Chen Style: The Source of Taijiquan

Rating:
Summary: Chen Style Taiji
Review: Finally a comprehensive book on Chen taiji. This has been a rather deficient topic to Chen stylist in the English speaking world. The knowledge is presented in a well ordered manner. The knowledge base that they present comes from a broad knowledge of teachers which is very refreshing considering that most books tend to follow one teacher's knowledge. The information is not necessarily for all practioners, considering the extensive knowledge it cannot be taken in by any beginner. Although the explanations of origin and explaining the Taoist roots are clearly a plus to someone who is beginning Taiji. The authors repeatedly give explanations from the most comprehensive book on Chen taiji, Chen Xin's "Explanation of Chen Family Taijiquan"
Which to this day has not been translated to English. There is a excellent chapter on training methods used in taiji and extensive coverage of push hands and the metods used in them. The book has less pictures and more explanations which should be useful for teachers and long time practioners.
A long time chen taiji student,

Rating:
Summary: A classic, well written, good primer. MUST READ!
Review: I am a beginner who simply loves to read books about martial arts to learn different perspectives and approaches. This book has a lot of great qualities and it was well worth the time and money investment it took to read it.

For starters, the writing style of the book is fluid and clean. It's beautifully written, a true pleasure to read. The author attempts to give the reader a very good theoretical foundation in TaijiQuan. He provides great background information that draws novice readers into the culture and history of this art form.

I would have to disagree with regard to the sparcity of pictures in the book. Certainly, there is no substitute for a trainer or teacher. I can understand the perspective of reviewers that teach this form and believe that it is best for them to guide each student's progression. But it is unrealistic to think that all readers will have such a resource available to them wherever they may live. Actually, it's also irrelevant. Whether one is availed of expert instruction or not, clear pictures and diagrams showing the postures would help novices to reinforce and retain the information they read in this book. This is why people buy books to begin with!

In short, the content of the book seems to be good. The pictures are ok but there should have been more instructional photographs of the forms, poses and exercises. Overall, a very good introductory text.

Rating:
Summary: what a joke
Review: This book contains almost nothing specific to the Chen style. The Authors' understanding of Tai Ji Quan is about at the beginner level. No descriptions or photos of the Chen style forms are included, only a list of the postures. The photos are a real joke too... like photos of a family vacation. It is written well though, and it starts out good enough, but after a few chapters it is clear that the Authors don't know what they are talking about with regard to intermediate or advanced practice. Nothing new here. If you have studied any of the classic Tai Ji styles for more than a few months you probably know everything in this book. Some of the descriptions of advanced practice and weapons are really laughable. It is so obvious they don't know what they are talking about as they stumble all over themselves looking for some way to describe things that they have never actually practiced or learned. I was disappointed because I was hoping to learn about the specifics of the Chen style as promised in this book's promo. Sadly, the promo promises alot but the book delivers very little. There is a photo of a guy (not one of the authors) doing the "xia shi" form, however, it is mislabled as being the "shang bu qi xing" form. This makes me wonder if the authors have ever even learned all the Tai Ji forms or if maybe they just visited China for a few weeks here and there to "study" Tai Ji like as a hobby or something. This book totally lacks any exclusive insight or original information regarding Tai Ji and nearly every other paragraph contains a quote from the Tai Ji Classics or some other already published work. Very disappointing. But the Authors are good writers and as far as basic Tai Ji goes, they did a decent job of explaining the fundamentals, so I gave it 2 stars.

Rating:
Summary: the only taichi book you need!
Review: This book outlines the Chen Tai Chi system as well as providing a great source for this history and general tai chi principles. The authors are practitioners who went many times over the 2 year course of this project to study with grandmasters Chen Xiaowang (whos picture is on the cover), Zhu Tiancai, Chen Zhenglei, and other notable but less well known master from Chenjiagou village. Most of this information is available on the internet or in other books but one must be willing to spend the time searching for it. Trust me I've spent the time looking for it and read most all of the English language books (style independent) that I thought had merit (by merit it mean that within the first chapter of the book I could tell that they knew something and that there pictures didn't look like they were about to fall over just standing their). Their is also a small amount of material that I found to be new (a few of the more detailed points in body posture section). This book doesn't teach specific forms and thus people practicing different styles of tai chi can greatly benefit from the discussions of body requirements and history from an undiluted source. If you are looking for Chen forms videos purchase only those produced and performed by lineage masters. Some of the most note worthy of these Grandmasters are chen xiaowang, zhu tien cai, chen zhenglei, and wang xian. As of this revision of the review, amazon does not carry anything performed by a lineage master. ...

Rating:
Summary: Great summary of the available literature on Chen Taijiquan
Review: This work is for me, a long-awaited compendium of some of the best literature in both English and Chinese on Chen Taijiquan. Although this is not an "instructional" book per se - the book has no photos breaking down technique - this work is a must for the serious Taiji boxer. Understanding Taiji principles and theory is crucial to finding success in the art. And for Chen Taiji practitioners, it's absolutely essential.

To that end, this book manages to capture the plethora of thought ever published on the science of Chen Taijiquan, including a very nice historical summary. Standout chapters include clear explanations of Chen Taiji's "Ba Fa" or eight powers, Chen style push hands, and a decent explanation of the proper execution of "fa jing" (power issuing) ever to appear in English for the laymen.

As a longtime Chen Taiji boxer and writer on the subject, I particularly appreciated the authors' use of many quotes from famous Chen Taiji masters. Translated passages include quotes from: Chen Wangting, the style's founder; Chen Changxing, the compiler of the "Lao Jia" (Old Frame) and teacher of Yang Luchan; Chen Zhaopei, the beloved master that singlehandedly revived boxing practice in Chen village during one of China's most tumultous periods; Chen Zhaokui, the highly skilled son of the famed grandmaster, Chen Fake; and Chen Xiaowang, the current standard bearer. Also, the work contains a few diagrams with translations from the respected Taiji master and author Gu Liuxin and the noted Chen family boxing scholar, Chen Xin.

So needless to say, I highly recommend this book. I would have given it five stars if, for all of it's comprehensiveness, the work contained more photos of the masters without as many pictures of the authors. Regardless, I congratulate them on producing a landmark book on Chen Taijiquan, while raising the bar on martial arts literature in English. Great job!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent intro to Chen's TaiJiQuan history and philosophy
Review: Very few books are available to the public, which are written in English, about Chen style TCC. This is a very good reference book for both beginner and advanced practitioners of this or any style of TCC.
I teach an accredited course in Chen style at a local community college here in San Antonio,Tx. and this is the textbook I use for the course.
One of the main reasons I use it at the college is because it does not contain any how-to photos of the routine. Why is this? The reason is simply that photos and videos alone are not sufficient to learn the art. One needs an experienced guide to show one the way to proficiency in this art. That, and lots of hard work and sweat. There are no shortcuts!!!
As for those of you who long for a book with photos and explanations...my advice to you is,"Get yourself a Teacher". Finding one who is good enough to teach is difficult if you do not know what to look for or what to ask. And remember, just because they may know one form does not mean that they know the system. There is a difference! And do not think that you can attend classes for several months or one year and then go out and profess to "KNOW" TCC. It ain't gonna' happen! It is just like going to school, from Kindergarten all the way through college. Then, there's graduate school....get the picture?
The only conflict I have with the writing is about the 13 postures of TCC. Any experienced Chen teacher/practitioner will tell you that the so called 5 Steps are actually different from those given in the book. Also, it would have been nice to have listed the various "Jings"(energies) of TCC. Some Chen Masters/Grandmasters will tell you there are at least 21.
All in all, I can honestly say that this one's a keeper. And beginners, remember, once you find a good teacher, don't be in a hurry to learn. Remember, first you crawl, then you walk, then you can run.