Reddit reviews Master Cheng's New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation
We found 8 Reddit comments about Master Cheng's New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Blue Snake Books
It all depends on what you are looking for in Tai Ji Quan. The Americanized version extols the meditative and health aspects of the form, but the original Chinese form is an extremely competent style of internal boxing.
If you are looking to become an internal boxer (a classification of Chinese Gong Fu "soft" martial arts; namely: Xingyi Quan, Ba Gua Zhang, and Tai Ji Quan), then Tai Ji is a long hard road. Competency in this style takes somewhere around twenty years of practice.
Here's the thing: if you are looking for the health aspects, in my experience, the path of the internal boxer is best. Training a soft style with martial intention teaches you the subtle body mechanics that strengthen your joints and better relax the tissues around your spine, among other things.
If you aren't interested in the martial aspect, but you still really want the health benefits, take disturbedandsexy's advice and look into Qi Gong. It is a moving meditative practice that unlocks some pretty cool physiological benefits. I have experience with the Wang Ji Wu Longevity Exercises and find them to be great introductory material. It's also a good Nei Gong you can teach to your grandmother to keep her joints healthy through daily exercise.
If you are looking for good reading material on Ta Ji, avoid the books targeted toward an American consumer. They tend to follow the McDojo philosophy toward transferring traditional knowledge. Instead, try consulting Chang Man Chi'ing, or for an easier read, his student T.T. Liang. Both come from the a taiwanese tradition of Yang style Tai Ji, America's first widespread experience with the internal arts, being as the Communists drove all of their artists underground.
A word of caution, there are a lot of bad teachers out there. Even if they are very skilled personally, use a discerning eye. The hall mark of a great teacher is a skilled group of students. Looking at the senior students in the class and ask yourself if that is where you want to be in 5-6 years.
Personally, I would recommend the North American Tang Shou Tao schools, but I am biased as I am an instructor with them.
Best of luck in your pursuits.
If you have a teacher, sure. On your own, it's much harder but theorically possible, even though you'll only get the health benefits. CMC has a book on that, you should check it out. My recomendation though is to find an instructor.
https://www.amazon.com/Master-Chengs-Method-Taichi-Self-Cultivation/dp/1883319927
I think this book should help.
https://www.amazon.com/Master-Chengs-Method-Taichi-Self-Cultivation/dp/1883319927
If it's just for health then I think it's possible to learn from a good book, the one above was pretty much written with that purpose.
Once you get stronger and defeat the health issues, you can find a teacher to understand the martial art side better.
That book combined with videos of Cheng Man Ching on Youtube and his other book which contains even more principles should get you very far.
The second book is unfortunately not written for beginners though and is very martial-arts orientated, but it has many pages of essays on Taiji which are helpful in understanding the Self Cultivation book even better.
Also this book by Chen Weiming is basically a giant Q&A on Taiji, which should keep you going in the right direction.
https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/2012/10/27/answering-questions-about-taiji-taiji-da-wen/
If you're going to learn by yourself, get this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Master-Chengs-Method-Taichi-Self-Cultivation/dp/1883319927
And forget everything else.
Practise according to what the book tells you, and stop trying to do 100 different things all at once.
While training according to that book, you can use this if you have questions of how things should be.
Stick to understanding one posture at a time and don't get carried away by big notions.
If you practise this way and don't bite off more than you can chew, you should be able to get somewhere until you find a teacher.
--------------------------
> Trying to be mindful of the dantian area as much as I can.
Don't do this.
Here he is doing the form for you to use as a reference.
If you're willing to do books instead of videos I'd also highly highly recommend his book on the form as its super easy to follow along with yet still very good for learning with. Definitely worth your time
T'ai chi instruction is like going somewhere to find a Zen teacher but not quite as bad.
I warn you though and don't say I didn't: It's like tea.
Hi! Of course it's possible to do Tai Chi for the reasones you said (health and stress relief). You just a good source (teacher or online), and put that into practice beginning from tomorrow xD. It has to be a simple thing: practicing the parts from the form once or twice a day, plus some song exercises (for relaxation and structure).
Let's start by searching for a good teacher. You said you are from north Texas. The Yang Family Tai Chi association (held by the lineage holder of the Yang family taichi, Yang Jun) has a center in Lewisville. Now I personally don't know how good are they. The fact they are the lineage holder is surely an up. But I don't know, you might it give a try if you want/can.
Other than that I personally don't know other centers.
Now, about online resources. Many will recommend you this Book by Cheng Man Ching (it has great reviews tho).
Another great master is Liang Shou Yu: this Book has great reviews. There's also a dvd version of this, at higher price.
There are also other materials, and also "online courses" (monthly pay), but for now I'd wait what others have to say.
Don't worry if many instructors seem to do the same movements in different ways. It doesn't matter which way you make the movements, the principles are what matters.