Dragon and Tiger Medical Qigong: Develop Health and Energy in 7 Simple Movements [Paperback]

Excellent book.

Although the movements are simple, there is a lot to them and it does require a lot of practise and study. I have had the book about 1 month and feel that i now have the first movement down accurately. So for me , at my practise rate it will take me about 6 months to progress to the whole form.

That said, you can feel it working almost immediately.

The instructions are laid out really well and the method used to learn the steps has clearly been well thought out and tested to exhaustion. Basically you learn small components at a time, and then put them all together to make the whole movement. The system is forgiving enough that you dont need to do each move perfectly to gain benefit

I would recomend this book to anyone interested in Chikung. Once the set is learned you will have a skill for life which you will always be able to call upon and use.

Seeing is believing?

Well, how about trying it and see?

I sent for this nearly two years ago, directly from the States and, even though it cost me something like three times the price you'll be paying, it was money well spent.

It has to be the the most comprehensively explained Qi Gong set available, full of stuff you might wish your Tai Chi teacher(s) had explained. Once you've learned the moves, it really is quite easy. It definately helps with chi awareness, not to mention, body awareness.

My personal tip would be: do it slowly. I found it better that way.

Finally, I would mention that you can access demonstrations of Dragon and Tiger on Taichimaster[], Bruce Frantzis' webpage.

Enjoy.

This book was a weird one. The introductory text was just wonderful but it didn't really match up well with the practical sections.

The author gave great explanations of Qigong and his own life experiences with it. He seemed to really understand the need for some of us battling illness to take it really slow and easy and not to push ourselves to more than 70% of our capacity. He also talked about the need to do some of the exercises lying down if you were seriously ill. This made me really excited, as what he was saying seemed to be just what I needed. After I had read the introduction I was really looking forward to getting started.

I have a disease with some similarities to M.S. (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, or M.E.) I'm housebound and 98% bedbound and so I really hoped this book might give some instructions on how to do Qigong lying down or some up to 5 minute simple and gentle standing ones - seeing as how the author had said how important not overexerting was.

But sadly with the exception of maybe a breathing exercise at the start, all there were were exercises that you needed to do standing and which also required far FAR FAR more balance, flexibility, strength and physical and mental stamina and ability than I have. Despite the opening text going on and on about how the author understood physical limitations and the need to lie down to do some exercises to start with, the exercises all seemed to be aimed at elite athletes or professional dancers.

I got 4 very well reviewed books on Qigong out from my local library and read them all over a two week period:

1. Qigong illustrated
2. Heal yourself with qigong : gentle practices to increase energy, restore health, and relax the mind
3. Qigong for multiple sclerosis : finding your feet again
4. Dragon and tiger medical qigong : health and energy in seven simple movements

The M.S. book was the one that was the most simple and non-demanding and the most suited for an ill person. The first two books were also very good though and did contain at least some simple standing exercises. I liked them both so much that I ended up buying my own copies to work from.

This fourth book was completely inappropriate for me and featured exercises way too advanced and difficult for anyone that is seriously or even moderately ill in my opinion. At the end of the book the exercises are described as being challenging even for a professional athlete!

Considering that I don't understand why this book is marketed as slowing 'simple' examples of Qigong when this is just not even remotely the case. The Qigong in this book is very complex and involved and would take a large investment of time to master even to an adequate level. You'd almost certainly need a DVD of the moves too. Apparently there is a double DVD set which goes with this book, which makes a lot of sense.

I'd recommend this book only for those that have a fair bit of natural balance and flexibility and also the ability to be active and follow very complex instructions. Even better if you have some athletic or dance or martial arts experience. If you have those attributes and lots of free time to practice Qigong this book could be a great choice for you. If I were well enough to try all the exercises in it I'd be so excited to do so (perhaps with the help of a teacher!), the book is really inspiring. It does seem to be aimed at preventing illness than actually treating it though, despite the introductory and cover text.

This is a great book, I have no doubt of that, but I think it is completely inappropriate for moderately-seriously ill people and should not really described as 'simple' or easy for the average person either. It is very advanced.

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E. (HFME)