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41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
'Complete' in every sense of the word., 29 Jun 2000
By A Customer
I was fairly new to the art of T'ai Chi when I ordered this book, and was hoping to find something that would help me understand and appreciate more about what I knew (not that much it would seem) and provide an insight into the 'bigger picture'. I was not disappointed when I received my order! I immediately found that the author wrote in a way I could relate to.The first few chapters cover the origins and history including a very useful 'Seven steps to progress', and a guide to mapping progress of each step. The author then goes on to clearly explain anatomy and body architecture, in order to deepen understanding of tai chi postures with some excellent diagrams - this alone sets the book apart from many others I had considered. At this point I expected to be lead straight into the complete short form, but yet again the author guides the reader through almost every imaginable aspect of the art-form.... moves, postures, language of movements and warm-up exercises. The complete short form that follows is very concise. Every 2 pages in view illustrate step-by-step the sequence of postures, with reference to the intended or expected mental awareness. The photography is stunning, had it not been I would have found the descriptive content mildly confusing for each posture. This book is perfectly balanced to encourage reading page by page, front to back, without the temptation to skip directly onto the 'form'. However, I would heartily recommend the last section of this book be read first - Tai chi experiences, a collection of fourteen vastly different people, young to old (13-70), beginner to experienced (6 weeks-15 years), with varying states of health, male and female. A fantastic study of experiences and benefits gained. Tai chi cannot be learnt from pages alone, but in my opinion this book provides the closest possibilty, more importantly it is ideal for practice between classes.
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by Angus Clark
by Therese Iknoian
~ Feist
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