Customer Reviews

David Carradine's Tai Chi Workout: The Beginner's Program for a Healthier Mind and Body

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

 

 

David Carradine's Tai Chi Workout is a very good book for the tai chi beginner. The sections about the history and theory of tai chi are written in a manner that any interested Westerner can grasp without being put off by too much mystery.
The best part though, are the photos of each position. These photos are full page size with a short explanation and name of the stance at the bottom.
This is a great book that you can really learn from

I can understand other readers having problems with the photos. My copy of this book originally came with a video which shows all the forms and a complete workout. The music is really horrible and Carradine seems a bit smug at times but you actually see what is going on. Why is it on sale without the video? Has it been re-written to allow for the absence of this?

Very good basic intro to one style of T'ai Chi. Warning to David Carradine fans: although there are a number of photos of David, most of the photos are not of him and it's not possible to tell how much of the text was actually written by David himself. However, you should be able to learn this form from the book, especially if you also have the videotape. It's always better to have a real live teacher, but this is the next best thing.

This book was written by the late David Carradine and co-author: David Nakahara. As I have often emphasized in other physical training texts, it is difficult to follow the movements from a book alone. This is why this book should be combined with the video for best results. However, the photos in this manual are large and clear, which will make it easier to follow each movement. This book is organized in such a way to make it simple for beginners to follow. This text begins with a short history and moves to breathing and meditation techniques. The tai chi program is explained beginning with stances, chi kung movements. Individual tai chi movements are explained followed by the entire form. The main problem I see when just learning from this book is that the transition movements are not shown. Nevertheless, this is a good basic guide, especially when used with the video program. Rating: 3 stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Tai Chi Instructor).

Good book for the novice. One of the better books out there, but you have to pay close attention to the instructions as the pictures are rather sparse.The chi kung section has some good exercises(some of which are part of the 8 peices of brocade which is so popular).Overall I like this book and is a good intro to the Wang style which makes it even more intersting.

I was not able to learn this form from the text. Several of the movements are not depicted and described well enough, and there's no discussion of the transitions between movements, leaving it pretty much up to your imagination. The video that follows this goes too fast to be of use, at least to me. The chi kung movements he shows are a hodge podge, and are certainly the least interesting of any I've seen published. I'd prefer to see a full depiction of a complete system like 8 pieces of brocade, or tai chi chi kung etc. The only good thing I can say about this book is it got me interested in chi kung and tai chi. I would recommend The Way of Energy as a very good chi kung book. I'm still desperately searching for good tai chi books.