Customer Reviews

Old Frame Chen Family Taijiquan

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is truly outstanding. It is much more than a superb Tai Chi guide, although it is that as well; deep principles are revealed in a straight-forward (i.e., non-jargon, unesoteric language) manner. Mark Chen (I see no translator credit) is an admirable writer. His english is excellent, which extends to a witty, dry sense of humor. Dialog is crisp and precise.

I am not a Tai Chi expert so cannot comment on the technical merits of the book. Being a non-authority, however, did not prevent me from having many "ah hah!" moments whilst reading the text. After many years of practice, under more than a few teachers and styles, Mark Chen answered questions which had plagued me --- and left unaswered until now --- throughout my martial arts lifetime. A single insight would have justified the cost of the book, and there have been many (for myself).

This book is certain to irritate some readers because Mark Chen attacks some "sacred cows". For example, any mention of Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do will inevitably invite criticism from Bruce's many supporters. Mark's definitions of martial art vs sport will aggravate an even larger audience.

If I could offer any criticism it would be a desire to have more detail in some of the sections. But, I suspect that may have defeated the intent of the author. In any case, the book is a classic as it is.

To compare Mark Chen's writing to another author might be instructive. Although I have the greatest respect for author Yang Jwing-Ming, I find his books a perplexing admixture of esoteric, technical and spiritual themes. The material is present but much harder (for me), than Mark Chen, to get to and assimilate the material.

In summary, in my opinion, a valuable contribution to the martial arts literature for all practitioners.

Wow! I was really surprised when I read this book. The broad offerings and nice details offered by this terrific book were unexpected.

Mark Chen's strikingly comprehensive Chen Taiji manual offers quality photos with direction arrows, a nice breakdown of push hands training, solid attempts at explaining the basics - including 'Fajing' and "Issuing", very interesting commentary on weapons training, and offers a very nice sample of applications that manage to capture the unique neutralization and joint locking skills of which Chen Taiji is famed.

And as a long-time practitoner and researcher on Chen Taiji, I really appreciated his sourcing, excellent endnotes, and beautifully distilled statements that really capture what Chen Taiji is about. He accomplishes this in a way that is both 'traditional' in tone, yet highly practical in explanation.

He makes interesting assertions, most of which I agree with, a few I don't. But the overall statement he makes throughout the book will be quite revealing for those new to Chen Taiji and for adherents of any Taijiquan style looking to deepen their appreciation and understanding of this martial art. This work is a quality contribution to Chen Taiji literature in English.

Although this book deals with Chen,QingZhou's version of the Lao Jia YiLu I must say that it is indeed a well written account of the basics of TaiJi.
This is not to say that he is not an advanced practitioner of Chen's TaiJiQuan. Au contraire! I have heard many fine things about Mr.Chen's (Mark's)skills as well as his teaching abilities.
Having attended two of Grandmaster Chen,QingZhou's seminars to study the TaiJi Ball and TaiJi Bang (pronounced,"Bong"),as well as having "felt" his skills in "touching hands" with him and having several of his videos, I've eagerly awaited the release of a book detailing the performance of his routine.
I especially like the way he explains the reason why some of the postures are done differently than some of the other Chen masters; also in defining the energy of "Kao". Practitioners of Chen Style know that Kao actually means "leaning", or "bumping" and can be done with any part of the body and is not limited to just a "shoulder strike" as some other styles of TaiJiQuan are wont to do. He also provides some excellent examples of several Chin Na techniques from the pushing hands.
His approach is simple and direct. Especially when it comes to "telling it like it is", when it comes to the truth about gaining proficiency in TaiJi, and anything else you want to be good at. All it takes is alot of sweat and hard work. I thought that the first 39 pages alone were worth the "price of admission".
And remember, although there are many photos and instructions to help one learn this particular style of Chen's TJQ, this is still no substitute for a good teacher.
Many kudos to you, Mark Chen for providing us with an excellent opus. I hope that someday you can produce a book on the TaiJi Iron Ball.

This book is a godsend to those wishing to study Chen style Tai Chi.

It should be couple with Chen Style Taijiquan, Sword and Broadsword, by Chen Zhenglei (which really deals with the basic forms more than sword and broadsword) ISBN 7-5348-2321-8

Between the two of them, you have everything you need to enjoy and understand Chen Style.

Please note that Chen Style is the more martial, older form of Tai Chi.

As I have only ever so slightly dabbled in Taijiquan, I will keep the comments (or rather, compliments) on the skill in the book to a minimum.

Anyway, the set up of this book is great. It is clearly written, extremely insightfut, honest, and even at times blunt. The illustration of the form is great. As a treat there is a small section showing some applications as well as exercises. My only complaint here is that I wished they would have had some more, which showed a more variety of the qin na (seizing and manipulation techniques) and wrestling techniques that Taiji is so deceptively adept at. This isn't enough for me to rob this book of its much deserved five stars, however.

The book also outlines the other forms in Taiji, which is nice. The explantion of the seemingly ineffable and highly advanced methods of sensitivity and internal movement was surprisingly good. All in all, great stuff! This is real Taiji, guys; a combat system. Not that pseudo hippie stuff misguided Americans always practice slowly at parks in big cities.

This will be a sobering slap in the face for all the new age wishful thinking chi-power hippie types. This book is a down-to-earth overview of the old Chen form (Lao Jia, same one that was taught by Chen Changxing to Yang LuChan, founder of Yang Taijiquan.)

At times Chen can sound cynical and critical, but I find this viewpoint to be very refreshing in the face of the current trend of new agery b.s. and martial arts fraud. He covers the history of Taiji Quan with a very realistic attitude, debunking various myths and wishful thinking (Cheng San Feng, etc., very much in line with the writings of Douglas Wile) which is what draws me to his style of writing.

His teaching approach is in some ways like William C. Chen, where he talks about the biomechanics of the human body, rather than obscure esoteric topics. He de-mystifies things, explaining them in a clear-cut language using laymen's terminology, making the content easy to grasp.

The old form itself is demonstrated very well. Directional arrows help understand the transition between the movements, and the text explanations clarify anything in between.

All in all, one of the best books on old Chen style available.

This book is extraordinarily good. It provides a detailed description of the first Old Frame Chen style form (which would illuminate a good authentic DVD form display) and some very good discussion on body dynamics. But possibly the most useful feature is the manner in which it gives you a concrete idea of the point of Taiji and some of its fundamentals. It's a really good way for someone who has practiced a little (perhaps a few years) to start to develop their own feel for the essence of Taiji dynamics. I also liked that the author didn't mince words about the requirements for advancement - eg. if you're not hurting you're not doing it right (in the beginning). And his contempt for new-age drivel is a relief.

Any one of numerous practical tips would be worth the cost of the book. In my case, a special hat tip for the "moving the dan tien toward the tail bone while rooting a rear leg" advice. Damned if it doesn't work great.

I got more out of this book than any other I've read on Taijiquan. A very generous and sincere author.

Overall a good solid book but the advertisement led me to believe that the sword forms were included( the reason I ordered)and they were not. Just a list of technique names and no graphics to support understanding them. I was disappointed right away but after reading the book on the whole, I considered it a fair exchange for the information included vs. the cost of the book.

I will be more careful to read the description and ask questions in the future. I could have complained and returned it (the add was deceptive)but I figure everything happens for a reason so I will just roll with it.

This book is very well written, detailed and concise in an easy to read and follow format. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a deeper insight into the parent style of the five orthodox families of Taijiquan.

I had 2 old frame chen style DVDs, and this book is way different from the movements I see in those DVDs.
But it has a realistic approach to tai-chi and it's worth it's price.