Customer Reviews

T'ai Chi as a Path of Wisdom

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I've been studying T'ai Chi for about 2 years and every book I buy attempts to teach me the complex movements of the form through simple line drawings or cruddy old photos. This book leaves the form for your instructor. What it does very well is give you insight into the author's path of learning tai chi. I was definitely inspired by her story to make the time to pracitce and stick with it. If you're looking for something more motivational than "left hand brushes across the left knee" then this is the book for you.

I have tried many different T'ai Chi classes before finding my way to Yi Chuan, which could be described as a modernized free-form internal martial art from China. Nothing can substitue for a great teacher or studying wiht a living master of any art or sport. But, this book has been very inspirational for me. So many teachers, books and classes in the U.S. focus on teaching the T'ai Chi forms when it is the internal path that seperates T'ai Chi, Yi Chuan, Hsing Yi Chuan, Ba Gua from Karate and many Kungfu styles. Some key topics: the importance of standing mediation techniques to build strength in the legs (and body) and mental calmness in the mind; facing the challenge of maintaining a daily practice on your own; boredom as one of the mind's tricks for distracting you from putting out just a bit more effort to keep going, and much more. These are topics I haven't seen touched on in any book, let alone discussed by teachers. A valuable book for anyone studying a individual sport or martial art.

As the title reads, this book is about being the practice of tai ji, not just doing it. The movements are supposed flow and you feel your weight shift from left foot to right foot and front foot to back foot, etc. as one movement, concentrating your attention on the process. In one chapter she describes the intention of flowing movements well when discussing the series of movements known as "fair lady works the shuttle". She illustrates it by comparing the movements and your weight flow to the forward and backward ebb of waves. I liked that description.

This is a lovely set of essays about the sense of peace gained by going inside oneself through "moving meditation." Since I am a practitioner of tai chi, I found it enlightening. None of my teachers ever talks about the many fascinating things that the author has discovered in her many years devoted to the art. I was particularly interested in how she learned to be "grounded" in a way that pleased an old Chinese master. Many teacher speak of grounding and feeling the chi, but very few provide much of a tactile demonstration.

I didn't get much from the discussions of Zen meditation because I don't practice that art, but the sections on chi gong, which is closely related to tai chi, were fascinating.

I only wish she had gone further and discussed how closely tai chi, chi gong and many of the eastern arts are related to yoga. Yoga has become such a craze in this country. If people only knew they could get the same benefits--and maybe more--from the Chinese arts, there would be so many more options available to people for health and spiritual practice.

I read this book as a recommendation from my tai chi guide as I was learning to guide others. Each chapter offers a special insight with personal reflections on the tai chi form and practice as well as meditation. I would pass on the recommendation to anyone going deeper into tai chi practice.

I was doing tai chi when I read this book, but I think a person would find wisdom in it whether they do tai chi or not. It is not a how-to book. Instead the author describes her experiences with tai chi and the lessons she learned from them, or from her students. As she says, they are lessons that could be learned from anything done with mindfulness. I was studying a different form of tai chi than that in the book, but I was able to apply the lessons to my own work and life. Once I lived for a while in a city where, by random good luck, I took tai chi in a class using the same form as she uses. I read the book again, and it made what I was doing that much deeper and better. But I had already read the book more than once, and it's one I always keep with me for re-reading.

I have bought countless t'ai chi books, but this is one of the best and most important books in my collection because it provides links among the physical, psychological and philosophical elements of t'ai chi. It gives t'ai chi practitioners much food for thought and opens up paths to achieving a higher level of t'ai chi. Through anecdotes, visualization exercises, observations and discussion of form Dr Lehrhaupt creates a mindful path between body and mind.