Reviews (2)

A Good Place to Start
I recommend this book to a true beginner. The book presents an easy to follow text. Very well presented pictures. An excellent book covering the Beijing Short Form (24 Forms). I have personally used this book for years as a reference source. Good foundation book.

A Good Place to Start
I recommend this book to a true beginner. The book presents an easy to follow text. Very well presented pictures. An excellent book covering the Beijing Short Form (24 Forms). I have personally used this book for years as a reference source. Good foundation book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Exercise    2. Martial Arts    3. Martial Arts & Self-Defense    4. Martial Arts - Taichi    5. Qi gong    6. Sports    7. Sports & Recreation    8. Tai chi    9. BG-SOC SCI - BG-SOCIAL SCIENCES    10. Oriental martial arts   

Reviews (2)

The Chi of Tai Chi.
This book provides what so many books touch on, but never really go in-depth into. It provides a detailed viewpoint of the medical side of the martial arts from an Eastern viewpoint. A comprehensive book on the subject of Chinese health
This book explains what tai-chi hopes to accomplish and a complete description of Chi-kung's origins. It is not for those who are only lightly interested in Tai chi... this book covers a lot of ground. It gives the english and chinese terms for those who wish to learn everything they can about this ancient art. It is deticated to explaining it's health benifits, origins and chi-kung's influence on the body and mind (along with man's place with heaven and earth). Even to those who never plan on taking tai chi, the book covers a bit of oriental philosophy, kung-fu and how to focus chi-power for better living. This book is worth every cent, and more! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. General    3. Martial Arts - Taichi    4. New Age / Parapsychology    5. Qi gong    6. Tai chi   

Reviews (1)

a very good and easy to follow book on qigong
The texts I have run across on qigong, usually have the author claiming that certain information is not given, because it is "secret." This leaves the buyer of the book feeling cheated. Not this book. It offers a full set of excercises on walking qigong, which are easy to do. I was amazed at the simplicity of the book. The author takes the reader step by step, through the excercises and gives excellent practical advice, on all phases of practice. The book is concerned with preventing and curing disease, through the circulation of cosmic energy. This is an excellent text because it is complete, logical and easily understood. I heartily recommend it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Breathing exercises    2. Consumer Health    3. Diet / Health / Fitness    4. Exercise    5. Fitness walking    6. General    7. Health & Fitness    8. Health/Fitness    9. Qi gong    10. Walking    11. Oriental martial arts   

Reviews (11)

a big bite in a snack sized paperback
This book is an excellent summary.
an incredibly terse explanation of advanced practices
You have to give David credit for writing this up, this is the only explanation of Kan & Li I've found in English. A humbled change of heart
David Twicken GAVE HIMSELF 5 STARS!Read more

Subjects:  1. Healing - Prayer & Spiritual    2. Mind & Body    3. New Age (Self Help)    4. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    5. New Age / Parapsychology    6. Philosophy    7. Mind, body, spirit: disciplines & techniques   

Subjects:  1. Alternative Therapies    2. Body, Mind & Spirit    3. General    4. Health/Fitness    5. Meditation    6. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    7. Complementary Medicine   

Reviews (1)

great book, great exercise system
This is a very easy book to follow. Gives history of Liangong, some basic acupoint, meridian, and chi information, and an easy to follow discription of the 36 exercises which make up Liangong. Liangong is similar to chi kung, and is based on many old chi kung exercises. It is primarily used for healing and health maintnance and each exercise is designed to work a particular region or problem. Can be practiced anytime and used as a warm up for other activities, such as tai chi and other martial arts. Videos are available for further study. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Exercise    2. Health aspects    3. Martial Arts & Self-Defense    4. Martial arts    5. Qi gong    6. Sports    7. Sports & Recreation   

Reviews (1)

How to apply qigong to many situations
Qigong is the fine art of relaxation through movement and meditation, offering women the potential for holistic fitness even if they face a busy workday with only a few minutes' time. This manual tells how to heal injuries and illnesses, cope with depression and aging, and how to apply qigong to many situations. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Therapies    2. Diet / Health / Fitness    3. Exercise    4. Healing - Energy (Chi Kung, Reiki, Polarity)    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health/Fitness    7. Fitness & diet    8. Oriental martial arts    9. Health   

Reviews (1)

WONDERFUL BOOK
This book changed my life.I would recommend it to anyone.It is well written and easy to understand.The directions are simple to follow.Mr. MacRitchie did a marvelous job explaining Chi Kung in simple understandable terms. I am hooked on Chi Kung and my life is better because of it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Therapies    2. Consumer Health    3. Exercise    4. Health/Fitness    5. Qi gong    6. Complementary Medicine    7. Specific disorders & therapies   

Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Audio - Exercise / Health    2. Body, Mind & Spirit    3. Healing - Energy (Chi Kung, Reiki, Polarity)    4. Healing - General    5. New Age    6. Self-Help    7. Spirituality - General    8. Exercise & workout books   

Reviews (1)

WingChun
Dear Mr. Paul Crompton, Greetings from Greco Wong, Essex, 1969-1971, WingChun.Please contact Mcclelland - email: re_mcclelland@fastmail.ca ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Diet / Health / Fitness    2. Exercise    3. Exercise Therapy    4. Health & Fitness    5. Health/Fitness    6. Martial Arts - Taichi    7. Qi gong    8. Systems Of Medicine    9. T'ai chi ch'uan    10. Exercise & workout books    11. Medicine: General Issues    12. Physiotherapy   

Reviews (1)

A book about the true spirit and nature of T'ai Chi.
Sifu Huang's book affords the reader insight into the real meaning of T'ai Chi... the playful, energetic spirit which is fundamental to Taoist philosophy.I recently had the pleasure of taking a T'ai Chi workshop with Sifu Huang at Esalen, many years after I first read this seminal work on the subject.I'm happy to say that the workshop was every bit as much a pleasure as I had expected from reading about it.I recommend this book for anyone interested in T'ai Chi or the Tao, from beginner to expert ... Read more

Subjects:  1. T°ai chi ch°èuan   

Reviews (1)

interesting, but not practice-able
The book does contain nice clear drawings of the relevant meridians and a good introduction to chi kung, but I think it would take a determined person to perform the described practices from the text. The author does state clearly that it is not his intention that people be able to practice from this book without other instruction, however through no fault of the authors that information is not presented on the amazon.com page with the book description.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Body, Mind & Spirit    2. Healing - Energy (Chi Kung, Reiki, Polarity)    3. New Age    4. Qi gong   

Reviews (4)

The Beauty of Gesture
As an tai chi chuan player of more than 14 years and an amateur pianist for a much longer period, I thought this book might have been written especially for me. Not so, unfortunately. It is beautifully written in a rather voulu, creative writing school kind of way. But it has little to say about taichi--no Chinese sources are mentioned, none of the tai chi classics are mentioned. Indeed, she touches very lightly on tai chi and most of what she does say seems to come from a Japanese source (David speaks of katas, her dojo). No mention of chi (qi), the style of tai chi she does, names of the forms etc; and the dantian appears as the tanden. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who knows anything about tai chi. Nevertheless, there is some pleasure to be had here, some insights into literature and gesture. It just doesn't really deliver on the promise of its subtitle.

I Can't Get Through This Book
I bought it years ago & have tried several times, but I find the writing style nearly impossible to read.At times it reads as if the author is trying too hard to make every sentence convey a deeply profound concept and at other times she jumps erratically to some obscure thought, feeling or concept.Not only did these jumps not move or interest me, I often couldn't even figure out (on either an intellectual or emotional level) what the author was trying to do. 'tis about beauty
Can we, by practicing a discipline such as Tai-Chi, refine our sense of self, our Being-In-The -World? Catherine David, in this sublime book, investigates the space that is behind the physical movement, behind the conscious mind, at the very core of what constitutes our sense of the Self - that space which gives birth to our sense of beauty and which can be translated through innumerable ways (including the Tai-Chi exercises and piano playing) into wordly manifestations of our uniqueness. In this space imagination and sensation are interlocked, like lovers. Once we realize that Self is just a metaphor and that the mental image can be the impulse to opening of a technical skill , we hold the keys to true freedom. In this society in which the essential is generally considered incidental (which is reflected in the unberable dullness of the contemporary man), Catherine David picks the essence from inconspicuous corners where it has been gathering dust and shows us how she uses it to unlock the gates leading to inner beauty. By doing this she helps us glimpse and perhaps touch that space. This book is a rare treat. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Instruction & Study - Appreciation    2. Martial Arts    3. Martial Arts & Self-Defense    4. Music    5. Music/Songbooks    6. Musical Instruments - Construction And Repair    7. Musical Instruments - Piano    8. New Age    9. Performance    10. Philosophy and aesthetics    11. Piano    12. Tai chi    13. Oriental martial arts    14. Theory of art   

Reviews (5)

Not Taijiquan
If you're a new ager looking for an oxygen-high self-delusion, you'll eat this book up.If you know or want to know anything real about Taijiquan as a Chinese Internal Martial Art - be for for Curiosity, Health, Self-Defense, Martial Arts, or any set of motivations, then don't spend a penny on this text.Even what little information in here appears to be drawn from legitimate sources (not actually cited or referenced in a number of cases), is so homogenized as to lead you nowhere useful.As more than once said by masters and grandmasters, past and present, 'There is qigong in taijiquan; there is no taijiquan in qigong.'This book makes the classic new-ager's mistake of trying to imply one is the other and thereby exposes the authors' ignorance right from the start.

Misleading and disappointing
The title of this book is extremely misleading.
A positive chi experience
The exercise forms that are lucidly described and illustrated in this bookshould be part of the practice of every serious Tai Chi student. JohnKotsias was fortunate to have the opportunity to study with two masters ofthis art who had worked directly with the Yang Tai Chi family in China � anexperience he describes at the beginning of the book. He thus learned formsthat are seldom taught in the west. This basic form is the foundation foreveloping the strength of mind and body required to practice Tai Chi at thehighest level. I learned it from Kotsias in the 1980s and insist that mystudents learn it before undertaking more widely practiced forms such asthe 108 movement form of Yang Cheng Fu. Another outstanding benefit of thisform is its ability to stimulate the flow of internal healing energy. Iexperienced this vividly at a conference where I was studying Tai Chi withateacher from Europe. I had a nasty virus and could barely do the 108forms being taught. I had promised a fellow student to show him the basicform and had to do so on that day since he was leaving for home. Amazinglywhen I was done demonstrating these 8 movements, my virus symptoms werevirtually gone!I now regularly turn to the basic movements described inthis book for self-healing. I strongly recommend this book to everyoneinterested in Tai Chi and chi healing. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Exercise    2. Health & Fitness    3. Health/Fitness    4. Martial Arts    5. Martial Arts - Taichi    6. Sports & Recreation    7. T'ai chi chuan    8. Tai chi    9. Oriental martial arts   

Subjects:  1. China    2. Fencing    3. General    4. Martial Arts & Self-Defense    5. Martial arts    6. Sports    7. Sports & Recreation    8. Swordplay    9. Bibliographies, catalogues, discographies    10. Combat sports & self-defence   

Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Audio - Inspiration / Philosophy    2. Body, Mind & Spirit    3. Healing - Energy (Chi Kung, Reiki, Polarity)    4. Healing - General    5. New Age    6. Self-Help    7. Spirituality - General    8. Exercise & workout books   

Features

• Audiobook
• Unabridged

Subjects:  1. Abridged Audio - Exercise/Health    2. Body, Mind & Spirit    3. Healing - Energy (Chi Kung, Reiki, Polarity)    4. Healing - General    5. New Age    6. Self-Help    7. Spirituality - General    8. Exercise & workout books   

Reviews (6)

beginners only
Easy exercises for the neophyte, but nothing here to challenge or enlighten someone with some exposure to yoga, tai chi or chi gung. If the term "new age psycho-babble" is in your vocabulary, you are not the type who would appreciate this book.

A book to treasure.
Having been very active in the pursuit of physical fitness for many years, this book is a most welcome breath of fresh air. The movements and practices are eloquently detailed, and the entire concept just seems to flow naturally, without overwhelming even the novice in spiritual development (like me). I read through the entire book once and keep going back to different chapters, learning a little bit more about myself each time. It makes perfect sense, and it's like giving yourself a gift. I honestly can't imagine anyone NOT benefiting from "Chi Fitness".

It changed my life!
I've incorporated Chi Fitness into my life for the last three years. It's really changed my perspective on how important it is to be in tune with your body, and how your body needs to release emotions that affect us from childhood and our current lives. Since I'm so much more in touch with my feelings and my needs, I'm more centered and able to enjoy each day as a special gift. I highly recommend this book and anything else these authors may publish. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Chakras    2. Consumer Health    3. Diet / Health / Fitness    4. Exercise    5. General    6. Health & Fitness    7. Health/Fitness    8. Mind and body    9. Physical fitness    10. Qi gong    11. Qigong    12. Body, Mind & Spirit / General    13. Fitness & diet   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Healing    3. Healing - General    4. Health & Fitness    5. Health/Fitness    6. Health & Fitness / Healing    7. Master Yap Soon Yeong and Chok C. Hiew, Ph.D.   

Reviews (3)

Poorly organized and illustrated.
The first thing that struck me about this book was the way it is organized.It attempts to guide the reader through a full year of qigong practice, starting in spring.While this idea is, in itself, not a bad one, the increased intensity of the exercises inhibits the ability to begin practice at any other time.In other words, if your bought this book in January, as I did, you'd be starting at "month 11," which is almost at the end of the book and assumes knowledge of the previous 10 months. So, unless you begin practice in March of April, the book is nearly useless until then.
Poorly organized and illustrated.
The first thing that struck me about this book was the way it is organized.It attempts to guide the reader through a full year of qigong practice, starting in spring.While this idea is, in itself, not a bad one, the increased intensity of the exercises inhibits the ability to begin practice at any other time.In other words, if your bought this book in January, as I did, you'd be starting at "month 11," which is almost at the end of the book and assumes knowledge of the previous 10 months. So, unless you begin practice in March of April, the book is nearly useless until then.
A Solid Intro to QiGong
Check out the fittest people in any gym, and you will usually note that flexibility is a key component of their program. Check any truly spiritually centered person, and notice the glow of serenity than surrounds them. Combine both, and you understand why Western thinking is scurrying to latch onto QiGong.Read more

Subjects:  1. Body, Mind & Spirit    2. Exercise    3. Healing - Energy (Chi Kung, Reiki, Polarity)    4. Medicine, Chinese    5. Meditation    6. Mental healing    7. New Age    8. New Age / Body, Mind & Spirit    9. New Age / Parapsychology    10. Qi gong    11. Body, Mind & Spirit / Healing / Energy (Chi Kung, Reiki, Polarity)