Product Description

Here is the original, rarely seen Tai Ji Quan developed by Yang Lu Chan's best Imperial Palace Guard student, Quan You, over 150 years ago. While other styles branched off into sport, health, and meditation, Quan You's disciples preserved the traditional ways. This book covers the principles, characteristics, and essentials of the Wu method, along with its famous masters. The entire classical form is illustrated step-by-step, and includes weapons skills.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #330821 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-18
• Released on: 2006-08-18
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 220 pages

About the Author
Tina Chunna Zhang has experienced Chinese martial arts and dance since her childhood in Beijing, China. She moved to the U.S. in the 1980s. She has studied and trained with famous internal martial arts masters both in China and in the U.S. She is a fifth-generation practitioner of Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan, training directly under Master Li Bing Ci. She won gold medals in sparring at the Summer Bash Chinese Martial Arts Championships in 2001 and 2002. She has continued to participate and win numerous medals in martial arts tournaments in China and in the U.S. every year. Tina actively teaches Classical Northern Wu Style Tai Ji Quan and ba gua zhang at the Wu Tang Physical Cultural Association internal martial arts studio and various sports clubs and fitness gyms in New York City.

Frank Allen has studied and practiced the internal energy arts since 1973. He was an early student of Master B. P. Chan, from whom he learned the internal martial arts of ba gua zhang, xing yi quan, and tai ji quan, as well as the healing art of qi gong. Frank began to study with Master B. K. Frantzis in 1976 and over the next two and a half decades studied Frantzis’s internal martial arts, including Wu Style Tai Ji Quan, nei gong, and Taoist meditation. He has also studied the internal martial arts with Master Jiang Jian Yee. In 1979 Frank founded the Wu Tang Physical Culture Association in New York City, with branches in Southern California, Middletown, New York, and Frankfurt, Germany.

Customer Reviews

Northern Wu Style Taiji and Sword Forms
Although it is always preferable to have a teacher, this book goes a long way towards providing the images and text for learning Taiji on your own, which is an unusual occurance. The images are sharp and there are many of them. Using figure numbers, the images are linked to the text, which is as clearly written as is possible.

The introduction gives excellent background on the evolution of Northern style taiji and provides biographies of the people that developed and spread the art. The introduction is followed by a section on the Principles of Wu Style Taijiquan, which provides interesting information on the differences between the hard and soft, and the external and internal martial arts styles.

The Wu style described in the book consists of 83 movements with images covering the beginning and end of each movement plus images for all key changes in posture.

In addition to the Taiji form, the book contains a good section on Push hands, which incluses more than 50 images showing fighting applications using the Wu style movements.

The Classical Sword Form is also presented and the presentation is just as well done and extensive as the Taiji form.

The book is a well done, authoritative, excellent addition to the martial arts literature.

A Very Useful Art in Many Ways
This is a Great Book by Tina Zhang and Frank Allen on how to do Northern Wu Style Tai Ji. Having studied Wu Style Short Form for 6 months with Frank Allen I can honestly say that many things he taught me in person are explained in great detail in this book. All students of all styles of Tai Ji will benefit from reading it and incorporating its techniques into their daily practice. If you are interested in Tai Ji You Must Get This Book !!!!!

Lifelong Reference on Wu Style Tai Ji Quan
This is a great book on the art of tai ji quan (tai chi chuan). It offers an excellent overview of the internal martial arts principles of Wu style tai ji quan, and addresses the aspects of the art that contribute to good health and longevity. The history of the Northern Wu is very interesting and includes rare archival photographs. The form and practical application of the postures are well presented, as is the section on the Wu sword form. This is the kind of book you buy to keep as a lifelong reference as you develop the skills of tai ji quan - from knowing the techniques (zhao shu), to understanding internal energy and gaining tai ji quan power (dong jin), and progressing to the advanced level where the spirit is calm, happy, relaxed, and free to use flowing techniques at will (shen ming). (See Chapter 8.) I can't wait for the authors' book on Bagua, due out this summer!