Customer Reviews

Complete Tai-Chi: The Definitive Guide to Physical and Emotional Self-Improvement

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is absolutely delightful, from its discussion of the theory behind the art to its amazingly in-depth tracing of its history. For the past year and a half, I have been searching for something to heal my Chronic pain disorder that effects my upper body, and has effected my classical guitar-playing and musicianship more than I like. Well, a few months ago I picked up the Sophia Delza book at my library and began studying from that, but I wasn't completely satisfied with discussion of forms and postures, so I decided to buy a book, and after an exhausting search I finally came away with this book which not only seemed to satisfied my requirements, but left me with an excellent feeling. I was most attracted to the fact that he was using the Tai Chi as a healing approach and that he had been practicing for upwards of 50 years. Well, let me just say that everyday I feel better, and my pain is constantly receding, I have a whole new outlook on life, and the calmness I have learned has helped me to develop my musicianship. I appreciate Master Huang's approach of allowing the reader to bring his own things to the practice such as relaxation methods, and at first I was perturbed that he didn't offer breathing methods on each of the postures, but it is inferred that one cannot learn the breathing for all movements unless they have learned the postures perfectly. Actually, one may notice, however, that he does describe in a brief passage what movements exhaling and inhaling require. This book is a beautiful description and application of the technique that will be helpful to anyone.

This book is the most detailed explained book I ever read. It teaches you how to have the correct posture (Which is very very important if you want to learn tai chi!), the very basic tought of chi, and also it DOES have explanation how to breath. He didn't write how to breath in every single movement that he explained, but he did in the beginning of the book or/and in the attachment of old manuskript tranlations.
Once again it's a very good book for a serious tai chi student, but you have to get use of the way chinese people think to understand some of the contains.

In clear photographs explicated by easily followed instructions, Alfred Huang's book makes it possible to learn this tai chi form on your own. If you're already familiar with any style of tai chi, your progress will be rapid, as you'll already understand subtleties of weight shifting, breathing and alignment that are nearly impossible to fully convey in cold print. Whatever your background, the effort is worth it. This version of the Wu style instills a soft, buoyant energy; you can feel your body being healed and strengthened as you run through the movements. There are relatively few books around on this style. Although a little weak on illustrating certain transitions, COMPLETE TAI CHI is one of the best, and Huang's teaching is saturated with authenticity. He knows his stuff and teaches it beautifully.

The introductory chapters in which Huang explains the development of Tai Chi and relevant physiological concepts are the best I have yet read and I would recommend them to any English speaker starting to learn Tai Chi. As with most attempts to describe how to do the form I found the detailed explanation of how to do Huang's short version of the Wu style form of little practical value; although to be fair I only read parts of it out of general curiosity as I practice Wu style in Hong Kong with the Wu family. Although the introductory paragraphs brought out the fact that Tai Chi is primarily a martial art I felt that once the book began to discuss the form this was forgotten. I have found that the greatest insights into the form often arise when one learns their martial application.

Despite not being a Wu style practitioner, I found this book to contain a wealth of knowlege about Taiji Quan. Unlike most books which claim to be "Complete" Taiji anything, this one delivers with finesse.

First, the history section is a gem. Rather than delving into myths and legends, Alfred Huang puts forward solid historical research which disproves both the Cheng San-Feng theory, and the Wang Zhongyu chronology (showing how it would be impossible for Wang to have taught the Chens.) This alone, makes the book valuable to anyone interested in authentic history of Taiji Quan.

Next, the form. The form presented in this book, is Wu style. It is a condensed 36 posture form that Alfred Huang derives from the Wu private family form. The photographs are easy to follow, and the transitions between movements are simple to grasp.

Last, the section on the Taiji Classics are what cemented my opinion on this book. Most texts simply throw in the photos with descriptions, and call it a day. The classics are the heart/bible of Taiji Quan practice, and their inclusion is essential for any book to be a "complete" guide. The author does just that, allowing the reader to draw from the experience of the founders.

In conclusion, this is a great addition to any serious practitioner's library. Even though the form is non-standard (you probably won't be able to use it as a reference to what you learn in class,) the rest of the material is top notch, and even a non-student with no prior experience will take away something solid from this book.

As a Tai Chi practitioner for several years, I've read a number of books and this is definitely one of the best. Master Huang provides great information about how the properly practice your forms, the reasons why from Chinese medicine, and a wonderful history of the martial art. Yet his writing is clear and very understandable, making it a pleasure to read. Though I don't practice the style or the form he describes, I learned a lot about why I was taught to do my forms a certain way. (Sometimes, in the old way of teaching, they don't teach why, but just show you how.)
I would highly recommend anyone who is practicing Tai Chi or is interested to read this book, as a great supplement to whatever class or instruction you have.

This book is absolutely delightful, from its discussion of the theory behind the art to its amazingly in-depth tracing of its history. For the past year and a half, I have been searching for something to heal my Chronic pain disorder that effects my upper body, and has effected my classical guitar-playing and musicianship more than I like. Well, a few months ago I picked up the Sophia Delza book at my library and began studying from that, but I wasn't completely satisfied with discussion of forms and postures, so I decided to buy a book, and after an exhausting search I finally came away with this book which not only seemed to satisfied my requirements, but left me with an excellent feeling. I was most attracted to the fact that he was using the Tai Chi as a healing approach and that he had been practicing for upwards of 50 years. Well, let me just say that everyday I feel better, and my pain is constantly receding, I have a whole new outlook on life, and the calmness I have learned has helped me to develop my musicianship. I appreciate Master Huang's approach of allowing the reader to bring his own things to the practice such as relaxation methods, and at first I was perturbed that he didn't offer breathing methods on each of the postures, but it is inferred that one cannot learn the breathing for all movements unless they have learned the postures perfectly. Actually, one may notice, however, that he does describe in a brief passage what movements exhaling and inhaling require. This book is a beautiful description and application of the technique that will be helpful to anyone.

Over all, this is a very good intructional book. It has a very detail text explaination and plantiful of pictures to guide you from one movement to another movement. The only thing that I don't understand is: how come there are no instructions on breathing sequences for each movement? I understand that the integration of inhaling and exhaling with each movement is very important for Tai Chi, why is this book not teaching it? I hope Master Huang will publish a booklet of breathing sequences for these set of Wu Style Tai Chi forms.