Untraditional Hsing-I [Paperback]

Robb Whitewood (Author), Erle Montaigue (Foreword), a foreword by Erle Montaigue (Author), Robb Whitewood (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

Here hsing-i master Robb Whitewood, a former student of Erle Montaigue and the head instructor of hsing-i for the World Taiji Boxing Association, brings the phenomenal speed and power of this ancient hitting art to life. With the goals of Western students in mind, Whitewood teaches the basics and applications of five-element boxing..

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Robb Whitewood has traveled around the world, studying subjects from t'ai chi to acupuncture to neurolinguistic programming, to produce a system of teaching that marries the best of the West with the best of the East. Visit Robb Whitewood's Web site at www.warriors.com.au

Erle Montaigue was the first Westerner to be granted the degree of "Master" in taijiquan and dim-mak. In 1995 Erle was invited to study with Liang Shih-kan, the leader and "keeper" of the now almost extinct forerunner to taijiquan, the Wutan Shan System of Boxing, thus becoming the only Westerner and one of a handful of people to be taught the nine qi-disruptive methods. He serves as head of the World Taiji Boxing Association (WTBA), which has schools in more than 30 countries. He is highly regarded internationally as one of the leading instructors of the internal martial arts, including taijiquan

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Paladin Press (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581600305
• ISBN-13: 978-1581600308
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,887,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delivers on its promise, July 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Untraditional Hsing-I (Paperback)

The best thing about this book is that it explains the actual body mechanics of what gives Hsing-I its power. Other books on the subject usually give arcane explanations but the author breaks it down in terms of physics and physiology. The book only covers the five fists and not the 12 animal forms, which makes sense, since the five fists alone warrant a complete book. Where's the video, Robb?

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars just plain bad...., December 27, 2000

By 

"plasticsquirrel" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Untraditional Hsing-I (Paperback)

i'm sorry, but this book doesn't show much of any sort of depth of knowledge. instead, it ignores the main sources of power and tries to portray it as an external style that uses clever body mechanics to get the job done. to me, this is just another way for people to be warded away from the reality of the internal styles. maybe instead of analyzing the postures and talking about momentum, he should show the isometric standing chi kung that gives the practitioner raw internal strength, and talk about how the five elements and twelve animals each have a different way of generating chi. this book is a good example of a typical western perspective of ignoring the depth of the art and thinking that everything can be explained through efficient body movement (much in the same way that most tai chi chuan practitioners think that tai chi chuan is just a gentle exercise for old people).

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Of The Better Technical Books On The Subject, April 22, 2009

By 

. (Oakland, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Untraditional Hsing-I (Paperback)

I really have to shake my head at some of the reveiews this book has received. People get too caught up in the whole "chi" paradigm and think that everything must use chi-based terminology to explain this art. There is PLENTY out there on the "internal" and chi aspects of these arts, but this is one of the VERY few that actually has some useful information from the point of view of physics and body mechanics.

This book also includes a short, but valuable section on the use of Hsing-I combinations in actual combat, which is extremely important but NEVER seen in any book on the subject.

The title is a little misleading though. This is simply straightforward traditional Hsing-I, the untraditional part is in how he explains the art. Even though Whitewood's Hsing-I differs from the method I have trained in, this is still a valuable text with much food for thought.