Tai Chi Dynamics

Tai Chi Dynamics is intended for intermediate and advanced Taiji players. The author Robert Chuckrow Ph.D. experimental physics, has been a Taiji practitioner for over forty years. He applies logic and basic scientific principles of anatomy, physiology, and physics to muscular action, breathing, and alignment in Taiji movement and push-hands. He clarifies many perplexing concepts such as "correct force" by utilizing detailed explanations, illustrations, and photographs. Sayings from the Taiji Classics are quoted throughout, and exercises are provided to give readers a chance to confirm their understanding. Over a dozen self-defense applications of the basic Taiji movements are illustrated, and the effectiveness and completeness of Taiji as a martial art is candidly analyzed. Suggestions for many aspects of teaching Taiji are provided, which stem from over three decades of practical experience. A chapter on Zheng Manqing (Cheng Man-ch'ing), with whom the author studied for five years in the early 1970s, sheds light on Zheng and his students. A special chapter deals extensively with aspects of self development from a personal perspective, discusses how doing Taiji correctly is a precursor to spiritual growth, and compares religion, science, and spiritual teachings. A detailed chapter on health, self-massage, and healing discusses fasting (including the author's own experience with a twenty-eight-day fast), differences between Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine, and provides exercises and methods of self-massage for head, legs, feet, and back. There is even a section on how to make your own footwear suitable for practicing Taiji. The book includes personal anecdotes and stories, and has over one hundred photographs and illustrations by the author.