Taijiquan: Through the Western Gate [Paperback]

Rick Barrett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 26, 2006

Written specifically for the Western practitioner, Taijiquan: Through the Western Gate blends modern science and philosophy with the traditional wisdoms—drawn from classic t'ai chi literature—that underlie Chinese martial arts. Author Rick Barrett authoritatively describes a wide range of movements, practices, and positions in the context of such topics as being in the zone, effortless power and force versus power, the whole-body energetic connection, instant meditation, and energetic coherence. Step-by-step exercises help make this sometimes daunting discipline simple and accessible.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rick Barrett is a senior tai chi student of Grandmaster William C. C. Chen. He also studied Chen style tai chi and Xingyiquan with Master Yang Fukui. As a push-hands competitor, Rick dominated his weight division for several years, and he was middleweight national champion in 1996, 1997, and 1998. Since retiring from tournament competition, Barrett has been active as a forms judge and push-hands referee. He also teaches workshops around the country and has written a number of articles on tai chi, push hands, and tournaments for "Inside Kung Fu" and "Tai Chi Magazine."

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Blue Snake Books (January 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583941398
• ISBN-13: 978-1583941393
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #430,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's Still About Faith, November 14, 2006

By 

V. K. Lin (Eugene, OR United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taijiquan: Through the Western Gate (Paperback)

First and foremost, I want to applaud Sifu Barrett for his effort. We need more books like this one, where experienced internal martial artists do their best to convey what worked for them, what insights helped them attain higher levels of skill. Sometimes, that's all we can do, and the effort sure is appreciated.

Overall I liked Sifu Barrett's insights and approach, and there are some exercises in them that I was unfamiliar with that I will try and hope to gain more insight from. However, from a thesis-critique standpoint, there are serious flaws in Sifu Barrett's arguments.

The good: Sifu Barrett I think tries his honest best to convey his understanding of internal martial arts and associated phenomena. He deals with the principles of structure, softness, qi/energy and tries to give us a paradigm about how to think about it. Barrett does a very nice job of taking real world scientific examples as parallels and using them as analogies for how to better understand the more esoteric concepts associated with Tai Chi. He also references a number of interesting but relatively unknown scientific theories to support his own perception of qi energy etc.. He gives specific exercises, clearly described, with adequate supporting photos, to help cultivate awareness, qi, and softness. Particularly for beginners, this is a superb way to "get a grip" on some of the concepts. A nice way for Western minds to have a starting point when tackling these "mystical" Eastern concepts.

The bad: Sifu Barrett's book begins with the hypothesis that since the scientific method cannot completely explain some of the phenomena associated with Tai Chi, that therefore something else must be going on. He proposes terms such as "energy coherence" and "tensegrity" and effectively explains their foundations to describe these phenomena. So far, so good. Problem is, the linchpin of his hypothesis are examples wherein an untrained partner is able to dramatically improve his/her ability to withstand force by pointing his finger, or reverse scenarios. According to Barrett, these acts cannot be explained by Newtonian physics, and therefore he proposes the utilization of his terms to try and convince us that what is happening is about an energy field and/or conduction of energy along soft tissues rather than nerves. My concern is that I *can* explain his initial examples using a combination of muscle kinesiology and Newtonian physics. There is no mysticism in his initial examples. Most experienced Tai Chi practioners with scientific or engineering backgrounds likely can explain it, as well. It has to do with transmission of force more efficiently through the truncal axis with certain alignments and muscle tensions, and thence into the ground. Moreover, in the examples where Barrett pushes superhard and cannot budge his inexperienced protege-- well, we all know that the *pusher* has much to say about how such force interacts with the "pushee"-- whether it uproots or drives more solidly into the ground. An experienced practitioner like Barrett no doubt has the ability to do either.

Thus, with his leading examples of "energy coherence" reduced in my mind to Newtonian physics and physiology, despite his claims otherwise, the rest of his contentions lacked credibility in my mind. Some of the higher-order stuff that he talked about later in the book (augmenting one's own aura and/or presence, or detecting disturbances in ambient qi) that I cannot explain nor validate at this point, then become, in my mind, once again, about faith. I cannot completely accept his explanation of energy coherence because his initial examples are flawed.

If Barrett had kept this book to one of analogies, as a way of saying-- this is how I think about it, this is what I do, this is how I perceive this-- it would be a much stronger book in my mind. Like I said, he gives some superlative associations with real world scientific parallels. In fact, Barrett may have realized this, because the second half of the book is all about parallels, and he really makes no esoteric claims. But he shouldn't have in the first half, either, because I am still left with the question of-- does Barrett really have "it", or not?

I do believe that his connective tissue theories in the latter part of the book may have some validity to them, and I like his "tensegrity" model a lot (think suspension bridge)-- but they are beyond real scientific validation. Even Barrett's narrative seems to shy away somewhat from alleging that such phenomena are really really real. In some cases he talks about his own inconsistent success in these realms.

I will have to check his scientific references-- but in the meantime, Barrett definitely presents some juicy paradigms to chew on. I have not yet tried his exercises for improving "presence" and such for an extended period of time, however, so who knows? I remain suspicious, however, that such phenomena can appear experientially validated because of the power of suggestion.

Unlike other reviewers, I did not find myself saying "Wow"-- it was more like "Hmm, I don't think so, I can explain (and do) that" in the first part of the book, and "That's an interesting way of looking at it, I'll try it, but I'm still bummed by your claims in the first part of the book" in the second part of the book.

Worth reading. But think of this more as philosophy and friendly suggestions rather than a thesis.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simple explanations for a complex topic, March 2, 2006

By 

Steven Asherman - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taijiquan: Through the Western Gate (Paperback)

How can the insubstantial possibly overcome the substantial? This book does a great job of clearly explaining many of the principles of tai chi and manages to avoid the mystical without losing the mystery. The author's explanation of "tensegrity" alone is worth the price of admission. I've been seriously studying this eastern art for over 35 years, and this book is a real contribution to the field.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Science at Play, February 7, 2006

By 

Stephen Watson "ShhDragon" (Connecticut) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taijiquan: Through the Western Gate (Paperback)

Barrett keeps mystic from turning into mistake.

Rick Barrett offers a guidebook toward Understanding. Be you a cubicle dweller, a race car driver, or simply a student of humanity, this volume carefully, leads us along a Path to the promise held out by all internal martial arts. Indeed, a promise held out (perhaps out of reach?) by nearly every philosophy and all religions.

Barrett's intriguing, guiding insight is that there is a wall built between the underpinnings of Western thought and Asian promise. After decades researching & teaching, listening & learning, treating & competing with/through/for Taijiquan, Barrett has found the Gate through the Wall. His painstaking, joy-filled journey - hands feeling for a breach in the wall - has resulted in this profound work which finally illuminates the point of connection which has, however heralded remained in shadow.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, stagnation and blockages within a system cause energy flow to become impeded or even halt. Barrett's book is the acupuncture needle applied at the intersection of two cultures to (at long last) induce a healthy flow of energy/information between East and West.

While this book will surely take its just place upon the shelves of every serious Taiji player, what is most rewarding is that the author has similarly found a Gate between the mythic, devoted Taiji player and the rest of us. This tome will be equally at home, and of great value on the desk of a CEO, in the gym bag of a Special Teams coach, amidst the jumbled paintbrushes of a portraitist, beneath the diploma of your doctor, and as Sunday's second reading.

An indispensable guidebook for every martial artist, this groundbreaking work captures the joy of discovery, the depth of meaning and the wonder of Qi. Readers will return time and again to its pages for guidance, insight, and review. Destined to be passed among students and down from teacher to student in training halls and lecture halls for years to come, this instant-classic deconstructs the prior `understandings' that have come both from imperfect translations and the inherent imperfection of words.

This excursion along the very leading edge (and beyond) of today's science, ancient inscrutabilities, and the deepest profundities within each of us is written with an ease of phrase which makes the path seem well worn. The accomplishment in weaving such vast and disparate ideas together in a remarkably coherent manner bespeaks the truth which is at the root of his thesis.




The first physics book for artists, the first martial arts book for healthcare professionals, the first Taijiquan book for Aikido students.