Customer Reviews

The Essential Movements of T'Ai Chi

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The exercise forms that are lucidly described and illustrated in this book should be part of the practice of every serious Tai Chi student. John Kotsias was fortunate to have the opportunity to study with two masters of this art who had worked directly with the Yang Tai Chi family in China ­ an experience he describes at the beginning of the book. He thus learned forms that are seldom taught in the west. This basic form is the foundation for eveloping the strength of mind and body required to practice Tai Chi at the highest level. I learned it from Kotsias in the 1980s and insist that my students learn it before undertaking more widely practiced forms such as the 108 movement form of Yang Cheng Fu. Another outstanding benefit of this form is its ability to stimulate the flow of internal healing energy. I experienced this vividly at a conference where I was studying Tai Chi with a teacher from Europe. I had a nasty virus and could barely do the 108 forms being taught. I had promised a fellow student to show him the basic form and had to do so on that day since he was leaving for home. Amazingly when I was done demonstrating these 8 movements, my virus symptoms were virtually gone! I now regularly turn to the basic movements described in this book for self-healing. I strongly recommend this book to everyone interested in Tai Chi and chi healing.

I have studied Tai Chi with John Kotsias for the past four years. John is a knowledgeable and principled teacher and martial artist. I have read this book on Tai-Chi Chi Kung several times in the course of my studies and find it more informative each time. John's personal experiences in his Tai-Chi education are enlightening and entertaining. His descriptions of the movements are detailed and include foot and waist diagrams for clarity. The moves are not simple and will be learned only after repeated practice and study, but I have found them to be most useful in my personal attempts to integrate mind, body and spirit. I have sent copies of this book to many members of my family and friends. I enjoyed it thoroughly and have been blessed by my opportunity to study this fascinating discipline with John Kotsias.

The crisp, clean diagrams makes it the clearest exposition on the essential movements of T'ai Chi that I am familiar with. This book is the next best alternative to direct instruction. However, I would wish the author were more accepting of other T'ai Chi schools and instructors

The title of this book is extremely misleading.
Rather than offer guidance or insight on any aspects of Taiji forms, it provides instruction in an 8-step Qigong form the author likes. This Qigong form has merit - the first two postures (Wuji or Emptiness or Standing Mountain, and Zhan Zhuang or Standing Post) are staple movements practiced by every Taiji instructor I've met. But the form is no better at offering "essential movements" than other Qigong forms and not as good as some.
My other problem with this book is that it's too long for what it contains. The line drawings are very good - but their overlarge size and needless repetition make the book significantly longer than it needed to be.
If you're looking for insight into the fundamentals of Taiji postures, I suggest you take a look at any of the three books by John Loupos - Inside Tai Chi, Exploring Tai Chi, Tai Chi Connections - or Yang Jwing-Ming's book Tai Chi Theory and Martial Power.
If you're looking for Qigong theory and practice, I suggest you take a look at Lam Kam Chuen's book The Way of Healing or Wen-Mei Yu's book Liangong.
In my opinion, all these are better than Kotsias's effort here.

I learned this form as taught by Professor Huo Chi Kwang, who was also one of the authors teachers. This book is great to remind me of details of the movements and the order of them! I do not believe you could learn the form from the book, unless you have studied Yang or Lao Yang Tai Chi already. There are subtle changes involved that a book can not quite show. If you know Chi Kung or Yang style Tai Chi, then you will know the subtle changes already and could benefit. For a book on Chi Kung, this is one of the best.

If you're a new ager looking for an oxygen-high self-delusion, you'll eat this book up. If you know or want to know anything real about Taijiquan as a Chinese Internal Martial Art - be for for Curiosity, Health, Self-Defense, Martial Arts, or any set of motivations, then don't spend a penny on this text. Even what little information in here appears to be drawn from legitimate sources (not actually cited or referenced in a number of cases), is so homogenized as to lead you nowhere useful. As more than once said by masters and grandmasters, past and present, 'There is qigong in taijiquan; there is no taijiquan in qigong.' This book makes the classic new-ager's mistake of trying to imply one is the other and thereby exposes the authors' ignorance right from the start.