Customer Reviews

There Are No Secrets: Professor Cheng Man Ch'ing and His T'ai Chi Chuan

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Tai Chi Chuan, despite the plethora of books on the subject, is still quite mysterious. Most of the books available are instructional in that they have diagrams and/or pictures of one (or more) of the forms and explanations of how to get from Point A to Point B. In There Are No Secrets, there are no such maps to a form. Instead, Wolfe Lowenthal provides the pearls of wisdom that Professor Cheng Man-ch'ing gave him.

Part an insight to the influential Tai Chi Professor, part sagely advice on how to practice Tai Chi, and part one man's personal search for meaning, There Are No Secrets is composed of many short untitled chapters that relate these parts in almost wandering way. Each chapter is self-contained and brief enough to drive the point without pontificating. Lowenthal's "relaxed" style is invigorating and helps the overall flow of the book making it a joy to read.

As for the Tai Chi student reading this book, it is clearly enough written that the newest practitioners will enjoy and gain insight as well as those older "beginners" struggling with the nuances of Push Hands, Applications, etc. Whether you're looking for serious insight or a more casual subject to renew your interest level in Tai Chi, I'd highly recommend purchasing this book - to read today and all of your tomorrows.

Pull up your chair and sit comfortably back as Wolfe tells you of his experiences as a student of Cheng Man-Ch'Ing. That's how informal and easily read this book is. This book has lots of advice and applications for the subjects of Tai Chi Chuan, Push hands and internal energy told in an easy and relaxed manner. Students of Tai Chi Chuan and Push Hands will learn much in this book for their art and for life. Whether a "new" beginner or a "not so new" beginner this book is a must for anyone studying the subject.

Utilizing his experience as a disciple of Professor Cheng Man-ch'ing, the author draws out many aspects of the teaching and character of the great master. These stories are revealing and entertaining, illustrating the lessons of Taichi practice in a clear way. Especially enjoyable are the descriptions of push hands, internal power development, and the myriad of difficulties to be overcome through continuous practice and accomplishment.

This book is a truely inspiriing book, based on the life and teachings of the "Master of the 5 Excellences." This book gives you an insight on the details and philosophies required to develop your tai chi or other nei jia work. A required book by my shrfu (master teacher) when I learned from him and currently for my students.

Excellent! 5 Stars!

A must-read for the serious tai chi students. What is so special about this book? This is a book written for tai chi students from a student's perspective. As the title says "There Are No Secrets", the author used plain English, instead of mystical words commonly found in other tai chi books, to write the principles of tai-chi. Please note that the book tells how to apply the tai chi principles to do the tai-chi form and push-hand. Therefore, do not expect to learn movement of each tai-chi form from the book.

As a tai-chi student, I found this book is inspiring, too. According to the author, Master Cheng Man-Ch'ing once said there are three ingredients for progress in the study of tai-chi: natural talent, perseverance and correct teaching. Natural talent is the least important. A gifted student has certain obvious advantages, but the untalented need only work hard and it will come.

Also, you can see or picture the human life of Master Cheng Man-Ch'ing from the book.

In taiji circles (no pun intended) it's common knowledge that Cheng taught select students a set of nei gong exercises that he found invaluable for taiji and even calligraphy. William C.C. Chen mentions receiving this training from Cheng in his book about taiji's body mechanics, and there was a group of Malaysian students (some of whom still teach) who got this training. Cheng didn't teach any of his American students this all-important nei gong (internal work) that is an essential part of taiji. He was known rarely to discuss it. Cheng was very secretive and he usually taught only the hand form. The hand form without the nei gong is really only half an art (though some would say the nei gong is in the form). Lowenthal learned the form and push hands, and had a great time, and his enthusiasm for Cheng comes through, as does much of Cheng's personality, which was wise, mischievous, and cultured. So if you want to read a series of anecdotes, which is what the book contains, it's defintely worth buying--particularly if you're a Ching devotee. But don't expect instruction. It's not a textbook or manual, but a memoir.

This is an easy to read book that is part one man's insights (Wolfe Lowenthal) into a legendary Tai Chi master, and part revelation of those pearls of wisdom for the Tai Chi practitioner that are so valuable. I finished this book in an hour it's so easy, and gleaned much about Master Cheng as Tai
Chi Master, as person. In some ways it was a nice story because
he had human failings just like the rest of us, despite his obvious ability to impress those he met with his Tai Chi skill.

The pearls are essentially to relax, relax some more, relax some more. Build root. Live Tai Chi, both in terms of training and in terms of philosophy and perspective. Have faith in relaxation, and submerge any ego to gaining sensitivity and gentleness. This will ultimately bring unrealized prowess.
I liked how Mr. Lowenthal unpretentiously stated this, and gave examples. But I was a little disappointed when he talked up how arduous it was for him to finally understand how to project power while his arms were completely relaxed, but then never even attempted to describe his epiphany, leaving me wondering, at least until I figure it out for myself.

A nice little book. A nice little tribute to Master Cheng.

Lowenthal truly gets what it's all about. Penetrating insights about Tai Ji, packaged in a readable, entertaining introduction to Professor Cheng, one of the foremost Taoist philosophers and martial artists of his time. A useful book for anyone practicing Tai Ji Quan

I have heard my Tai Chi instructors cite this book for three years, so I finally bought it. Like I expected, it was very helpful, teaching vital lessons to mastery of this enigmatic martial art. I was also surprised by how accessible it was--it is written in plain English and Wolfe Lowenthal does a superb job and putting into common English complicated Chinese words and ideas. I join my instructors in agreeing that this book will give your mind plenty of fodder to ruminate on when you're learning Tai Chi. Overall, it's easy to read, yet full of vital wisdom to meditate on and apply to your practice. Everyone can benefit from it, particularly students past the novice stage but not yet masters.

This is in part a light-hearted recounting of the life of the late Professor Cheng M'an Ching. The author describes time spent at Professor Cheng's New York Taiji studio, and some of the lessons learned.

While to an average reader this material will not seem like much, to Cheng M'an Ching style practitioners this is an affirmation of the Professor's skills, knowlege, and personality. Parts of the book contain anecdotes about the Professor's life, while others offer his advice for daily practice, with bits of TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine,) Confucianism, and Taoist thought thrown in.

If you are looking for stories about Professor Cheng and some of his advice to his students, this book is for you. If, however, you are not a CMC stylist, or are looking for a Taiji how-to book, you might need to look elsewhere. Otherwise, a welcome addition to any Cheng M'an Ching stylist's library.