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Combat Techniques of Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua: Principles and Practices of Internal Martial Arts | 
 enlarge | Author: Lu Shengli
Creator: Zhang Yun
Publisher: Blue Snake Books
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $14.16
You Save: $8.79 (38%)
New (23) Used (11) from $12.82
Avg. Customer Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 61691
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 8.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 1583941452
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.815
EAN: 9781583941454
ASIN: 1583941452
Publication Date: February 9, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
The combat techniques of Tai Ji, Ba Gua, and Xing Yi were forbidden during China's Cultural Revolution, but the teachings of grandmaster Wang Pei Shing have survived. This comprehensive guide, written by one of his students, selects core movements from each practice and gives the student powerful tools to recognize the unique strategies and skills, and to develop a deeper understanding, of each style. It contains complete instructions for a 16-posture form to gain mastery of combat techniques. The book helps practitioners achieve a new level of practice, where deeply ingrained skills are brought forth in a more fluid, intuitive, and fast-paced fashion.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Good Lineage, interesting April 10, 2008
I would agrre with Magellans review, in addition I would say that no book covers it all and there is some interesting history here which will make for great disagreements for years to come amongst the experts but I think much of it possibly comes through Wang Pei Sheng who is the real gem of this book. He was there amongst the tigers and I've heard before he fought he would ask the person which style he would like him to use to beat them with. The history of Wudang technique was good because it is and always has been cloudy. Its true that there could be more information on Taiji but all three including Bagua and Hsingi are treated equally. I believe the author has deep knowledge and this is just the tip of the iceburg I will put it with my other favorites.
Excellent book, but see below November 30, 2007
This is an excellent book on several of the internal arts, and even goes into some other styles most people have probably never heard of, such as liu he ba fa, but it's not a good book for a beginner. If you're an intermediate student, this book will be fine, but for a rank beginner I think it would be too difficult. But even after a year of good training, this book might be okay (but the person would have to work pretty hard, though).
That having been said, there's a lot of good information here, both about internal arts philosophy and their approach as well as about more practical techniques. internal principles get discussed in detail, and there is a nice presentation of the 16 form set, one I didn't know, and I know a lot of Chinese forms at this point, both in tai chi and kung fu. But the internal martial arts are far more diverse and broader than many people know, and no one can know everything.
Someone commented that the writing wasn't that good, but I disagree. That had to do more with translating more literally from the Chinese into English, so the writing actually sounds in many ways more Chinese rather than like professional written English. And I have no problem with that, having studied a little Mandarin in college.
I agree with Lawrence Kane's earlier review that material on actual combat techniques should have been included, and that the title is therefore misleading. Tai chi, for example, does have knife defense techniques that are rarely seen, and tai chi knife techniques also. (Note that I'm not referring to the tai chi "knife" form, which actually means the broadsword or saber, but smaller knives). But realistically, that would require another book just by itself.
I really enjoyed this book, speaking as someone who has studied tai chi for over 20 years, and also I've had some exposure to ba gua, which I wish I could have had more of, along with hsing i. But perhaps some day I'll be able to do that. In the meantime, this book helped fill some of the gaps in my own knowledge and I can recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about the subject.
By the way, Bruce Kumar Frantzis's book on the internal martial arts is also excellent and I can recommend that too, as well. There is now a new edition of the book out as well.
 Very deep, not for the novice July 26, 2007
It is a good book, but it takes a long time to figure out what they are talking about. Don't get me wrong, it is a valid piece, but it is for someone who is already familiar with the Chinese internal arts. Not a price but for your money, you might want to go with something else.
Excellent resource June 8, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a very good book on the subject by an author that clearly has extensive experience and knowledge on the subjects. He present a unique form which combines key aspects of three arts
 Title Misleading December 11, 2006
4 out of 8 found this review helpful
Mr. Lu's volume, "Combat techniques of Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua: Principles and practices of Internal Martial Arts" alludes to giving a short history and explanation of three internal styles of Chinese martial arts. In my humble opinion the title is misleading. His sections on how to achieve results with training are all well and good if you have studied with him or his teachers, though fundamentally useless if you have not. His general applications section seem to come right out of a standard kung-fu training manual. There is little regard for the special soft hand positions found in real internal practice and application, though I do not doubt that the author knows them. I also found that he covered hardly anything regarding traditional Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan, which I have been studying and teaching for some time now.
Although the volume's title, "Combat techniques of Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua: Principles and practices of Internal Martial Arts," gives the impression that it covers most aspects of three internal martial arts and is well illustrated with many photos, it speaks very little of Tai Chi Chuan. I also found many of his considerations on internal practice to be exactly the same as those offered by many other books on the subject. There was nothing new or intriguing in his writing or his descriptions of applications, especially of Yang Tai Chi Chuan, my main interest. If you are looking for a book on Yang Tai Chi Chuan with internal practice methods, as I was, then this is a book you need not to bother with. I returned my copy after a 15-minute perusal.
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