Customer Reviews

The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan: A Comprehensive Guide to the Principles and Practice

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I'm a fairly new student of Tai Chi Chuan as I've only been studying for two years. Without going into the why, I was looking for a supplement to my classes. I've looked at literally a hundred Tai Chi books, and while many cover the simplistic forms. Sifu Wong covers a detailed history and the origins of this martial art including all of the current derivatives and styles. That's right, I said Martial Art! Something that most books and video's on this subject seem to forget is that Tai Chi Chuan IS still a Martial Art and to get the FULL benefit, not only should you learn the FORMS, but an understanding of the martial application. Sifu Wong does a wonderful job of explaining all styles with a detailed flow diagram to guide you through each one. You won't lean Tai Chi from a book, but if your already taking classes, and need a reference to help you remember that new piece you just learned or to understand the application of it, or perhaps a more detailed history and the origins of your style. Curious about other styles? --> THIS IS YOUR BOOK!

The title says it all with "The Complete Book of Tai Chi Chuan". With many Tai Chi Chuan books just detailing the sequence of one particular form, it is refreshing to find one that details the history, philosophies, various styles, philosophy, and spiritual development. Author Wong Kiew Kit, a Grandmaster living in Malaysia, does a thorough job of describing and detailing the various styles. This is the first Tai Chi Chuan book that I have read that covered more than one or two styles in detail. Wong Kiew Kit details Wudang Tai Chi Chuan, Chen-Style, Yang-Style, Wu Yu Xiang-Style, Wu Chuan You-Style, and Sun-Style. The illustrations are line drawings that sometimes take some effort before you really understand the movements to be made. However, if you are looking for a reference on Tai Chi Chuan that will bring a complete understanding of the subject in all of its nuances including history, philosophy, patterns, and just about anything else, this is a highly recommended purchase.

This is the book that I recommend for all Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) students. It is an excellent introduction to that art, plus it discusses important topics such as the role of qigong (chi kung) and internal force in Taiji practice.

Especially for beginners or those who are new to the art, I recommend reading the preface, the first two chapters (on Tai Chi as a martial art and on the concept of yin-yang), Chapter 6 (the importance of chi kung) and Chapter 12 ("Enriching Daily Life with Tai Chi Chuan").

This book is an excellent overview of all the styles of Tajiquan, including forms, martial applications, weapons, and qigong. The only fault is that the diagrams are difficult at best to try to follow and learn a form. But then again, if you really want to learn a form, you should be working with an instructor anyway.

This book is THE most comprehensive guide to the "supreme ultimate art" in EXISTANCE! This book gave me Chi Kung excercises that allowed me to actually feel the chi flow into my hands plus it talked about ALL the styles of Tai Chi Chuan, gave the philosophies and principals of each style, talked about energy extention (channeling your energy into a staff to give it the slicing power of a sword), and it reveals the ultimate attainment of any martial art, spiritual cultivation! If your fire still needs quenching after compleating this book the author includes notes and follow-up books for each and every chapter that can be expanded plus listings and addresses of other great masters! I strongly feel that the author really went overboard to give you simply THE best!!!

Aside from WKK's typical need for a better editor with a more daring hand, this is a worthy addition to any Taiji practitioner's library.

As for the one reviewer's comments about WKK's honest modesty on his Taiji lineage status, I would just add the following consideration: Taiji comes from Shaolin inasmuch as it was developed there much the same as all other Chinese martial arts can be said to have been developed at Shaolin Temple. So, to quip at his lack of a lineage in Taiji OUTSIDE of the supreme martial arts college throughout all of Buddhist China's history makes little sense to me. I have a Shaolin master and I know that he was trained in Taiji and his Taiji is very good and very particular, in fact. So to have had a good Shaolin master is to a large extent to have had a good Taiji master. Taiji is a major course of study within the Shaolin warrior monk's curriculum. So, to have actually had a Shaolin master teach you Taiji is a supreme bit of good fortune, indeed. WKK merely states that his Shaolin master was not of a distinguished Taiji lineage, which is not much of a detraction given that the master in question teaching WKK WAS a Shaolin master, which typically should by all reasonaing be better than a master of of Taiji that is removed completely from the Shaolin system for several generations.

Also, WKK does not say that you should learn Taiji without an instructor, period. He says his book is a self-teaching device for those who are already under the instruction of a qualified teacher, or for someone who otherwise would have no instruction whatsoever.

Though WKK obviously is well-versed in terminology and applications of Taiji, that is not the sole purpose of this book. He goes into historical background and explication of theory behind the techniques in Taiji combat and other areas. The areas on direct instruction on application seem pretty darned good, nontheless. Most Tai Chi instructors these days will be exceptional if they have familiarity in Tai Chi combat beyond the basics of elementary push hands. The bottom line is, yes of course you need an instructor if you can find one. He never contradicts this truth, he merely is providing good knowledge on Taiji for those who need it. Teachers invariably don't teach one-on-one exclusively, they teach a whole room full of students for about 2 hours or so. This book helps you to find out things you may never get the opportunity to even ask your sifu.

If you can get past a few boring moralistic/sentimental-sounding sections here and there, and a charactistically dry presentation style overall, WKK is an extremely respectable resource on Taiji for most of us. He means well when he is boring, and he is informative and helpful most of the rest of the time. Most importantly, his information tends to be accurate, and is consistent with the Shaolin understanding of martial arts, which for most mainland Chinese experts is paramount mark of distinction.

Wong Kiew Kit filled a large void in the literature for Tai Chi Chuan with this book. Many authors mystify this art to the point of folly, but Mr. Wong presents Tai Chi as the straight forward, efficient martial art that it truly is. Though this book lacks, in my opinion, a proper discussion of the actual use of chi for combat, it presents solid, logical descriptions of the mechanics involved as well as their underlying philosophies. This book is good for someone who wants a thorough overview of the various (popular) styles of Tai Chi Chuan, and especially valuable for the experienced martial artist who is looking at learning some of the internal aspects of boxing. A must read!

I like this book a lot because the illustration and detailed movements helped me much bet ter than other books I've read in Taichi. Of course, having an instructor is better than reading a book, but if you don't the chance to take a Taichi class, BUY THIS BOOK! I feel confident in doing Taichi after reading this book, but I'm looking forward to taking a class to see how different reading this book and taking a class is.

I had previously read sifu Wong's excellent book on kung fu, and when I saw this one, I had to try it too.

Sifu Wong's book is the most eclectic and complete book so far I've seen on tai chi. It lives up to his goal to present the complete art with all its facets, as he states in the introduction. Although he points out that volumes could be written on the topic of each chapter, a book covering all the relevant topics even briefly would still be of value. And I think he has succeeded very well.

I also appreciate his humility. In a world of macho and all too often egotistical martial artists, Wong admits that his strong suit is really his kung fu, and knows less about tai chi. But he was motivated to write the book to benefit those students who might be able to do tai chi, but are unable to undergo the rigors of kung fu training.

The book presents all the main aspects of tai, from the physical representations of the forms to the more abstruse spiritual matters, which I'd never seen really discussed much before. There are extensive discussions of chi. Since I have studied both wu and yang styles, I especially enjoyed his presentation of the chen and hou styles, which I have never studied, and the two short forms, the 24 and 48 move ones, as I have only done the long ones. He also discussed the two wu styles, which are not related.

I also enjoyed his presentation of many of the martial applications. There are several detailed sections where he illustrates and explains these, and I learned some new applications there. Also, even better, there is a section on multiple attack sequences, which is the only time I have ever seen that illustrated and discussed in a tai chi book. Wong points out that this sort of continuous attack practice is essential and also free style practice in order to truly be able to fight effectively, since a determined attacker is unlikely to simply use one technique.

Wong is also quite firm on the point that tai is primarily a martial art, which often gets overlooked today. All in all a very fine tai chi book that should be useful to the beginning and advanced student alike.

This book is just what its title states: a complete book on Tai Chi Chuan. This is one case where you can judge a book by its cover. It covers everything you would want to know about Tai Chi Chuan including its history, styles, health benefits, and martial applications to name a few. I never thought much of martial arts books that used illustrations to show forms, but this book manages to pull it off. If you want to learn about Tai Chi Chuan, or are currenty practising it, BUY THIS BOOK!