Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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298 of 308 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dr. Lam-- professional, standard Yang short form, November 29, 2003
By A Customer
Dr. Lam and some of his assistants in this DVD have won medals in China in Tai Chi competition. This reflects their standardness and conformity to the Yang style. If you want the standard stuff, and are not willing to settle for watered-down, careless, or altered versions, this is it. This will show you the Yang Short Form as true to its original developers. I have not had any instruction in karate or any martial art, but was able to follow the individual form presentations fine without having to go to the final demonstration.
I believe that much thought and care was put into the development of the forms to the end of maximizing the benefits to the flow of Chi in different parts of the body, with the attendant health benefits. Departing from or altering the forms could cut across the gains to be had from this. So I say be as standard as possible to reap the full benefits of Tai Chi.
I looked at several other Tai Chi DVDs. Some of them were at a lower level than the Yang Short Form. One of them was at a higher level-- showing 48 forms. The Yang Short Form was developed with the idea of having a set of forms that pretty much the whole population of China could do on a daily basis. The intention was to cut down on health care costs by promoting the preventative health care benefits of Tai Chi. So they needed high participation, and they couldn't make it difficult to learn. They also couldn't have it take much time. It takes only 4 - 6 minutes. Leading practitioners of Tai Chi were given the job of sifting through the larger body of Tai Chi forms and practices to come up with a set of exercise forms that would maximize health benefits in a short period of time. I respect the product of this work, and wanted to stay as close to it as possible. If you think this may be too much for you to start with, ask yourself "Do I think I can understand and apply as well as 80% of the Chinese population?" You probably can. If you think so, don't start out with a lower level "beginning" DVD. As far as a higher level, you can go on to that once you have this down.
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158 of 166 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, excellent video for learning Tai Chi, November 17, 1999
This video does an excellent job of presenting the 24 forms of this style of Tai Chi. Each form is demonstrated one at a time and at different angles to help the student learn each form. Great video for the beginner or a supplement for a present student of Tai Chi. I highly recommend this video.
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56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Companion to Physical Instruction, May 18, 2006
My wife and I enrolled in a Tai Chi class in the local area. The class has been great but sometimes it is difficult to see the complete move demonstrated by the instructor as his back is usually toward us.
In this video, Dr. Lam presents each of the 24 forms, also known as the "short form" in great detail. He uses students to demonstrate each movement while he describes the positions. He also demonstrates the entire form with a front view and a back view. This way, the student can see each evolution of movement.
With so many versions of Tai Chi out there, I'll share the names of the movements here to assist you. I know I had to go through several videos to find the one that most closely resembled the style my wife and I are learning!
24 Form:
Beginning
Parting the Wild Horse's Mane (3 times)
White Crane Spreads its Wings
Brush Knee and Side Step (3 times)
Play the Lute
Step Back and Repulse Monkey (4 times)
Grasp the Sparrow's Tail - left
Grasp the Sparrow's Tail - right
Single Whip
Wave Hands Like Clouds (3 times)
Single Whip
High Pat on Horse
Kick With Right Heel
Strike Ears With Fists
Kick With Left Heel
Snake Creeps Down (left) and Golden Cockerel Stands on right leg
Snake Creeps Down (right) and Golden Cockerel on Right Leg
Fair Lady Weaves the Shuttle (right and left)
Needle at the Bottom of the Sea
Fan through Back
Deflect Downwards, Parry and Punch
Apparent Close Up
Cross Hands
Closing Form
Even if you aren't in a structured class, this video will be most helpful. If you are in a class, this video greatly assists your daily workout and fills in the gaps that you might have missed.
The quality of the movements as shown by the students on the video isn't that great but to be honest, it doesn't matter. You don't want to buy a Tai Chi video for background cinemaphotography!
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