David Carradine: AM & PM T'ai Chi Workouts for Beginners

Rating:
Summary: This is a great Tai Chi practice
Review: After purchasing David Carradine's Chi Engery Workouts, I went out and purchased his other two AM & PM Tai Chi Workouts (this one) and Tai Chi Workout. The Chi Energy Workout is my favorite, but these other two are terrific too. Both the Chi Engery Workout and this one include Arnold Tayam as the instructor. David Carradine does all the talking and the other students and the instructor follow along.

There are two 1-hour workouts on this DVD. The AM is really called Tai Chi for the Mind and can be done either in the AM or the PM. You work on your Chi Engergy similar to David's other DVD called Chi Energy Workout. You start out with stretching to warm up your muscles, then you move on to the stances, Tai Chi Ball movements, and The 8 Moves of Chi Kung. You end your practice with Dan Tien Ball Rotation. It is a wonderful way to get in touch with your internal energies and is a very gentle workout for your body.

The PM workout is really called Tai Chi for the Body. Again, you could do this workout any time of day. You start out with stretching, move on to individual stances, and then it is put together in Combination and The Complete Form. I am still working on the individual stances and have begun working on the Combination, which ties all the stances together. I will wait to use the Complete Form segment until I feel comfortable with the movements.

You also get a wonderful meditation with David Carradine. I love his voice and even though it is a still picture on the TV during the mediation, it is okay since your eyes are closed. I lay down during the mediation, but you can also sit in a cross-legged position, or in a chair.

Also included in Part I is an interview with David Carradine. (You need to get the other 2 DVD's to for Part II and III.) Also, you get 4 songs off David's CD called "As Is". Songs included are: 5 AM, Paint, And Then She Smiles, and Picasso. These same songs are also on the other two Tai Chi Workout DVDs. The interactive menu system is wonderful. You can choose which session you want to work on and even pick individual portions of the workout if you like. You can also workout to music with narration.

Please check my other reviews on amazon.com. Thanks!


Rating:
Summary: great, especially with some prior experience.
Review: I just finished my 5th session with this DVD and it is quite good. (I feel fantastic!) The title is somewhat confusing; there really isn't a 'wake up' and 'go to sleep' section, more 'body focused' and 'mind focused.' My only complaint is that some forms are introduced but not really explained... but since I'd taken an intro Chi Kung it was fine. David Carradine is not just a gimmic, his voice is very mellow and is a perfect accompaniment. Also good if you are looking for a Chi Kung workout, the 'mind' session feels almost exactly like what we did in our class.