Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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156 of 158 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Easy and Effective, July 31, 2002
I have taken tai chi at 3 different times in my life from teachers with vastly differing styles. One was quietly meditational, another more dance oriented (he was a ball-room dance instructor) and the last was a martial arts instructor who taught a strict, rigid class that I survived for about 2 months. That was 12 years ago and I havn't done much in the way of exercise since. Now as part of a get-healthy-before-I-die program, I picked up the video cassette of Discover Tai Chi PM.It was a very nice surprise. I had never heard of Scott Cole but his vital,cheery aproach to Tai Chi was very accessible and easy to follow. He gave an adequate amount of information about the philosohical basics (it is after all an exercise/health tape and not a Taoist teachings video :-} ) and it was incorporated into the exercises them selves. The movements flow nicely and are repeated several times in the introductory segments. They are then tied together into a form of sorts and repeated at the end over some above average New Age meditation music. Cole is quite energetic, easy going and appears to really enjoy the act of teaching. And he has a pleasant voice that is easy to understand. Now for the really important information. I feel great every time I do this work out: energized and relaxed at the same time. It was the perfect relaxation tape for this sedentary, moderately stressed out, over weight (but decreasing...finally) 40-something female. It would probably be best to have some familiarity with tai chi, although it is by no means necessary. It was for that reason (my perception that a certain amount of basic knowledge was assumed) and the fact that Sensei is still in my head barking at me to do the form seriously and correctly, that I gave the tape 4 stars. For sheer enjoyment and effectiveness, I'd give it 5. The DVD format would be great as it is easier to find specific segments and more forgiving of endless replays.
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63 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The best Tai Chi DVD I've bought, September 5, 2004
Hello,
I have several Tai Chi tapes, but this is the one I play the most. I really like the morning and evening exercises. They are easy and the morning rountine leaves me energized and the evening one helps me relax and sleep well. The background is a beach in Hawaii which is calming to study while you exercise. Besides the instructional section, there is a section that has Scott lead you in the rountines to music without instruction. These run around 15 minutes which I can handle when I am too rushed to do anything else. There is also a meditation excercise which is also short, but relaxing.
In content and layout, this is a five star DVD. The only reason that I give it four stars is because there is a defect in the DVD. I don't remember which section--but it is midway through one of the instructional sections. The DVD freezes up and stops there and you have to exit the DVD and come in through the menu again to get to the other parts. However, the routine is also done to music without instruction--so I have been using that section instead. There was this flaw on the first copy I bought of this CD--so I took it back and it was exchanged for a new copy, and it has the same flaw. I just kept the second copy and have been working around it because even with the defect--it is my favorite Tai Chi tape.
I even took Tai Chi lessons for four months and learned a 108 routine and it certainly helped my body get in shape--but it is difficult to remember all the moves or have time to do them when you only have 15 minutes in the morning, when you are still groggy, or 15 minutes in the evening when you are exhausted.
Scott's moves are easy to follow--even for the brain dead--and they work anyway. :)
May 15, 2007 Update--I'm still using this DVD and enjoying it. Even when I've been sick or lazy and have strayed from excercise--I always start back with this to build me up for other excercise. :)
Banjo Dreamin' Suwannee Nights
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40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally, a live one!, August 29, 2005
Scott Cole's Discover Tai Chi AM & PM Workouts is the best I have found so far, and I have a box full of tai chi videos that I consider mostly useless. This one is not for the purist - it is a series of tai chi moves without adherence to a rigid "form." Just a really good and satisfying tai chi workout for old hands as well as beginners. . . and with no long explanations as you stand around and do nothing while the instructor listen to himself talk . . . and talk.
Best of all, there is no right-left confusion. The producers realize that you are watching a mirror image, so they refer to left when you see left and right when you see right (even though to Scott, the sides are actually reversed). I heartily thank them for this, having watched many routines in which the instructor turns (more than once) and you don't know which side is which or which end is up.
The production values are good, and simple - there are no fake waterfalls, hokie roar of ocean waves, or elaborate sets. There are simple studio shots and simple beach shots. The music is there but not distracting. There is no entourage of students, so we can spend our time watching the master, who is a pleasure to watch! Tai chi has great beauty, especially when performed by an expert such as Scott Cole!
I have a feeling my box of previous tai chi workouts will go the way of amazon marketplace or the local free store.
Thanks Scott and all of you who are responsible for this thoughtful presentation!!
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