The Chinese secret for youthfulness, health and long life lies at least partly in T'ai Chi, the ballet-like calisthenics they've practiced for centuries. This rhythmical art stresses slow breathing, balanced and relaxed postures and absolute calmness of mind. The practice itself need take no more than ten minutes a day. This book is a complete step-by-step manual for the beginner that will enable anyone to master the sequence of thirty-seven postures that make up the T'ai Chi solo exercise.
Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating: Summary: Excellent compliment to an instructor Comment: If you're studying Yang style T'ai Chi with an instructor in the Cheng Man-Ch'ing tradition, this is the first book to get. Everything is well illustrated and clearly laid out. The text is good but not great, and T'ai Chi is a discipline that pretty much requires a competent instructor in order to avoid bad habits in the early stages, and the instructor should be able to fill in the conceptual gaps in the text.
T'ai Chi is an outstanding physical discipline and combative art, suitable for anyone who is capable of walking without assistance, and with some modification, for almost anyone with any degree of mobility. No impact, concerned with range of motion and control rather than speed, it can be practiced for a wide range of benefits at any time of life.
It is, however, a combative art, and anyone who tries to learn it or teach it without addressing this side of T'ai Chi will never understand the dynamics of the movements. Some of the movements have multiple combative applications, and some are not obvious. The most extreme example is a technique for breaking a neck concealled within the "ward-off" movements. Punches should be aimed at an imaginary opponent, not flapped through the air, etc in order to gain full benefit of the discipline.
This is a great book for someone starting in a great art!
E.M. Van Court Customer Rating: Summary: Not very helpful Comment: As a student at Cheng-Man-ch'ing's school, starting the year before his death, I've never found this book particularly representative of Professor Cheng, though many people are fond of it. There are several other books that are much more helpful, including Professor's own "Master Cheng's New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation" and "Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Treatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan." In response to one other comment, I was never under the impression that he held anything back. Like any other good teacher, he was aware of what his students were prepared to absorb, and imparted information accordingly. Remember that he departed this world in 1975, a time when T'ai Chi was still relatively unknown in the West, and much of what he said and wrote went right over the heads of most of his students at that time. The thing that most of us tried to do was emulate his example of what could be attained through dedication, perseverance, and a joyful attitude. Customer Rating: Summary: For Advanced Students Comment: The advanced T'ai Chi will be able to perfect their forms with this guide. The pictures display perfect models of the forms for students to strive toward. Customer Rating: Summary: A Good Companion Comment: I chose this particular book based on the reviews I read on Amazon.com because having just started Tai Chi classes, I was eager to learn more. However, this is by no means a simple "teach yourself" book. While well written, I find the explanations of the positions difficult to follow, like reading the instructions on a pinball machine. Once the position has been taught in class, it all makes sense, but to try to do it alone is more than I can handle. I would therefor recommend this book to the serious student of Tai Chi whose aim is to perfect the form rather than a beginner's book. Customer Rating: Summary: Nice for the pictures, but otherwise not clear Comment: Cheng Man-Ch'ing is a cult figure in taiji, with a fiercely loyal group of followers. Certainly he was a master, and this book provides excellent photos of him doing the form. But taiji is all about movement and feeling, and still photos can't convey the quality of movement or hint at the internal mechanics of the art. So if you want to use the book to learn the form, forget it. If you have a good teacher, and want the book as a source of inspiration, by all means, buy it. If you're a Cheng Man-Ching fan, keep in mind that he talked and wrote about taiji, but much of his power was derived from nei gong, including the small and great heavenly circulations, that he kept a closely held secret, for reasons that remain unclear. Temper what he says with the understanding that he held back as much as he offered, and you won't be frustrated by doing the form over and over without getting anywhere near the benefits Cheng derived. Bottom line is that the book is an artifact and a good one, and it was one of the first books in English on taiji. As a learning tool, it is limited.
