Peter Ralston Push Hands in Jasnieres

[Ah Louis]

Peter Ralston plays some push hands at the gathering of T'ai Chi practitioners in Jasnieres, France. He is playing with Rob van Ham of Holland.

[GrahamB]

Not too bad

[wiesiek]

is PH means - always, no legs/sweeps attack, ?
to often leg/s/ are left for >free lunch< not only on above video.
or
it is: "we playing hands only" format?,
or, I`m missing mastery of the hands locking the legs, eventually roots are so deep, that lifting foot is only for Pudzian possible...

[dspyrido]

is PH means - always, no legs/sweeps attack, ?
to often leg/s/ are left for >free lunch< not only on above video.
or
it is: "we playing hands only" format?,
or, I`m missing mastery of the hands locking the legs, eventually roots are so deep, that lifting foot is only for Pudzian possible...

Or that Peter is allowed to put his hand in Robs face & throat, grabs his fingers etc. whenever Rob starts to get the advantage. But Rob seems to only be acting like a robot & always pushing Peters chest instead of say grabbing Peters head & snapping it down, maybe palming the throat, going for single leg (Peter floats in his stance) etc etc.

I get the show of face, practising angles, sensitivity & the concept of learning mode but this is looking like it is teaching to be limited in thinking & acting.

[windwalker]

is PH means - always, no legs/sweeps attack, ?
to often leg/s/ are left for >free lunch< not only on above video.
or
it is: "we playing hands only" format?,
or, I`m missing mastery of the hands locking the legs, eventually roots are so deep, that lifting foot is only for Pudzian possible...

A taiji bother of mine a long time student of Peters, often discussed his work comparing it to our teachers work in beijing.

I think until you or anyone watching has played with someone of Peters skill level it would be hard to understand what one was watching and why
the other reacts or interacts as they do.

As to sweeps, attacks ect. although Peter, does not directly mention it a lot of what he does works on and with "intent"
which one as in the case of the OPs clip, may not really understand directly only knows that what ever is tried didn't work out to well.

The result is that they only give enough to see what happens and are not really committed to their movements. Often this looks odd as the teacher is trying to make the other commit to their movement. Different teachers have different methods of doing this....

more of his work that may help to frame his other work


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6vst4F ... 7&index=29

disclaimer:

not a student of Peters but a long time reader of some of his early work.
for those looking to understand more about his work http://www.chenghsin.com/interact-upcoming-events.html

[willie]

Not too bad

Now, I promised to ignore you which I will make good on, from now on.

Ah, so you think that's good huh? yet you said shit about me. lol! If you came to train with us, you would be wanting to have a "whole set
of body armor".

I'm going to ask you a question about the "grand world wide distribution of delusion", but I need to put it back into proper text.

Why was taiji so powerful and deadly that the palace guards who protected "a king" were taught it? It was, and I say "was" considered the deadliest art on the planet
at that time.

Now, I want you to go back and watch that video and tell me truthfully, Is what your seeing in that video a clear representation of those
palace guards who swore to protect a king? Is that really what it was? Can you point out to me anything in that video at all that appears
deadly? Can you see any damage being done?

No need to reply. I will not answer you anyways.

[GrahamB]

"No need to reply. I will not answer you anyways."

lol - I'll give you about 5 minutes to break.

For a start, stop talking about kings and palace guards, and being a deadly killing art - you sound like a minor character from Game of Thrones. The sort that gets killed at the start of the episode.

Second, if you see my criticism that doing everything with Fajin as being not to my taste as being a personal attack you might need to reframe your world view a little.

Third, Ralston. I like the fact that he appears very solid when he pushes. It comes from the ground. His dodging away all the time to stay out of range I'm not a fan of (meh, just get on with it), but I realise he's coming from a striking point of view where he'd be bobbing and weaving all the time, so I can understand what he's doing.

[windwalker]

You might want to mention to them that I won full contact no gloves or protection tournament in China; also judo tournaments, boxing matches, been doing mma long before it was popular. So something dumb like open to leg sweeps is ridiculous. I’ve done it all; one small game of push hands is just that, messing around within the push hands game. Other games do other things.

Fighting is fighting, and very few martial artists are anything close to a real fighter.

I am

"Peter Ralston"

I thought he might want to add some of his thoughts here...
He seems very accessible for those interested in finding out more about his teaching.

[dspyrido]

You might want to mention to them that I won full contact no gloves or protection tournament in China; also judo tournaments, boxing matches, been doing mma long before it was popular. So something dumb like open to leg sweeps is ridiculous. I’ve done it all; one small game of push hands is just that, messing around within the push hands game. Other games do other things.

Fighting is fighting, and very few martial artists are anything close to a real fighter.

I am

"Peter Ralston"

I thought he might want to add some of his thoughts here...
He seems very accessible for those interested in finding out more about his teaching.

Yeah real accessible. Great tone of ..... I've done it all, thats just dumb and my favourite "very few martial artists are anything close to a real fighter".

Anyway in the video they are just messing around & playing a limited game. He could not have made it clearer so ego statements aside makes sense.

[windwalker]

Yeah real accessible. Great tone of ..... I've done it all, thats just dumb and my favourite "very few martial artists are anything close to a real fighter".

Anyway in the video they are just messing around & playing a game of limited moves. He could not have made it clearer.

funny

I had asked him to come here and help clear up any questions about his work.
He said on line is not really his thing.
I can see why.

Yes, he is quite accessible and has done quite a lot of documented work walking his own path.
anyone with questions he offers seminars and has a web site.
http://www.chenghsin.com/interact-upcoming-events.html

I'd say he's done more then most in following his own path

Peter Ralston was born in San Francisco but raised primarily in Asia. He began studying martial arts at the age of 9 in Singapore. By the age of 20 he had black belts in Judo, Jujitsu, and Karate, had been Sumo champion at his high school in Japan, Judo and fencing champion at UC Berkeley, and had demonstrated proficiency in Kempo, Ch'uan Fa, and Northern Sil Lum Kung Fu. A growing interest in the "internal" martial arts lead him to study T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Hsing I Ch'uan, and Pa Kua Chang.

Ralston has pursued this endeavor with a passionate determination for more than 40 years. He sought out and studied with the world's most demonstrably skilled teachers, broadening his study with such arts as Aikido, Japanese and Chinese fencing, western boxing, Muay Thai (Thai boxing), and new levels of his own investigations into all of these arts. His exceptional commitment (often practicing for more than eight to ten hours a day) and depth of study, along with his intense meditation and open inquiry have led Ralston to profound levels of skill and understanding.

Consistent with Zen studies, his investigation into martial arts also came to include a questioning of reality. Long periods of intense contemplation resulted in many enlightenment experiences regarding the nature of self and reality which greatly influenced his study.

To communicate his understanding, in 1975 Ralston founded the Cheng Hsin School. In 1977 he opened a center called The Cheng Hsin School of Internal Martial Arts and Center for Ontological Research in Oakland, California.

Intent on revealing the depth and power of this work, in 1978 he became the first non-Asian ever to win the World Championship full-contact martial arts tournament held in the Republic of China.

Ralston's main focus in his teaching has been to uncover and communicate the principles behind any subject matter; frequently it is about being effortlessly effective. His main focus in his facilitation work is to uncover the truth of things, to break through assumptions and beliefs, and to assist others in having a direct, authentic, and experiential increase in Consciousness. He is a highly trained and insightful facilitator, freely and openly teaching what he has learned from years of insight and direct experience.

[dspyrido]

I'd say he's done more then most in following his own path

I'd say that makes sense since I would not assume anyone else is following his path as well as him.

He sought out and studied with the world's most demonstrably skilled teachers, broadening his study with such arts as Aikido, Japanese and Chinese fencing, western boxing, Muay Thai (Thai boxing), and new levels of his own investigations into all of these arts. His exceptional commitment (often practicing for more than eight to ten hours a day) and depth of study, along with his intense meditation and open inquiry have led Ralston to profound levels of skill and understanding.

Why do biographies that mention things like "he sought out the best" or in this case the "world's most demonstrably skilled teachers" never seem to reference anyone?

As for the first ever non-Asian to win the World Championship full contact martial arts tournament. No! Everyone knows it was Frank Dux. Or maybe Van Damme. Anyway as his fight was at a world level there must be some footage of that. Maybe we can see that or any of his competitive videos?

[stma]

There is footage of his '78 Taiwan fight, but it was filmed on 8mm from far away, so the quality of the film is pretty crappy. I don't know what you would get out of it.

[Wanderingdragon]

https://youtu.be/g4frTW36RCQ

The speedy hands fly alone without the body, tai chi principle out the window. Same as I saw with his clip with the boxer as he danced around throwing punches

https://youtu.be/T8mxqY2Ko_M

[willie]

https://youtu.be/g4frTW36RCQ

The speedy hands fly alone without the body, tai chi principle out the window. Same as I saw with his clip with the boxer as he danced around throwing punches

https://youtu.be/T8mxqY2Ko_M

yeah, but in his defense, sometimes after years and years it just looks like it's not connected, but it is by fascia. "not really my top choice of movement"
but a quick flick to the eye is a good game changer.
he looks like he has a lot of good stuff, but there is also a lot of stuff that I would not recommend. but hey at least he has video's.

[windwalker]

https://youtu.be/g4frTW36RCQ

The speedy hands fly alone without the body, tai chi principle out the window. Same as I saw with his clip with the boxer as he danced around throwing punches

https://youtu.be/T8mxqY2Ko_M

seems kinda misguided considering he dosnt teach taiji

What is Cheng Hsin?

The Chinese characters cheng and hsin (pronounced "cheng shin") offer us images which communicate the nature of "truth" and "being" -- an appropriate title for a body of work that involves increasing consciousness on all levels of "being."

Cheng Hsin was founded by Peter Ralston in 1975 and is grounded in both the practical study of skillful interaction and the open-ended inquiry that contemplative disciplines offer. After making deep breakthroughs in Consciousness, Ralston entered and won the full-contact World Championships in China, becoming the first non-Asian ever to win that tournament.

His goal was to create powerful evidence for the effectiveness of what he has been teaching and sharing ever since--the unique body of work known as Cheng Hsin, which unifies the studies of consciousness with studies of mixed "internal" martial arts, effective interaction, skill and mastery.

http://www.chenghsin.com/orientation-wh ... ghsin.html

Not here to defend or promote, only pointing out that he tested his work and then went on to develop and create his own
unique art.

Seems like if anyone had real questions they would address him directly by either attending a seminar or email.
As some have said regarding their work with "aiki" he dosnt teach an art, but a method upon which he's tested derived
from his own inquiry. Of course having videos seems to be a detractor around here.....as long as its not seen its ok

Enjoyed reading his first books

http://www.chenghsin.com/book-list.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-asnMBXh-g
interesting talk

Grounded Openness
These are two fundamental principles that we strive to keep in balance.

To be grounded is to be real, to be committed to something, to be clear and standing on solid and authentic insights and effective distinctions.
To be open is to be free, fresh, unstuck, creative, to make breakthroughs, to entertain radical possibilities, to embrace paradox.