Customer Reviews

The Essence of Taiji Qigong: The Internal Foundation of Taijiquan (Martial Arts-Qigong)

5 star:		(3)
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3 star:		(2)
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Overall satisfactory. The pictures were hard to follow in this book. This was a required text for a Taiji class I had so between the book and the professor the forms were not too hard to learn. I wouldn't recommend this book for someone to learn Taiji without the help of a teacher to accompany it :)

I have been involved in martial arts for nearly 30 years, starting in Karate and eventually working my way through the spectrum of arts before settling in Aikido. I also teach a "senior taichi" class at my local parks department. As a teacher of Yoshinkan Aikido I became interested in Taijiquan after realizing how similar it is to Aikido. I read this book not only to learn more about taijiquan, but to learn more about the Chinese idea of chi (ki in Japanese).

The book begins by defining chi and there is some history on qigong and taijiquan. It then goes on to explain more detail on theories behind chi and how it relates to health, the mind and body, and taiji training.

When I finished reading the book, I felt that I had a much better understanding of chi as well as the foundation and purpose of taijiquan. I can take what I learned from reading this book and apply it to my own martial arts training as well as to other exercises that I do to maintain general health.

This book is not something to be read just once and put aside. I will go on to practice more, incorporating what I learned from my first reading. I'll likely read other books from Dr. Yang Jwing Ming and then re-read this one. Although the first reading was quite educational, it will take several readings over time to be able to absorb all of this information. This book will be added to my reference shelf and consulted often.

This book gets to the core of everything you can learn about the ancient martial arts of Tai Chi and Chi Gung. Thorough explanations of history, techniques, purpose of motion, chi energy movement, chi/body/mind interconnectivity, proper breathing, postures, etc. Well illustrated with plenty of exercise "sets" including a nice warm-up. This book will be a great help with your training and an important reference in your library.

As a stundent of Tai Chi for many years I am constantly in search of knowledge to perfect my art. This book relays the special meaning and purpose of the movements. I rate it in a class with those of the great Chen Man-Ching, and my teacher, Marshall Ho'o. It is "the essence of Tai Chi Chi Kung".

At certain critical areas, the decriptions are ambiguous i.e. the cavities and names along both conception and governing vessels that yi and qi should pass or they do not matter. Also, Fig 3-40 and 3-41 are imcomplete or not clear.