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Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou
Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou -- or The Art of Effortless Power -- deals with the martial application of Cheng Hsin. It is mainly rooted in three traditional arts: T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Aikido, and Pa Kua Ch'ang, with influence from arts such as Judo, Jujitsu, boxing and others. T'ui Shou is an art of throwing and uprooting. The student learns to neutralize aggression, blend with forces, and disrupt the balance and power of attackers by projecting them through space or throwing them to the ground.
Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou initially omits the "boxing" arts or arts of striking; it is, however, designed by a master boxer with mastery of boxing in mind. |  | Furthermore, the skills are transferable to a striking context, and habits developed in this practice will greatly enhance one's abilities in any striking art. Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou also incorporates the ground-breaking explorations which have distinguished the teachings of Peter Ralston. "When I began putting together Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou, I wanted to create an art based on fundamental observations of physics, perception, intent, impulse, and energy -- an art that gears itself to meet any situation because it is founded on understanding the principles in which interaction takes place. I wanted an art that is adaptable and well-designed, forged through training and techniques but designed to teach something beyond the form. Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou is such an art." Peter Ralston
 | In Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou we frequently practice the techniques in a ritualized form. This allows an opportunity to more fully understand every aspect of the technique and the training, and draws attention to the fact that the activity taking place is a ritual of process. The more we understand what process is, the greater our capacity to masterfully engage in process. | On the other hand, in order to empower an understanding of the principles of interaction and the requirements for creating spontaneous interactive process, Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou also includes the practice of various forms of freeplay. These are non-ritualistic and freeform except for the framework or parameters in which they are played. Most of these games involve spontaneous and creative interactive play, so as to train an alignment with life as it comes to us. Since roles in life are ever-shifting, I believe a practice should include a forum for confronting that fact.
| The real goal of Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou is to understand deeply, bodily, the principles from which process, body-mechanics, interaction -- and so life itself -- manifest. Therefore, no matter how "good" one becomes, the study remains bigger than the individual. The purpose for the practice is to "be" the principles, the event, the spirit. Pursuing the goal of effortless power leads us to see the limitations in which we live and think. This feedback into the structure and restrictions of our "self" can provide insight into the fundamental nature of our own event of being. | |
Also check out "The creation of Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou" - an interview with Peter Ralston on Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou.
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