Flowing the Tai Chi Way [Paperback]

MD Peter Uhlmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 18, 2005

"A voyage of discovery by a tai chi master and his student" The author describes his relationship to tai chi, a Chinese martial art and especially his studies with Master Henry Wang a tai chi master from Taiwan now living in Canada. The book is of interest to all martial artists, tai chi students, and those interested in Chinese culture. It is also a revealing autobiography by a psychiatrist who learns he suffers from cancer and his spiritual search in tai chi.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter Uhlmann, MD is a psychiatrist now on disability due to cancer. He studies and teaches tai chi which has occupied him for almost 30 years. He is married for 36 years with three children. Born in Chicago in 1940, he moved to British Columbia in 1969. He practiced psychiatry for 20 years in Powell River, and holds a clinical teaching position at the University of BC. He has published numerous articles on psychiatry and tai chi, Flowing the Tai Chi Way is his first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: China Books & Periodicals, Incorporated (February 18, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0835126366
• ISBN-13: 978-0835126366
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,361,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a very personal view of a teacher-student relationship, October 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Flowing the Tai Chi Way (Paperback)

Peter Uhlmann is a long-time student of Taiji teacher Henry Wang, presently based in Comox B.C., but originally hailing from Taipei. He met Master Wang while living in Taipei and from him learned the short Yang form, as developed and transmitted by Grandmaster Cheng Man-Ching. The heart of the book consists of an exploration of Master Wang's analysis of Taiji's basic principles, as well as an often very amusing account of the culture-collision which occurred when he immigrated to Canada from Taipei. Peter Uhlmann's "Flowing the Tai Chi Way" is an amusing and informative book. It is also unusual in that it is just as much about a student's relationship with a teacher, as it is about Taiji principles. Rarely has this reader seen a work on Taiji as relentlessly personal as this. As he writes, "Meeting Henry in 1982 was like getting married to Tai Chi. My commitment to Tai Chi and to him is almost like a marital bond."

Certainly, his marital bonds must have occasionally been tested by his commitment to his master. Unflinchingly, Uhlman describes the matter-of-fact misogynism of a culture where, after a full meal, the women would be expected to clear up and wash dishes while the men tended to the important business of sitting around and discussing Taiji! He also recounts his misgivings on realizing that his master was quite serious in responding affirmatively to Uhlmann's suggestion that he might someday consider emigrating from Taiwan to Canada. Uhlmann knew that, within the conventions of "Wu De", he had assumed a major obligation and that he would be called upon to act as sponsor and guarantor of his teacher, in helping him acclimatize to a new country and culture. The details of this relationship, depicted with restraint and great good humour, make for excellent reading.

As depicted, Henry Wang's system regards Taiji as being defined by seven fundamental principles: Centre (central equilibrium or "Zhong Ding" and rooting), Balance (50-50 or 0-100, as opposed to the conventional 70-30), Proportion (linkage between the appropriate joints, whether on the upper-lower body-axis, or between one side and the other), Circle (roundness, rotational integrity and "Peng"), Co-ordination (whole body and body to mind), Concentration (focus and intent) and Relaxation ("Soong"). His understanding thus falls well within traditional parameters and will seem very familiar to most. As further illustration of this classical orientation, he describes the student's development according to the "three jewels" of internal alchemy. Thus the beginner is at the "Jin" level, concerned with mastering the elements of form; the intermediate is at the "Chi" level, developing more internal elements; the advanced student is at the "Shen" level, raising the practice to a more spiritual and less physically obvious plane.

A possibly more controversial area is in Henry Wang's approach to "pushing hands". Although a graduate of the brutal Taipei push-hands scene and a successful championship contender, Wang has apparently re-defined this aspect of the art into what he terms "Searching Centre"; students are not allowed to use any overt force whatsoever. Emphasis is placed on qi, rather than kinesiological structure, and a premium is placed on sensitivity and softness. Well and good; many of us are quite skeptical of the smash-jerk-and-grab we see at most Taiji competitions. However Peter Uhlmann depicts Henry Wang's theories as being ignored and rejected by the organizers of a Taiji tournament in Vancouver where he demonstrated them in 1995. As his students won some medals at the event in question, I'd like to know more about this, as nothing usually creates respect like success. It would be interesting to have some input from one of the tournament organizers in regard to this incident.

Another reason for occasional caution is that, while amusing, informative and fascinating, Peter Uhlmann's depiction of Master Henry Wang often borders on the hagiographic. With great honesty he discloses a potential cause for the intimate emotional intensity of his account, by revealing his personal struggle with cancer (thankfully in remission). Clearly Henry Wang is his Guru (something which I do not believe Peter Uhlmann would dispute). The emotional support which he has clearly been afforded by this teacher and by the art of Taiji, placed within the context of a life-threatening illness, cannot be estimated. While the quality of this relationship may be somewhat off-putting to some, this reader found it to be the most interesting aspect of the book. Few of us today are party to this kind of bond.

"Flowing the Tai Chi Way" is a personal account, not a prescriptive text. With that borne in mind, it should be a welcome addition to many personal libraries.

Reviewed for "Tongren", the newsletter of the Canadian Taijiquan Federation. P.O. Box 421, Milton, Ontario, CANADA, L9T 4Z1. Steve Higgins, Oct. 31st., 1999.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a gem!, May 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Flowing the Tai Chi Way (Paperback)

Flowing the Tai Chi Way, China Books & Periodicals, San Francisco, 1998 by Peter Uhlmann, MD

This small book is a gem. Its author, a psychiatrist and cancer survivor, has studied Tai Chi for more than 25 years, including a 15 year relationship with a Tai Chi master. In the Forward, Dr. Uhlmann acknowledges that this is not a "how to" book and that he is an `unknown' on the Tai Chi stage. Yet with these disclaimers, he has successfully explained Tai Chi as both a life-long learning process and a tool for spiritual awakening. His personal journey is fascinating and full of insights.

Dr. Uhlmann's story begins in New York City in 1968 when he and his wife Ronnie first observed "push hands." What follows are: study with Master Raymond Chung in Vancouver in the early 1970s; travel to China in 1978 and learning Mandarin; renewed study in Taiwan from 1982-1983 and the beginning of his relationship with Master Henry Wang; the latter's biography and immigration to Powell River, BC in 1986 and 1987; the author's ever-evolving relationship with his master; further trips to China and Taiwan and a deepening appreciation of Chinese culture; Master Wang's seven principles and their application to everyday life; the challenges of balancing one's work and family responsibilities with the daily practice and discipline of Tai Chi; attaining softness, eschewing competition, and letting go; the benefits of teaching Tai Chi; being diagnosed with lymphoma and its impact; further letting go and enhanced spiritual progress.

But this book is much more than this roadmap. It is a story of love. It is a story of one family's belief in and sponsorship of another family to Canada. It is a story of one man, the son of German Jews who fled the Holocaust and a man who grew up with "sadness and separateness", meeting another man who becomes his Tai Chi master and friend. Theirs is a relationship of strength, reverence, humility, and grace. And ultimately it is a story of a good man, a physician and psychiatrist for 30 years, who not only begins to find personal peace but lets go and gives back to his family, his friends, his students, and his readers. There are important lessons here for all of us.

This book is for and beyond students of Tai Chi. It is a book for all who are curious about life's vicissitudes and the quests of humankind. Therapists will love it and so will their clients and patients. It is easy to read, handsome in appearance, beautifully illustrated with photographs and calligraphy, and reasonably priced. Master Wang's poems (from which the title is born) open and close the book. They are simple, rich, and touch the heart. And the book's cover with a photograph of Master Wang and Dr. Uhlmann illustrating the power of chi is a knockout!

Michael Myers, MD

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, January 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Flowing the Tai Chi Way (Paperback)

Dr. Uhlmann's relationship with Master Wang is beautifully laid out...Master Wang is one who should be treasured as Uhlmann surely does. Most importantly, Peter shares the seven priciples of T'ai Chi as laid out by his Master. Having met and been instructed by both men in these principles, and attempting to integrate them into the T'ai Chi I have learned has been the break through and revalation I have been searching for. These principles practiced do result in the four ounce trigger. Words are really inadequate to describe the outcome of practice according to Master Wang's teaching.