An easy-to-use, fully-illustrated guide to the historical background, practical application, underlying principles and techniques of Taijiquan. Written by one of China's most prominent teachers of Taijiquan. Be very clear this is not a book for the complete beginner. It is as a reference book which will serve you well for many years that I have given it a five star rating.
At the heart of this book is a comprehensive account of five of the most popular tai chi forms. All forms are demonstrated on the DVD are of international standard (both sword forms by champion performer Chen Si Tan).

Forms described are:

• Yang-style Long Form
• 24 Yang-style
• 42 Competition Form
• 32 Sword
• 42 Sword

Detailed descriptions of the moves, directions and common faults with the appropriate corrections is contained within the pages of the book accompanied by smallish black and white photos of the postures. The disc shows the complete performances but no tuition. This would certainly be a wonderful revision guide for anyone learning the modern forms. It might even be good enough for you to actually learn the forms forms although it could feel like hard work. Hands-on instruction from a teacher is recommended to fully grasp the finer points of technique.

The book also contains some history of professor Li Deyin\'s family and their taiji background, some general tips on tai chi and some of the classic tai chi poems. It is great value tuition and the performances on disc are excellent. My only small disappointment was to see a rather bland modern version of the 81 step long form on the DVD rather than the traditional form illustrated in the book. Overall it is a great book and much more useful that similar books I have seen before in terms of scope and clarity.

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