The Essence of Shaolin White Crane--Martial Power and Qigong [Paperback]

Yang Jwing-Ming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2, 1996

Reveals the secrets of Chinese internal power development.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This exploration of White Crane Kung Fu, one of the most famous martial arts styles of China, examines martial Qigong and its relationship to health, longevity, and physical development. This form of martial art is the foundation of other methods and has influenced Japanese martial arts: enjoy a fine blend of historical overview and technical coverage. -- Midwest Book Review

About the Author

Yang, Jwing-Ming Ph.D., is a renowned author and teacher of Chinese martial arts and Qigong. Born in Taiwan, he has trained and taught Taijiquan, Qigong and Chinese martial arts for over forty-five years. He is the author of over thirty books, and was elected by Inside Kung Fu magazine as one of the 10 people who has "made the greatest impact on martial arts in the past 100 years." Dr. Yang lives in Northern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Ymaa Publication Center (July 2, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886969353
• ISBN-13: 978-1886969353
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #97,693 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #50 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Exercise & Fitness > Tai Chi & Qi Gong

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Dr.Yangs best, December 9, 1999

By 

Rich S. (LI, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Essence of Shaolin White Crane--Martial Power and Qigong (Paperback)

This is undoubtably one of Dr.Yangs finest books. Being into real Gung-Fu, Wu-su for fifteen years now, I can certainly say this with certainty. It has all the excellent information in a clear format that I have come to expect from Dr.Yang. I especially loved all of the stories of Chinese wisdom that he put into this book. Such information is important when you are publishing a book about martial power. It helps to keep the reader on the proper path. This book is an excellent balance between internal and external QiGong. This Book also really helps to categorize and organize the great number and variety of Qigong techniques. This is quite helpful to know what you are doing, and to help you then create and much better balance your Qigong training. Whether it's still soft, or still hard, moving soft or moving hard Qigong, you can put them all into one of these categories. Whether Wai Dan or Nei Dan, it's can all be organized in this way. Also, the various blend of eastern and western explanations that are put in this book, further enhance ones understanding and comprehension in the field of Qigong as a whole. Anyone who has some basic to interemediate knowledge of Qigong, will find this book very helpful in bringing them to the next levels of understanding and ability. Beginners should also have little to no problems finding many techniques that they can do as well to begin thier journey into this most amazing and exciting of fields. All the best to you all.

30 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is a beautiful book, March 15, 2000

By 

Travis Cottreau (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Essence of Shaolin White Crane--Martial Power and Qigong (Paperback)

I love to just look at this book, it is amazing to look at and well laid out with a ton of helpful photographs and excellent descriptions to compliment them.

Unfortunately for me, I was expecting the book to be something else. From the title, I expected more on the influence of White Crane on karate, which is the art that I practice. There isn't much of this, and the historical information on White Crane itself is a little sketchy. Also, I was expecting more of the forms for comparison versus karate kata, but this was not included in any detail.

This does not negatively impact the book. While the book wasn't what I expected, it was something that was extremely well done and useful to me.

The descriptions of the flow of energy and where the energy is generated and how it passes various joins and limbs is excellent. Never have I seen such detail describing movement and stances as well as execution. I can't say enough about Dr. Yang, Jwing Ming's writing style and inclusion of well organized detail.

All of his scientific speculation is well backed up with many references, not only to martial arts magazines and books, but to scientific papers and reports. The thoroughness of the list of references astonishes me every time I look it over.

This isn't the kind of book that you can just glance over and absorb, it is the kind of book that you need to dedicate a lot of time to in order to understand. Good luck and have fun, I know that I have.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yang Jwing-Ming adds depth to training methods, February 2, 1998

By 

Daniel Wilkewitz (Fort Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Essence of Shaolin White Crane--Martial Power and Qigong (Paperback)

This is a remarkable book, the likes of which I have been searching for for some time. While most books on martial arts focus on specific techniques for defense, this work is concerned with the development of the power which enables techniques-both from an internal and external perspective. The book is quite in depth and, in my opinion, would be best reserved until a solid foundation in one's own art is attained.

One of the book's first sections is a historical exposition of Chinese martial arts. It is quite good. From there the author charts a clear path to developing both external and internal power. If you are a martial artist looking for ways to extend and deepen your training this book is not to be missed.