Master Cheng's New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation (Paperback)

~ Cheng Man Ch'ing   (Author), Mark Hennessy (Translator) "My New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation can help those pressed by work schedules, women busy with household chores, or any enthusiast whose remote location..." (more)
Key Phrases: shift onto the left leg, shift onto the right leg, left hip joint, Single Whip, Lao Tzu, Grasp the Sparrow's Tail (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Cheng Man-ch'ing, the famed master of t'ai chi, is regarded as an enormously influential figure in codifying the most widely practiced form of the ancient martial art. This volume, developed by the martial arts master and scholar, details the way that students arrive at a posture -- from beginning movements to the end pose.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Chinese

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Blue Snake Books; illustrated edition edition (June 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883319927
• ISBN-13: 978-1883319922
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #261,056 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CMC's New Method (translated by Mark Hennessy)., January 3, 2000

By	Justin Smith (USA) - See all my reviews

A great book, with superb introduction and CMC Tai Chi Chuan form content. Form is discussed in a non-martial context (as opposed to Man-Ching's 13 Treatises), and there are foot diagrams as well. This is *the* book to learn the Simplified 37 Posture form from!

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master Cheng at his best, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

This is the last of Cheng Man-Ching's Chinese books, untranslated until now. Any Short Yang Form practitioner will find this text invaluable, and will find its detailed instructions very helpful for polishing their form practice. Also, Master Cheng provides a number of essays on martial virtue and the avoidance of mistakes in ones practice, as well as exerpts from the classics of Chinese philosophy. Mark Hennessy's translation skills are known to be excellent, so one can trust the veracity of the text.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good material, but could be more clear, August 15, 2001

By	John Ball (Baltimore, MD USA) - See all my reviews

The material contained in this text, like all of Cheng Man-ch'ing's writings, is wonderful. It is a clear discussion of the process of learning Tai Chi, and gives many new ideas to practice. My complaint with this book is with the translator, not the original material. After reading it, I'm left wondering what the translator added to this text. His preface brings up the interesting issue of how the content of the 37 posture form changed while the number of postures did not. However, he doesn't take a position on the argument, and offers no insight as to why the change in content is important to the reader. Also, in the discussion of the form, there are two sets of pictures. One set is of the final posture, and a second step shows the intermediary steps. It is slightly confusing because the two sets of pictures are from obviously different times as Cheng is wearing different cloths in each set. It is unclear from the text if the pictures were like this in the original text, or if the translator pieced them together. Overall, the material in the book is wonderful, but the translator could have done a better job in bringing it forth.