Customer Reviews

The Power of Internal Martial Arts and Chi: Combat and Energy Secrets of Ba Gua, Tai Chi and Hsing-I

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I really liked reading "The Power of Internal Martial Arts". While I am surely no martial artist, I meditate and practise Qigong/Neigong according to what Bruce Frantzis teaches.

I found this book to be full of entertaining background about this exceptional teacher, about the people he encountered in China, Japan and Taiwan that taught him. About what really makes a master - be it in fighting, self control or Qi development. The accounts about the masters Bruce was able to observe or to learn from were fascinating. Also the descriptions about the different martial arts he learned, practised and whose practitioners he encountered.

Also interesting was material about his own learning, how he cultivated himself through standing and so on.

I found the accounts about Taiji as a fighting martial art interesting, even while practising Taiji only for relaxation purposes myself.

This book is both a good overview (not an instruction manual) of many martial arts out there, provides detail about the three major internal martial arts of China (Hsing-I Quan, Bagua Chang, Taiji Quan) and is also worth a read by anyone who has an interest in Bruce Frantzis from his other teachings.

This book was very inspirational when I first read it about 7 years ago. The added chapter and info in the new edition makes it just that much better. Frantzis has one of the deepest wells of knowledge of any practitioner I've ever come across. More importantly, he can communicate what he knows clearly. This book is not a how to manual, but is an eye opening big picture view of the internal martial arts, what they are capable of, and how they get there. Perhaps most importantly, the sections on animal, human, and spiritual martial arts give relevance beyond just physically crushing an opponent, and adds a since of WHY these arts can be such a powerful tool to the refinement of the entire individual.

This is an amazing book in my opinion and it goes into great detail about every aspect of the 3 main Internal Martial Arts of China.
Everyone with an interest in studying Tai Chi should read this book!
My review is based on an earlier version of the book which I purchased a few years ago.

I have been studying Yang Style Tai Chi for 6 years now in Northern Ireland and more recently, Wu Style Broadsword and I have found that good teachers are few and far between.
I have very been lucky to find 2 good teachers!

I have 5 of Bruce's books now, a video and some DVD's ~ I refer to them on a regular basis for tips, but mainly for inspiration, when the circumstances of life prevent me from practicing as regularly as I would like.
The book that this review is concerning is excellent in that respect ~ it demonstrates the immense possibilities of what one can achieve by training their own body and mind & this process ultimately gives one access to their spirit and to their higher spiritual qualities.

All of Bruce's work is so multi-faceted ~ you will get what you need depending on your level of experience and understanding ~ this is something that you feel after a lot of practice, rather than a mere intellectual understanding ~ next time you read, you will pick up something new and so on and so forth.

Just like regular practice of a form ~ if you are really focusing on what you are doing, you pick up on very subtle qualities each time you practice and that information can be used to improve your form & help you reach higher levels of perfection.

This book has developed in me, an interest in studying Ba Gua Chang, which I hope to get into in a few years time, after I perfect my current Tai Chi and Broadsword forms.

When I read Bruce's books, I feel myself "like a small baby" (in the words of the immortal T.T.Laing)
The amount of knowledge contained in this and his other books is phenomenal!!!

My advice? ... BUY IT ... it will become one of your best friends on your life-long journey of discovering your true potential.

Bruce Frantzis is the Picasso of the internal martial arts world. I have been involved with martial, healing and meditation arts for over 40 years. I have met and interacted with many famous teachers from around the planet and not one of them has the depth of understanding and teaching ability of the arts that Frantzis brings to the world. The writing in this book will add to any martial artist's mind and spirit the possibilities of following the warrior's path. Master Frantzis has written an enlightening, eye-opening guide to what must be sought in anyone's practice.
Lee Burkins
Colorado Internal Arts

If you are looking at this book as a self help guide to learn internal/external or any type of martial arts/Qi-gong for that matter, save your money and look somewhere else. The book simply is a guide to make one aware of what the pros and cons are of actually practicing internal/external martial arts/Qi-gong. About every seven pages or so the author tells you to seek a qualified instructor/master if you really want to learn internal/external martial arts/Qi-gong. He even recommends that you seek the expertise of a master to learn the "standing still" techniques. There are no health and healing tips in this book either,(which was my reason for buying the book). Nevertheless their are a lot of very interesting stories about the author's learning and training experiences though.

this book was great for beginners or should be read by people interested in learning the internal arts. All people who begin learning an internal art have questions.This is a very deep subject and at times difficult to understand,Mr. Frantzis answers so many of these questions.when you begin your journey this book will be a good refence also. GLENN LITZAU

This book is not quite what I expected. I agree there was very detailed information related to these three internal marital arts, but without diagram or pictures or other familiarity with the styles it was very hard to follow. The information of the masters and the various styles were interesting and allowed me more overall knowledge related to the martial arts and its history. I was not a big fan of Frantzis' style of writing. Most of the time he was more about trying to show off who he knew, studied with, and his own personal judgment of the various martial arts. I found him somewhat egotistical, which is supposed to be a trait a true martial artist strives not to be. I rated this two stars only for the general information and history of these internal arts and I have not read another book that contained this information to date. Most of his information on healing arts and spirituality of martial arts is (in my opinion) a blush of the subject and not depth and way too dramatic in his presentation of the material. If I find another book that has the history detail, I'd down grade this to only one star.

A well presented book that outlines a breathing technique that is simple but extremely effective. I purchased this book after having purchased and read Opening the Energy Gates of Your Body. I have practiced TM meditation for 33 years and Tai Chi for 15 years. Bruce offers a new and freshing approach to these valuable techniques for self development.

As a meditator and Urantia Book reader who has been interested since some time ago in the development of 12 senses as suggested in:

"The average special physical-sense endowment of human beings is twelve, though the special senses of the three-brained mortals are extended slightly beyond those of the one- and two-brained types; they can see and hear considerably more than the Urantia races." The Urantia Book[49:4.3]

It was a real surprise for me to find in this most profound book by Bruce Frantzis that:

"In Eastern thought, humans have two different kinds of senses -external and internal...However, most people are unware of the more subtle capacities of their correspondent internal or psychic sense, those that enable them to access and use chi's most subtle qualities"pag319

In fact before reading this excellent book I already had envisioned these 10 senses, I had called the Cosmic sense, and additionally I had already envisioned the "spiritual essence of the Who I Am", as a sense, the sense of the Being... and that sense that permitted Ancient Taoists envisioned unity in duality, represented in their yin-yang symbol, the dialogic sense, making them the 12 senses described in UB.

Another thing that has liked me the most in this book is the use of synergy instead of entropy in manipulating the inner energy, something that explains why in the West there is a great need of a paradigm schift that include not only the outer senses, but also the inner senses to make a better approach to Eastern Inner science.

I highly recommend this book!!!

This amazing book not only explains and examines the three major internal martial arts of China but tells of the authors tale through out the Orient. It describes how the power developed by these arts can not only be used for self-defense but health and meditation. Just as interesting as the information on martial arts is the adventures of the writer. It tells of instructors and experiences which will blow your mind! ENJOY!