't want to “eat” or
“absorb” more than 4 ounces of your partner's force.
When you are “expanding” or “searching” with your
energy, you don't want to “push” or “connect” with more
than 4 ounces of force.
7) Shoulders/keeping structure:
While trying to neutralize and aim back at their partners,
most push hands players go through a stage where they
are moving their arms without connecting their
movements to their centers. This is easily seen by
watching the connection of the arms to the torso. There
should be very little movement at the junction of the
shoulder joint and chest. If the arms are moving without
a connection to your center, you will lose your structure
and connection to the ground. At that point all you are
left with is muscle and your use of energy is greatly
diminished. Usually there is very little arm movement
necessary to neutralize an opponent's aim. Most of the
movement is internal, with a slight adjustment in the
direction of neutralization. The best tai chi players
almost appear to be standing still. They are simply
adjusting their direction and chi ball, while their partner
feels like they can't find them and also can't get away.
In this module, we will develop the ability to get the
“most”, from the “least” amount of external movement.
8) Balance:
The concept and practice of “balance” is essential
in 2 hands practice. If there is too much energy on
one “side”, the other side will be empty and can
easily be uprooted. Without balance, it will be very
difficult to affect your partner. Whether on
“offense” or “defense”, a balanced contact and
connection is crucial. In this module, we will
explore the creation of balance and the
consequences of not being “balanced”.
9) “An” Power:
This is one of the four powers most often
practiced: peng, liu, ji, and an. An is the “sinking”
power, the connection to the earth through the push
hands players root. Development of this power is
essential to the push hands player. Without it, there
will be very little connection to the ground, and the
player is easily uprooted. Some degree of an power
is used in every move and is especially necessary
when “bouncing an opponent”. In this module, we
will explore the development, sensations, and use
of “An” power.
10) Elbow:
Ddevelopment of the elbow is essential in push
hands. The elbow is rarely discussed by most tai
chi practitioners. For push hands players, it is not
the striking power of the elbow which we will
focus on, but how to move energy to the elbow in
order to cover an opponent's aim, and also how to
direct one's aim through their elbow. In this
module, we will focus on the development of
energy and use of one's elbow.
11) Intention:
Intention is the use of one's “will” to direct energy
towards, through, and around one's opponent. It is
accompanied by the mind and internal movement.
The higher the level of the push hands player, the
less you see any external movement. One can
control one's partner simply by “thinking” their
energy in the appropriate places. This is the
highest level of attainment of the tai chi push hands
player. In this module, we will begin to explore the
development and use of intention.
About Chris Vogel Fees & Inquiries Dasmarinas Village Association
In cooperation with
Chris has studied Tai Chi for many years and has Worshop Fee: Still Mountain Tai Chi Kung Institute
had the good fortune to learn from a number of P1,500* including Materials presents
very high level teachers. A few of Chris' more well *30% Discount for DV residents
known teachers include: GrandMaster Chen Xao
Wang, GrandMaster Chen Zhang Lei,
GrandMaster Li Shu Dong, George Xu,
GrandMaster Zhu Tain Xi, GrandMaster Ren
Reservation Required:
P500 reservation down payment is needed
to ensure participation since the Workshop
Tai Chi
Guang Yi, and Zhang Xu Xin.

Specializing in the fiery Chen Style, Chris also

practices Yang style and has been exposed to
is limited to 14 Participants

For Inquiries:
Push Hands
several other styles. Chris believes that which style
Ed Sevilla
Mobile:0917 549 1949 Workshop Series
a student chooses is of little importance compared Land line: 823 0750
to the quality of teacher. All styles are just different
expressions of the quest of learning how to build,
E-mail: ed.stillmountain@gmail.com by Chris Vogel
move, and issue energy. Chris Vogel
!An Introductory
Mobile: 0917 547 8900 4-hour workshop
Chris teaches the 4 "treasures" of Tai Chi: Qi
Gong, Silk Reeling, Forms, and Sticky Hands and
!Sept 23, 2007 (Sun) or
offers a very unique teaching method. Chris' basis !Sept 29, 2007 (Sat)
for sticky hands practice and teaching comes from !10:00AM-3:00PM
the lineage of Cai Songfong, the teacher who was
the inspiration for the book "Warriors of Stillness". (1hr Lunch Break)
!At the Club Hall
CampanillaSt., Dasmarinas
Village, Makati City
Push hands is a seldom covered branch
of tai chi that is often mystified by its
teachers. Push hands is the pinnacle of
tai chi, the practice that tests and
solidifies all the other tai chi practices.

In this intensive hands-on workshop, we

will cover all the major facets of push
hands and break them down into
digestible modules. Push hands is
rarely revealed in this manner, where
we will demystify the “internal secrets”
of tai chi.