Taiji Martial Applications 37-Postures

Description

Product Description Discover the Martial Art of Taijiquan Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) is an ancient internal Chinese martial art which has gained widespread popularity for its many health benefits. Today, most people practice taiji slowly to develop their balance, strength, and vitality, and the martial applications of the art are often ignored. Taijiquan, or 'Grand Ultimate Fist', is a highly effective form of combat specializing in short and middle-range fighting. This program offers practical martial applications for each of the 37-postures of traditional Taiji, based on the forms passed down by Yang, Ban-Hou. Once the viewer has a basic understanding of these universal principles, you may use them to devise further applications for every movement no matter which style of Taiji you practice. Learn the Basic Concepts of Taiji and Taijiquan. Understand the purpose of every Taiji movement. Over 50 effective applications for any Taijiquan style. SPECIAL FEATURES: Multi-Language Menus/Subtitles: English, French, Spanish Interactive YMAA Catalog with 50 additional minutes of Preview Trailers for All YMAA Videos Features senior YMAA students Pedro Rodrigues, Tony Chee, and Kathy Yang YMAA PRODUCTION DR. YANG, JWING-MING TAIJI 37-POSTURES MARTIAL APPLICATIONS WRITTEN & PERFORMED BY DR. YANG, JWING-MING, WITH TONY CHEE, PEDRO RODRIGUES & KATHY YANG EDITING & DVD AUTHORING BY MEDIAMANIC PRODUCED BY DAVID SILVER DIRECTED BY DR. YANG, JWING-MING AND DAVID SILVER Review Dr. Yang's ability is of the same high caliber as his written treatises. --Master Jou, Tsung-HwaDr. Yang surely follows in the footsteps of the Yang style founder Yang Lu-Chan, who also first studied the Shaolin hard styles and later studied and mastered the soft style of Taijiquan. Dr. Yang stimulates this tradition, which will surely bear the fruit of high achievement within the martial arts. --Grandmaster Liang, Tung-TsaiMan of the Year 2007 --Inside Kung Fu magazine P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); About the Actor Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming is a world-reknown author and teacher of Gong Fu (Kung Fu), Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) and Chin Na and a leading authority on Qigong (Chi Kung). Involved in Chinese Kung Fu since 1961, he has over 55 schools in 18 countries. Dr. Yang has published over thirty books and over eighty videos and DVDs on health and martial arts. He is the founder of the YMAA Retreat Center. Search desertcart for "YMAA" , "Jwing-Ming Yang" or "Dr. Yang" to find more instructional Tai Chi and health DVDs available from YMAA Publication Center. YMAA: Yang's Martial Arts Association was established in Boston, MA in 1982. With the intent of preserving traditional Chinese Gongfu (Kung Fu) and Qigong , Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming began training students in the rigors of Shaolin Long Fist and White Crane Gongfu as well as Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan. Dr. Yang also undertook his life-long dream of teaching and researching the Chinese arts and introducing them to the West through many books, videos and DVDs. YMAA Publication Center has been a publisher of high quality traditional martial arts and health books, videos and DVDs since 1983, and is a pioneer in the cultural exchange between the East and West. Dr. Yang is the founder of the nonprofit YMAA-Retreat Center dot org. About the Director David Silver is the Writer, Producer, and/or Director of many of the best selling DVDs on desertcart. He is the co-author of the bestselling book and DVD, Sunrise Tai Chi. See more Review: Fist Of The Mind - Preserving the essence of taijiquan is a monumentally important task, and we are fortunate to have an exceptional teacher in Dr. Yang. His riveting lecture and superb demonstration reveal the immense depth and breadth of taijiquan. With that being said, Dr. Yang also states that the true origin and application of taijiquan is vanishing. Perhaps ten percent of practitioners integrate taijiquan's root -- defense -- into their practice. Any person practicing Tai Chi should listen to Dr. Yang's lecture. In my opinion, many would be stunned by a concept heretofore never exposed to them: taijiquan is an internal martial art. While it is true that one can practice simply for relaxation and health, Dr. Yang points out that if your understanding is shallow Tai Chi is not as effective. Taijiquan ultimately means "fist of the mind". Mind leads the Chi, wherein you harness, project and focus martial power (Jin) to specific body points with precise recoiling velocity (whipping). Your power manifests from relaxation, lower oxygen consumption, and EMF -- the electro motive force of nerves. This increases your ability to stick with your opponent. Contrast that with the blunt force emitted by muscular tension, which consumes more oxygen, releases acid to the muscles, and results in early fatigue. Every taijiquan movement, therefore, is a strategy: it has a name, a meaning, and an application. Here you will find the root of taijiquan. For example, a movement called "Single Whip" (Dan Bian) has several phases of martial application: You transition from "An" (settle the wrists) with Yin coiling; move the body from east to north to west; the whip is again north-facing; you complete the movement with your body facing north and your left arm and head facing west. What does it all mean? Why do we coil with the right hand to initiate the movement? Why do we use Peng (round the chest, arc the back) as we face north? Why do we then flip our hands and arms? What is the whipping motion for? I would submit that it's not a nicely choreographed dance, and the serious student should ask questions about EVERY movement. What you learn is the difference in reciting what you are told to think, or thinking for yourself and saying what YOU believe. Moreover, it gives body to Dr. Yang's precept: "Have a sense of enemy when doing the form" (Di Yi). For those who want a deeper understanding of taijiquan and greater dimension within their practice, this is an excellent companion to Dr. Yang's later DVD, Yang Tai Chi For Beginners. Review: This is informative to all styles of Tai Chi - This DVD is informative to all styles of Tai Chi. My review won't be as long as the other reviews, but I wanted to say that this is very well produced DVD. This DVD is awesome. Dr Yang has picked 37 Tai Chi postures that he believes to be representative of all the forms in Tai Chi and demonstrates them on students, explains the application, and then has the students do the forms. The students are not fully accomplished experts yet and so they make mistakes while trying the posture applications. These mistakes are representative of common mistakes and Dr Yang corrects the mistakes while explaining why they would make the mistake and why they should do it the correct way. The photography and DVD menu selection are also very good. You do not have to know the Tai Chi form to benefit from this DVD, although being familiar with the postures will be helpful. Also viewing this will be helpful with your form practice as you will have a better understanding of how the form works; and how and why you should position your body. Also, I thought this was much easier to understand than the book of similar title. But after watching this DVD I went back to the book and it made more sense to me. Seeing the applications in motion on a DVD is really helpful. I recommend this for anybody that wants to do Tai Chi beyond just copying their teacher.