Customer Reviews

Tai Chi for Beginners with Grandmaster William C.C. Chen

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

If you want to learn tai chi from a video, don't spend your money on this. The movements are not fully explained and the video doesn't make sure you're able to see the relevant movements. The forms are not explained movement by movement, but just shown and poorly narrated. For example, the very first movement is an opening step to the right, getting your feet to be parallel and open under your shoulders. The explanation given is "50-50," meaning you end up with your weight equally on both feet. The next movement involves a kind of lifting and rolling of the hands. The explanation: "same weight." One can follow those motions without explanation because they're slow, simple and shown face-on. As soon as there is any real body movement, the video becomes impossible to learn from. Very quickly, there are instructions like "turn foot in," but one can't quite see which foot is turning, or "step" and you can't see which foot is stepping. There's no explanation at all of the hand movements.
If you know the form and can't find a master to practice with, I'm sure Grandmaster Chen would be a wonderful video-substitute, but this is not a video for beginners to learn from.

This is not a DVD for beginners. There is no explanation of the movements. The narration says to "turn foot in" but never says which foot, or what part of the foot whether it's the heel or the toes. You're just supposed to mimic the movements shown on the screen, but it's very difficult at times to see what your feet are supposed to be doing because his pants and other leg block the view. There is absolutely no explanation as to what your hands and arms are doing. In one section all the instructions are given as "sleep" and "wake up". It's very frustrating. It's a beautiful DVD, and it's obvious that Grand Master Chen loves what he is doing, there is just no instruction, and no explanation as to what is really going on.

There were a few things about this video that people could legitamitly complain about, like the panning of the camera angles at times can make it a little more difficult to follow, but the instruction by William C.C. Chen, and the explanations on breathing, the chi, and movements really make this video great for those who are learning this form. For those who have zero martial arts history, this video may be difficult, but to those who have some understanding of Tai Chi, or Kung Fu it definitely helps. There is a loop feature that makes this video a lot easier to learn from than any other, plus his daughter and son doing the form with him during the full form feature make the video a lot easier to follow. The variety of the three's movements, with the uniformity and almost exact timing allow the veiwer to see the importance of the focus on the destination of the hands and feet rather than the arms and legs; The ability to move with the breath rather than the body. I can't give it justice with my words. The only flaws this video may have are with the filming of it, not with the info, or instruction. The flaws in filming are minor (like at times in the full form mode the cameraman may zoom in to far and cut off the movement of the feet (I think it happened twice), but it doesn't happen in the segmented parts, or looping). I highly, HIGHLY recommend this video to those who want to learn William C.C. Chens version of the Yang form.

Bought this because I live a LONG way from anywhere available for "live" classes...I liked the preview that was made available and from the "details" portion of the description? I THOUGHT it would contain alot of technique for actually learning some of Tai Chi's basic moves...I was looking for something low impact, slow that would help keep me limber as I have RA pretty bad. Tai Chi was highly recommended and while I still believe it WILL eventually be a part of my exercise routine? This isn't the DVD to buy for learning HOW to DO basic Tai Chi moves. I don't know if it's Master Chen's language style or what, but I simply cannot understand him. There isn't much in the way of actual "instruction" more of a follow along as best you can approach. I would have enjoyed the DVD more if there was a separate section with actual step by step stance and movement instruction...call me ignorant...just would have been easier for me to see someone saying "Stand like THIS" move slowly to HERE ...and holding the positions so a person could check for proper "form". Not a good DVD for the self learner, maybe as a compliment to something else...but not a stand alone easy to understand instructional DVD

When it comes to Taijiquan, a landmark name like William C C Chen tends to carry a lot of weight. For this reason, I had high expectation when I purchased this DVD. Having been a long time player in the Taiji community as well as a senior student of the late Professor Cheng Man Ching, Mr. Chen has had an impressive track record of being a competitor, accomplished author, and a scholar. Sadly, while the DVD may be useful for a complete beginner of advanced age with absolutely no prior experience in Taijiquan, I found myself somewhat disappointed by the content, and the manner in which it was presented, considering the source.

In my opinion, Taijiquan has become a mere performance art, being presented as a choreographed form. The majority of Taiji related products approach it as a moving meditation (never quite going beyond Qi Gong elements,) lacking for the most part any explanation of individual techniques, breathing, weight distribution, and applications. While Mr. Chen's DVD does explain balance and breathing to some extent, his approach is no different from the dozens of average products already on the market, and far better material is available on the subject.

For starters, the DVD menu is divided into several sections (instructions, step by step movements, somplete form, etc) but does not have a simple PLAY function which would play the entire DVD content sequentially. I know this is a minor nit-pick, but from the perspective of an elderly viewer (I gave this DVD as a gift to my Taiji teacher,) this would make the DVD far more difficult to navigate, requiring the use of a remote which people of advanced age may have difficulty operating.

In terms of the content, I found myself quite a bit surprised at the instructions for the step by step movements. On the plus side, each set of movements is repeated 3 times, slowly, and were quite easy to follow with weight shifting instructions following each movement. The video was mirrored (left and right sides reversed) so that an average viewer could directly mimic what they were seeing on the screen rather than have to flip the movements mentally. The weight shifting and distribution were explained very well in the STEP BY STEP section of the DVD, with the names of the movements listed in the beginning. Mr. Chen's analogy of Qi, his example of a toy frog and an inflatable rubber deer (worth seeing, IMO) is definitely unique, and helps provide better understanding without getting into mystical territory (one of the reasons I loved his book, Body Mechanics of Tai Chi Chuan.) On the down side, there was no indication which movements you were performing, no indication where one movement began and another ended, and the names of the movements were limited to the text format displayed in the beginning of the STEP BY STEP segment.

The camera angle is another serious issue that needs to be addressed. While it is helpful to see several angles of the same movement to get a better understanding of what is taking place, the camera focusing on Mr. Chen would suddenly switch angle mid-movement. This caused a lot of confusion in following what exactly he was doing. A better way to handle this would have been switching angles after each repetition (there were 3 for each segment.) This would have allowed the viewer to follow the movements each time without having to pause in confusion.
What surprised me the most, was seeing Mr. Chen seemingly struggle through some of the motions during the demonstration. I realize he is advanced in age, that he went through several repetitions of the movements, and that he might be tired. However, it was somewhat disconcerting to see him have some difficulty while demonstrating movements like Snake Creeps Down, Kicking Out, and Needle at the Bottom of the Sea. I have a lot of respect for Mr. Chen and his accomplishments, however, in my eyes this was something that diminished the quality of the product considerably.

Another problem, in my opinion, was lack of direction on the proper postures and breathing during the movements. This, in my opinion, is something that is an absolute must for every beginner product, and the lack of said instruction may lead to many bad habits that may later need to be un-learned in a formal class. The information presented in the BONUS section of the DVD should in reality have been a part of the introduction, which I found lacking and uninformative.

The BONUS section covered topics like why the Taiji Quan form is performed in slow motion, what the proper ways to move are (dealing with tension, hand movement, and rooting analogies.) Again, information that should have been part of the introduction, and may have been added as a mere afterthought. What I did not see covered anywhere, is the 13 postures, which again, I feel should be required material for any beginner product, since they are very much the core of Taiji Quan. However, this DVD seems to approach Taiji simply as Qi Gong, so information on the postures may have been left out for that reason.

What finally cemented my opinion, was the COMPLETE DEMO section with the 3 levels of instruction. This segment went through the entire motion of the William C C Chen style Taiji Quan, giving the viewer a choice of either BASIC, COUNTING, or ENERGY audio directions. While the BASIC was excellent, offering breathing, movement, and direction in which to turn (the latter being a bit more vague for beginners,) the COUNTING instructions left me scratching my head. The gist of it was a voice counting anywhere from 1-3, 1-4, or 1-5 with no discernable rhythm or explanation for the count. The ENERGY directions were merely "fall asleep" and "wake up," again with no explanation.

I see a lot of unique and new material on this DVD that could have been implemented differently given a bit of restructuring and editing. However, in it's current state, this finished product is not particularly clear in it's overall instruction, the camera angles need better direction, and the information provided needs far more restructuring and elaboration than is provided. While Mr. Chen does insert his unique humor and personality into the presentation, it is unfortunately not enough to save this DVD from vagueness and obscurity which haunt almost every section. As such, this product fails to stand above the average book or DVD on the subject, and as I mentioned earlier, far better instructions are available.

Tai Chi for Beginners with Grandmaster William C.C. Chen is a DVD introduction into the ancient Chinese art of Tai Chi, a martial art that can be practiced to reduce stress, strengthen the body and mind, and improve one's bodily well-being. Host William C. C. Chen, one of the most respected Tai Chi Grandmasters of his generation, leads the viewer through fundamental, low-impact routines. Special features include learning segments with continuous loop option; three different complete-form practices centering around basic, counting, and energy; Tai Chi tips; and audio options that include music only or music combined with descriptive instruction. An excellent starting resource for those new to Tai Chi, recommended for public library collections as well as private fitness DVD shelves. 67 minutes (plus 20 min. bonus), 16:9 widescreen.

For being a grandmaster & a beginners guide was not informative as I expected it to be. There were not any all around angle shots. If I wouldn't have been so busy I would have returned it for a refund!

maybe its just me but i found this extremely difficult to follow, i've never done tai chi before, i'm expecting right now and someone recommended it to me. the guy has a very soothing voice and the music in the background is relaxing but i had no idea where to put my foot or my arms, he just went through and sort of narrated what he was doing. i think if you have taken classes, and already have the fundamentals down, this could be very helpful. if you haven't, i can't say i'd recommend it.

I have used other beginning Tai Chi videos/DVDs--and I was still lost using this DVD! His movements are beautiful and fluid, but there was no breakdown or step-by-step explanation of how to execute the forms. My learning style is such that I need a sequential presentation of movement and a clear explanation of what body part is supposed to go where, and where in the body I would feel the work. This contains none of what I need as a kinesthetic learner. If you are able to watch and do, then this could work for you. If you need small bits of information at a time, then this will not be helpful. I passed mine on to a friend who practices karate.

For those who find the DVD hard to follow, I suggest getting the companion book, "Tai Chi Chuan; Art of the 60 Movements," the newer 10th printing published in 2008.

If you want to learn the more subtle "mechanics" of Tai Chi, attend one of his workshops.
(For example, Master Chen has not yet published his explanations of tilting and untilting the kwa)
Don't wait too long though, Master Chen is 75.