Qi Gong 13 Postures Edition (The Tai Chi Club - Qi Gong Mini Books)
I am fairly new to Qi Gong, having only learned about it fairly recently, so I am by no means an expert, BUT, I do know enough to know that this book covers SO LITTLE that it is not worth the price (and I have requested a refund). There are a total of 3-4 pages of writing/info, and the rest is all pictures - about 30 of them. The pictures are very repetitive, with an example being a series of movement where you move your hands in and out, while breathing in and out... example: Begin standing, breathe out. Bring arms out, breathe in. Bring arms in, breathe out. Bring arms out a little further, breathe in. Bring arms in, breathe out... begin bending over and circle "anti-clockwise"... breathe out, begin standing, breathe in. Push palms forward, breathe out... Begin to breathe in, open arms to side. .... You get the idea (I think?) That whole series makes up about the first half of the book. Each of those includes a picture, so each page has one picture and one sentence. 2nd half of book is same, but with a couple of different movements. The author does not tell us the actual names of any of the movements, nor what they are meant to do, nor ANYthing else about them - it's just rote imitation.
At the beginning of this book, the author states:
"It's assumed you have already purchased the 10 Postures Edition which introduces the warm up, background and breathing methods. This edition contains the 13 Posture movements in detail with two further breathing methods"
At the end of the book the author has a page included about "Soft, Hard, Yielding, Internal" and says the following:
****************
Think of kissing.
You can watch others do it; you can try to guess how it's done. Practising on your wrist won't create the feeling of a shared kiss.
Can it be taught? The act perhaps, but the experience will depend on your feelings for the person and the manner in which they respond.
Keeping your approach stiff and heavy may be a starting point, but if the partner returns in the same manner, one or the other will probably yield, but in yielding who is controlling who?
*************
with no explanation as to why this is included, or what, exactly, he is making an analogy to. Then he includes this quote:
"You cannot give the moment to somebody else. It is yours. It is Internal."
Also with no seeming connection to any of the other material. Then there is a short paragraph about "Chinese Terms" (about 4 words listed, including Qi, Tai Chi Chuan, and Dantien.
And the book ends with a reference to another of the author's books, which is only available in the UK Amazon, not USA (at least not at the time of this review), and he includes his website link and another link for Tai Chi teachers.
Though the price for this e-book was fairly low ($3.19), I felt it was not worth that. I can learn more by watching one 3-minute video on You-tube.
