Customer Reviews

David Carradine's Tai Chi Workouts for Beginners

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I work out every day. I vary my workouts between weight training, aerobics,upper and lower body days, some Yoga and some Pilates. I started incorporating this "Tai Chi Workout for Beginners" about 6 weeks ago, and now it is the one I use the most. If I had to choose only one, this would be it! With each session it leaves me feeling strong and rejuvinated, it is a feeling that is almost euphoric that I carry with me long after the workout.

As a total newbie to Tai Chi, I am glad I started with this one and would highly recommend it to others who want to learn from a great instructor.David Carradine, who we all know and love as "Grasshopper" from the Kung Fu TV series, will immediately put you at ease with his soft voice, and expertly and gently guide you through the entire workout.

The program breaks down to five sequences of movements and then on to a meditation sequence that is indescribably wonderful.
First up is about 15 minutes of specific stretching exercises, that will get the blood flowing and the muscles warmed up. If you practice Yoga, you will probably be flexible enough to perform these easily. If you are not as flexible, go slow, there is a lot of twisting and strectching, and the more you practice these, the more flexible you will become. Next up you will learn the Basic Stances of Tai Chi, which also take a bit of practice to get down, then on to some Vital Engery and Fitness exercises in which you will actually feel the stress leaving your body and the engery entering. After that, Indiviual Tai Chi Movements(a master instructor is on hand to demonstrate at this point) are practiced and then it is all put together in Complete Tai Chi Form.

The total workout is a little over an hour, and I will tell you that you are getting quite a workout and won't even realize it. There isn't one part of your body that is missed. It will leave you stress free, toned and more flexible physically and mentally. The meditation sequence as mentioned is also wonderfully calming. Carradine is always encouraging, and makes you feel perfectly fine to go at your own pace.

And there's more..you really get your money's worth on this DVD. You will also find a Kung Fu Session which also includes stretching,stance training, some kicking exercises, combination exercises and the philospophy.

Other features include four songs by Carradine and an interview.
The music is light, refreshing and will help ease you into this gentle but highly effective workout. No special equipment is needed. The class is wearing some sort of jump suits(that looked like something out of the Jetsons) and were wearing sneakers. I usually do the workout in just some comfortable clothing that moves easily, and barefoot on my Yoga sticky mat.

I absolutely loved this workout and the class. It gave me a fabulous introduction to Tai Chi, was a great workout, left me feeling wonderful(and even feeling a little more graceful then before) and wanting to come back for more.

Try it...you'll love it!...Thanks "Grasshopper"
Remember to breathe, eat healthy and enjoy!....Laurie

After purchasing David Carradine's Chi Engery Workouts, I went out and purchased his other two AM & PM Tai Chi Workouts and Tai Chi Workout (this one). The Chi Energy Workout is my favorite, but these other two are terrific too. The other two DVD's have Arnold Tayam as the instructor, but not this DVD. The class participants are also different. I think this is a 1980's production based on the clothing and makeup of the students. I thought it was a bit corny at first, but it's actually a very fun, challenging, and unique workout.

The format is very similar to his other DVD's, the workout starts with stretching and connecting to your body. In this workout the stretching is a lot more like a yoga practice (which I loved!). Then, you work on basic stances and vital energy & fitness where you hold the stance and work on your leg muscles and strength and incorporate Chi Kung movements. I love these first few segments of the workout. David Carradine instructs them. Finally, you work on the Tai Chi individual movements and the complete form. David Nakahara I believe instructs this practice. I found this part a bit more difficult to follow than the other 2 DVDs, but I'm sure with practice I will get better.

The second workout included is called the Kung Fu workout. Again, you start out with stretching (called the Snake), and then move on to stances (called the Tiger), then kicking (the Leopard). Finally, you end with the combination (the Crane) and the spirit (the Dragon). It is a fun practice.

You also get a guided meditation on the DVD. They included a meditation on the AM & PM Tai Chi Workout and this one, but for some reason didn't include a meditation on the Chi Engery Workout DVD.

I would highly recommend David's 3-DVD set of Tai Chi workouts. You can read my other reviews on amazon.com.

The one produced by Goldhil Home Media in 1997 is much better at helping you understand Tai Chi. It gives a better overall picture on the overall benefits of Tai Chi, and starts out nice and easy.

This DVD, on the other hand, assumes that you're able to pull your leg over your head during the opening Stretching. Plus the 80's spandex doesn't help either.

I hope that there is better beginners DVD's out there. Because this sure wasn't it. Besides being way out-dated (I've never seen so much hair spray used in one setting), it had some bad video to digital transfer qaulities...scrabbled scenes, and some inaudible instructions.
I also agree with other reviewers on how frustrating it was not to be able to see all the leaders movements.
And the meditation "bonus", good, if you just leave the volume on and turn the picture off. A wee bit too New age for me.
I will give Mr. Carradine credit for being encouraging, honest about practice and limitations.
Overall though, I'll be looking elsewhere.

This is without a doubt not for the beginners. I'm not really too sure who it is for. The majority of the camera work stays away from David Carradine and focuses on the class of people that look like 1980s sci-fi rejects. This group of people do the exercises their way and out of sinc with each other and the verbal cues. There is no explaination or demonstration of how to perform the moves being executed, they just start happening. If you look away from the television you will miss something.

I could go on about my disappointment with this video. Instead, I will just say don't waste your money on this video and DO NOT buy this video because of a star's name. Look elsewhere for guidance for Tai Chi.

DO NOT confuse your feelings about Kung-Fu the Series with what you may see in this video (should you decided to buy it). I am a huge fan of the Kung-Fu Series and attribute my recent decision to begin taking classes in Kung-Fu and T'ai Chi to how Mr. Carradine interpreted his role on-screen. I was extremely disappointed, however, in the way Mr. Carradine, his producers, and the team of on-screen participants presented the T'ai Chi material. I couldn't get past the arrested development of it all; those huge hairdo's of the 80's; those outfits...it was like the Solid Gold Dancers meets Dance Fever. I would have much preferred the taping of a real T'ai Chi class. The music (style and volume) is also a distractor that detracts one's ability to grasp what is being taught here. And finally, I was looking for Yang style T'ai Chi and did not find it here. In fact, I'm really not clear what style T'ai Chi is being taught in this video. Whatever you do, keep shopping. Don't stop here! There are loads of T'ai Chi instructional videos out these days that are much, much better than this one.

I am truly disappointed. Streching exercises are for gymnasts (camera shies away from Carradine when unbelievably hard exercises are being done by other participants) and seem to have been borrowed from Pilate or Yoga. The Chinese exercise leader does not know how to lead, just mumbles, and the camera angles and structure of teaching make everything impossible to follow. Unnecessary things like Kung Fu, songs, and other non-Taichi materials should not have been included. I have the older VHS where Arnold Tayam was co-instructor, and I prefer that a lot which I give a B plus. The problem though is that it's the short form. I give this DVD (Natural Journeys production) a grade of D+ (barely passing).

I found it very difficult to fallow along since you can't always see everything the leader is doing.

This is a repackaged (and cleverly marketed) recycle from a guy who never learned what he is presenting. Now that he's on the history channel this will probably get attention, but dont be fooled. If people with a casual interest in exercise and affinity for celebrities are motivated by this thats fine, but move on for anyone serious about learning the correct form, look elsewhere. You gotta love those satin pajamas though.

I think it is more of a workout for elderly people. I felt like it was an old video, too.