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Rating: 
Summary: A book for advanced students
Review: I suppose I should rate it at best 3 stars for my personal use, but my sense is that it's better than that. As a near-beginner in Tai Chi (slightly over a year of instruction and practice), I found this book of only moderate use. I do find that I practice better if I envision the martial applications of the movements, rather than treating Tai Chi as a kind of dance. I'm not competent to judge its value for advanced students, but it's written clearly enough, and the illustrations rate a B-plus in my book. There are lots of them (good), and the text follows them (good), but the "bad guy" taken the fall is in black and it's often hard to see where the master has gripped him. For a beginner, this book is not nearly as good at Tai Chi Chuan by Mster Liang, Shou-Yu (same publisher). But it's not a bad supplement, even for me.
Rating: 
Summary: The title says it all...
Review: If you are looking for a book about Taiji martial theory and applications, this is a good read. The applications shown are clearly described, and obviously these aren't the only applications...it's up to you to discover more! There is a lot to this book besides the pictures...like the section on the morality of fighting is excellent, and something many martial artists don't realize/understand. It also includes some interesting things other books leave out, such as Taiji ball training, and the two-person fighting set.
That said, it seems like some of the obvious applications are left out...perhaps because they are obvious? Another oddity for me is that while Dr. Yang seems to be a well-respected martial artist and author, his "Classical" Yang style form looks different in certain places from ANY Yang style I've seen or been taught. Maybe I just lack experience? But for that reason I wouldn't recommend the book as form reference.
Finally, a big hit to the rating for me was that my book very quickly began to fall apart. The binding is terrible, so large chunks of pages separated and fell out. I generally take good care of my books, and this is the only book I've ever had that self-destructed on me.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book for getting the form right
Review: There are many books which attempt to teach you how to do the form. This is not one of them. The author does take the reader through the form, but for each section also shows the reader where the move comes from. This helps in improving accuracy and in energy work. It is very important, as you proceed to polishing up your TaiChi that you bear this stuff in mind.The book also gives general advice useful to the taichi practitioner - especially those who have just completed learning the form. I've bought loads of TaiChi books over the years - some useful for philosophy, some for Chi Kung aspects - but this one is of direct practical use. A final word: Books that outline the moves of the form are useful to jog the memory, but seeking out a teacher is a MUST!
Rating:
Summary: 1000 ways to block a punch
Review: This book is fantastic if you want to learn how to block a punch. Basically, almost every single attack in here is a punch. There isn't much intricate work regarding escapes, joint manipulations, throws, counters or anything like that. That to me, is a travesty, as anyone who purports to know about Tai Chi and tries to make money off a book about Tai Chi should at least explore the depth and versality of the 38 moves in the form. The later Analysis of the Fighting set has a few nice moves in there, but it's nothing you can't figure out after awhile (if it's not imminently obvious). The pics are in black and white. The fact that the "attacker" often wears black and Dr. Yang's pants are black (his shirt is white) makes it hard to tell what's going on in some of these pics. This is especially true when black motion arrows overlap the black clothing. It's an ok book, don't know if it was worth (the money) though. -(...)
Rating:
Summary: A Serious Workbook for Yang Stylers!
Review: While I agree that in many instances a book or video tape can never replace a qualified teacher or instruction, there are exceptions to this rule based on the assumption that the person reading the work has atleast some cursory understanding of the content. In short this book is *not* for beginners but the serious practioner who has absorbed and studied their form and who now want to deepen the martial aspect of their knowledge base through studying practical applications. I found this book a delight to read and while both deeply informative and thought provoking it was simultaneously accessable and practicle. Some photographs are occasionally too dark around the legs losing a little definition, due to the fact that while one person has a white shirt both have black pants. This is really a minor thing if you recognise the form being expressed, besides they put a white arrow for a black arrow when needed. I found the sections on Taiji fighting strategies and analysis of the Taiji fighting set to be instantly informative/gratifying and this is where I spent the bulk of my time when I first bought the book. There is an excellent 'training techniques' section for Push Hands, what follows after that is predominantly images of the Taiji applications themselves sometimes accompanied by a selection of non form driven alternatives! Excellent... I personally find a book like this invaluable being serious about Martial Taijiquan as opposed to the purely health dance aspect. I wouldn't recommend this book to the novice or anyone not interested in getting into the deepest realms of *real* Taijiquan, it will simply ask too much of you and without a teacher or master who fully understands the essence of this art as a fighting art you could find yourself doing yourself more harm than good. This book is a must for advanced Yang Stylers and well worth the price, find a training partner and begin training on your applications! Taijiguy,
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