Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106610 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 280 pages

About the Author
Jan Diepersloot has studied martial arts for nearly 25 years and is the author of The Tao of Yiquan. He is the founder of the Contra Costa Center for Healing and the Arts, where he teaches. He lives in Walnut Creek, California.

Customer Reviews

Tremendous How-To Book--> Great for Internal Martial Artists
Well, you can take a gander at all my reviews. I've read quite a few books on the subject, as well as being a fairly experienced practitioner now. I'm not really into qigong. I am into Tai Chi-- not that there's a huge difference. And I think Sifu Diepersloot would agree.

What Sifu D. has wrought is a comprehensive book on the fundamentals of Tai Chi stance and movement training. There is Wuji standing posture, bow and arrow stance, stepping and facing, and push hands instruction in this book. It's written step-by-step, as well as with inserted anecdotes where relevent. Very nice presentation of weight distribution, how to align the body-- meticulously detailed, step-by-step instruction. Also, the why's and what for's are all anticipated and answered.

I agree with other reviewers-- there is clarity here-- no mysticism. How to apply structure and intention to transmit/receive force and discharge/disperse it. A staged progression through push hands like exercises-- how to feel, what to feel, how to progress and advance.

I also agree with the comment on photos. Why keep bad photos and further abstractify them for this book? Take new ones and use those, especially for the instruction illustrations. The vague ones of Master Cai (Sifu D.'s instructor from whose words he derives this book from)-- he can keep for interest and aesthetics, but what's stopping him from taking pictures of himself for the instruction part of the book? I'm pretty suspicious as to why-- not confident in his own postures?

Despite that, I can't argue with the advice and the instruction. I had some mild concerns that his "suck and tuck" instructions for Wu Ji posture abdominal/pelvis/thoracic alignment was incomplete-- the way I've learned it there's an additional dropping into the pelvic bowl-- but that may be stylistic diferences. And when he stepped into his instruction of super-advanced push hands, he got rather vague, although it is a vague subject about anticipating presence and such.

There is no multiple forms or sequence of Tai Chi in this book. No applications. I guess that's what makes it "qigong". It's all about the core mechanics, alignments, and energy transmission theories (and by this I mean force, not life energy in the more mystical sense) of Tai Chi itself (Yang style). A superb book for beginner or expert-- a great breakdown, with some cool exercises to practice that I think will prove very helpful.

This would be one of a few books on my must-read for internal martial artists list (if I had such a list).

A book that makes you to work as well as to think
That's really a good book.
Good for absolutely beginner as well as for experts. It explains theory (without any mystics) and how to develop skills. Very deep, simple and consistently step-by-step approach. It tells you how a joint (just to give an example) should be used and how to work to consistently achieve that skill. The best think I appreciate of this book is about "how to do" and "how to develop" sensitivity (with clear examples and the work to do) on both your body, the external environment, rooting, push hands .......
You can use this book as beginner to just start your journey on Internal Martial Arts as well as to get insight from it on improving your study and to help your pupils advancement with the exposed exercises.
I read this book some years ago and I have to admit it greatly influenced my practice, knowledge and skills.
I highly recommend this book (as well as the other Diepersloot's book) it absolutely will not a waste of money.
I really have to thanks Jan for writing these books and to apologize for waiting so much to review them.

120 Over 74
At the age of thirty-one I was told I had borderline high blood pressure of 140/90. I was also told this was not a good omen, to be thirty-one with that b.p. I tried yoga, meditation, eating fruits and vegetables, supplements like Carnitine and Co-Q10. Bupkus. A friend who studies tai chi told me about this book. I've done some tai chi and was open to reading the material which, though not tai chi, concerns exercises for cultivating and regulating internal energy. Particularly since tai chi is supposed to lower blood pressure, it made sense to check it out. After two months of doing no other form of exercise but the standing exercise in this book--but doing it daily for up to thirty minutes at a time--my blood pressure dropped to 120/74. My stress test rated the medical equivalent of an A+. That was four years ago. When I stop exercising from laziness, the b.p. creeps up. When I go back to the book, it goes down and stays down, my energy goes up and stays up. The cardiologist said "I don't know what you're doing but keep doing it." In short, I strongly recommend this book.