Customer Reviews

T'ai Chi Classics

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this book valuable, but not outstanding. Waysun Liao is not personally known to me, but according to the sources in this book, he is an avid believer in Cheng Man Ching's perspective on Tai Chi. I am in no position to critique one perspective or another, but my take on this book was that it was tinted significantly by Master Cheng's perspective. That being said, I have not avidly studied Master Cheng (although I intend to read some of his/students' work), but there was a consistent underlying bias towards one way of looking that I wasn't convinced was originally intended by the "classics"authors. I'll try to explain what I mean in the paragraphs below.

The first section is an abridged history of Tai Chi. The next two chapters are on ch'i and jing, respecively. These two chapters are nice. They are Master Liao's (the author)insights into the concepts of ch'i and jing. He provides some nice descriptions and definitions of what he feels these terms mean, as well as medititative approaches to trying to develop ch'i and jing. As with the majority of books I've read, these definitions are things like "life energy", "internal energy" and "intrinsic energy"-- and the outcome after practicing his meditative technique is that you should soon "feel your ch'i".

Liao attempts to be more precise and detailed then that, but ultimately, as with many things, the reader is still reduced to "life energy" as the basis of all things. His descriptions include many analogical/symbolic diagrams that are sometimes helpful, but for me, mostly added nothing-- in fact, when he attempts to use real-life analogies, it's clear that his understanding of Newtonian physics is inadequate to truly use these types of examples to try and explain what he means. Ultimately, ch'i as the "energy of the universe" and "immune to the laws of time and space" is inadequate to the subject.

OTOH, his treatise on jing is interesting and informative, although still relies to heavily on his abstract definition of ch'i. Utilizing a hammer and nail analogy left me shaking my head in dismay. Liao does not always correlate his text with his hand-written diagrams. I did like his explanation of shoong, or relaxation.

His perspective pervades his Tai Chi Classics translation. The nice thing is that he translates the Classics for us non-fluent (in Chinese) readers. He then adds his own commentary, and it is heavily flavored with comments on ch'i etc. as he defines it--often where I felt the original translation wasn't referring to ch'i at all, but to other things. Sometimes his commentary is just saying it again in a slightly different way, IMO sometimes distorting the "original" meaning.

As with all things of this nature, there will be many perspectives. And it only takes one to really make a difference in specific individuals. I feel that Master Liao has given his best effort, with good intent, and that this is how HE truly understands these esoteric concepts. For that, this is a valuable book, and I think it provides a number of insights. I felt like I understood better what ch'i and jing and all that is when Masters use the terms, although I'm still not certain, just based on this book, what it actually is.

All in all, this book has and will improve my Tai Chi, and I think it brought me a step closer. But I wish there could be someone (check out Peter Ralston's early works) that could approach things on a more grand, open perspective, and gradually wheedle it down to the specifics, explaing how/why process-wise, it evolved. I didn't feel I got the BASIS for Master Liao's perspective that I think I needed to truly appreciate his effort.

Thanks for listening.

Waysun Liao's knowledge seems to be genuine. He has some valuable insights and ideas.

The chapters on the background and history of taiji are somewhat misleading. The author vastly oversimplifies the history of Chinese philosophy and collectively calls Taoist, Confucian, Moist, and Buddhist philosophies "Tai Chi ideals." The section on taiji's martial history takes much the same approach. The author never mentions Chen village and offers only a vague interpretation of taijiquan's history.

The most valuable portions of this book are the chapters on qi cultivation and the classics. The final sections offer translations and interpretations of three taiji classics, but to my disappointment the author offered no historical background or context for these classics -- not even a few sentences indicating who the authors were or what their role in taiji history was.

While this is a great translation of the classics, and has a good history and perspective on Taichi, the jump into cultivating and applying Jing is fairly advanced. I recommend reading his new book "Chi-How to Feel Your Life Energy" first, and then Taichi Classics...whether you are a beginner or advanced practitioner. Why? Because in it, he gives a thorough overview of Chi, where it comes from, how Taichi helps strengthen and purify life energy, and why this is important for health and spiritual development, and also discusses applications of Chi -- such as martial arts and healing-- . These fundamental yet profound concepts will give you a better feel for the internal art perspective Liao is coming from. His newer books, even Nine Nights With a Taoist Master, are available here now, so you don't have to go through insiders or other websites to get them. Just do a search on this site.

SIMPLY, ONE OF THE 3 BEST BOOKS ON ORIGINAL TAI CHI AND INTERNAL POWER I'VE EVER FOUND.

(The other 2 best books are Master Liao's recent works which just became widely available in '05. For example, his "Nine Nights with a Taoist Master--DSE" was life-transforming and practice-transforming. But reading this "Tai Chi Classics" essentially set the stage for me .)

Tai Chi Classics gives one the definitions and conceptual understanding needed to grasp the energy dynamics of Tai Chi. (The acutal Tai Chi forms are best learned person-to-person in classes from a qualified teacher or second-best via a video.) It covers the roots of Tai Chi in Taoist wisdom, the actions of the Yin and Yang powers, and the processes for developing one's Chi, refining it into Jing, and applying it in various ways, such as transfer power.

The core of the book is perhaps the best part. In addition to providing English translations of the three classic texts of Tai Chi, it offers insightful commentary on each passage---written by one who has practiced & experienced these things (as opposed to, say, commentary by a linguistic scholar who has never practiced Tai Chi). Highly Recommended.

After a brief consideration of the history and origins of tai chi, the author proceeds to explicate the most important principles of tai chi through a presentation of the three most important tai chi classics, along with modern commentary written by the author. I found his elaborations on the more condensed and sometimes cryptic sentences and paragraphs in the original classics very helpful, and in fact, most of the text in these chapters is actually his, not the classics themselves. The chapter on jin theory and its many types and their nature and applications was also excellent.

Ultimately, no book on tai chi can really capture its full essence and complexity but this book I thought did a good job of trying to explain it in understandable terms. The author's explanations and claims about the physics weren't always correct, and one has to take with a grain of salt the idea that ch'i can travel faster than light, but then I don't expect tai chi instructors to be that knowledgeable on western physics. It's just the way it is. (As I am a western trained scientist I can figure that part out for myself). But the author's treatment of the other aspects of tai chi was much better in my humble opinion and I enjoyed the book for that.

In my view, this books stands as a work of art for the Chinese martial arts practitioner. The author's clear concise and unambiguous exploration and explanation of Tai Chi Chuan serves as a must have reference book. Few books contain so much straightforward information on martial art skill, physics, and history of Tai Chi as this one source. As a Tai Chi practitioner I highly recommend this book to people who are just starting out in Tai Chi and those who have studied the art for years

This book contains very important notes on internal work.
For me, they cover some "blind spots" wich I can not find in
numerous other Tai Chi sources.
It is one of the best Tai Chi books!!!

Being a student of Shaolin Tai Chi for several years and having read several books on the subject I found Tai Chi Classics to be one of my favorites. Liao explains some of the concepts covered in fee other books. This book may be a little too advanced for the novice, but is an excellent reference for those already familiar with Tai Chi concepts.

I highly recommend this book.

The secret of internal martial arts is how to develop fa-chin or discharging force. This book reveals that secret.

Most TaiChi books tell you what are the moves and how to do them correctly. But that isn't real TaiChi. Unless you harness the internal power, your movements are going to be empty.

Master Liao provides the link that can tremendously advance one's practice in the internal martial arts through his revelation of secret training methods.

As a former student of the style Master Liao teaches, I have appreciated what has been put into words here. The true internal meditations are described, perhaps for the first time. This is why it is called "Classics". Also contained are the ancient classics by several masters.A detailed step-by-step of the Temple Style is also included,along with descriptions of the various advanced meditations. This is a must read for all serious students! Although it is a teaching guide to be used in conjunction with formal instruction, I believe anyone interested in the art will gain new insights into this wonderful and complicated art.