Cheng Hsin Tui Shou: The Art of Effortless Power (Paperback)

by Peter Ralston (Author) "The Art of Effortless Power is an investigation as well as a training..." (more)
Key Phrases: leading rollback, shou techniques, marrow draining, Cheng Hsin T'ui Shou, Spiral Down, T'ai Chi (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"What Peter Ralston does remarkably well is to clarify what the classics have been trying to tell us, and to offer concrete direction on how to continue growing and become better in the internal arts. You can’t fix Cheng Hsin on the wall with a pin, because, as you try, you realize that Cheng Hsin is the wall, and the pin, and the action, and the intent."
-Frank LaManna, T’ai Chin Journal

Product Description
This book provided this beginning tai-chi student with a rich, methodical philosophical "grounding" on some concepts that that are at the core of Eastern martial arts. Ralston helps the reader develop an awareness, quite literally "from the ground up".

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Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books; illustrated edition edition (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1556430949
• ISBN-13: 978-1556430947
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #89,169 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Tui shou students who are serious about the art, May 9, 1998

By	Patricia Ann Best "Best_Offerings" (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Peter Ralston's knowledge on "being" and his profound use of the English language started my mind racing... Professor Cheng Man Ch'ing in his book "Tai-chi the supreme ultimate exercise for health, sport, and self-defense" (by Cheng Man-ch'ing and Robert. W. Smith) states on page 107, that "T'ai-chi hinges entirely upon the player's consciousness (i) rather than upon his external muscular force(li)." What Peter Ralston accomplishes in his book is explaining this consciousness -- and the idea of opening the mind to what "is" rather than what the player may "assume" it is. This book showed me what a lazy mind I had and gave me directions on how to make it active by being in the moment. It is instruction on having a beginner's mind -- always questioning, always alert. If you think you know it, you are ignoring what is really there and therefore you do not know. Most important, he writes, "Correction is not a 'bad'; it is a power. It is ability."

One caution -- unless you are ready to activate your brain by his indepth approach to this consciousness-training, do not waste your time -- it's not for a lazy mind.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There's so much to "The Art of Effortless Power", January 14, 2000

By A Customer

This book provided this beginning tai-chi student with a rich, methodical philosophical "grounding" on some concepts that that are at the core of Eastern martial arts. Ralston helps the reader develop an awareness, quite literally "from the ground up", of reality. He conveys how complicated, profound and mutable are the interrelationships between the physical universe, the self and others, and how man has the capability to adapt harmoniously and effortlessly to change. Ralston even manages to shed some light on that elusive, yet pervasive, concept of "chi".

I highly recommend this book. It should not be read quickly, though. Like most good things, its insights will come to you gradually, and in their own good time.