Seeing beyond the Tai Chi Footprint: Sixteen Essential Principles

Seeing beyond the Tai Chi Footprint: Sixteen Essential Principles

In practicing Tai Chi Ch'uan, the movements provide the frame work for developing its techniques. By exploring more than the movements, understanding can be developed to see the whole of Tai Chi. This book serves as a collection of Master Zhang Lu Ping's knowledge and reworking of Tai Chi theories. Luping provided his students with many important insights into Tai Chi. This book introduces sixteen important principles for gaining this insight. It gives detailed explanations and uses examples to simplify the advanced Tai Chi concepts for all levels of Tai Chi performers. It teaches such topics as how to relax, how to use bow structures and how to follow complex curves. Each chapter provides detailed explanation of the theory with pictures of Lu Ping or Huan using these theories. It will benefit Tai Chi performers from beginner- to advanced-level practitioners, bringing their Tai Chi to a new level. Lu-Ping Zhang had an encyclopedic knowledge of TaiChi... a deep understanding of underlying principles, and unique insights to styles... -- William C. Phillips, President and Founder of the Patience T ai Chi Association, Brooklyn, New York. Before you buy the book: - This is not a step by step instruction book which teaches you the whole Yang Style Tai Chi set. - This book assumes you already know little bit Tai Chi. It will give you detailed ideas and thoughts to improve your Tai Chi. - The author and assistant writers decided to keep the language original, so it might not have the prefect English grammar. - You can preview the book before you buy. Our chief instructor Huan Zhang is a teacher with an extraordinary background, who began studying Chinese martial arts in 1982. He has learned Tai Chi Chuan and other martial arts forms from his father, Master Zhang, Lu Ping, Grandmaster Cai, Hong Xiang, and Master Xie, Bin Can. He has taught classes in both China and United States. He has assisted his teachers in the instruction of Tai Chi classes since 1989. Huan's articles have been featured in Tai Chi International Magazine, and he has just published his new book "Beyond the Tai Chi footprint". The Request After my father, Lu Ping Zhang, passed away on April 5, 1998, many of his Tai Chi students asked me if I could record some of my father''s Tai Chi theories for them. My father constantly expressed numerous new insights as he taught. He was always helping his students with these theories. It''s almost impossible to put all of his experience, discoveries, and inventions in one book. He knew so many different Chinese martial arts styles such as the five major styles of Tai Chi, various Ba Gua forms, and other Shaolin sets. He studied with many famous and not so famous masters in China who gave him deep insight into the Martial Arts. Lu Ping's Martial Arts Journey Lu Ping had begun practicing Martial Arts at an early age. He worked hard and became the head of the Martial Arts club at his school. He used this position to bring in great Martial Artist to teach the club''s members. He would find ways to spend private time training and talking with these teachers. After school, he spent a number of years in the remote countryside. He constantly practiced and searched for other master. His teachers included famous national martial arts champions, the descendents of the founders of many different styles, former policeman, bodyguards and other skilled practitioners. There is a famous saying in China, "Three people walking, one is my teacher". It means that everywhere there are people with skills to learn. My father told me privately that some teachers who taught him were not good fighters. They did have many other things such as forms or methods that he could utilize to improve his skills. He still paid the respect to these teachers as he would to others who were highly skilled. Based only on rumors of a great master, he would journey over rough terrain and dangerous wilderness in hope to discover more about the martial arts. His adventures are worthy of a book in themselves. The Search of "Little Tiger" One of the examples is his search for a famous master, Chang Hai Seng, whose nickname is "Little Tiger" in the rural state of An Hui. Master Chang Hai Seng was living in the high mountains. In order to find him, my father had to walk many miles. Although he began his trip in the early morning, he could not see any signs of houses as the day turned to evening. The sky was quickly approaching total darkness... Used Book in Good Condition