What are /r/taijiquan's favorite Products & Services?

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There's a book of this, as well. For a more martial focused treatment, perhaps the Chinese fast wrestling book. And quite a bit of practice in a safe location, starting with basic drills and falling drills.

https://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Tiger-Medical-Qigong-Movements/dp/1556439210

If you already learned it it looks like there are videos on youtube.

I'm going to disagree with /u/kwamzilla, I know "there's an app for that" is all the rage these days but get a thing called a book instead. It comes in digital or paper form, looks sort of like a weird brick.

For example Mindfulness in Plain English.

http://www.wildmind.org/ also has proper meditation guides.

And I'd suggest r/buddhism instead if you have questions.

When CWT developed taijiquan women were taught, but only a couple generations learned before women were banned. CWT (1580-1660) had a nephew, Chen Soule and Chen Soule's daughter helped save the village she lived in with her husband from bandits. She killed two bandits with her sword, escaped the village and brought her brothers back to finish off the rest of the bandits. Chen Souyu, Chen Soule's sister was said to be highly skilled and saved her brother's life.

https://www.amazon.com/Chen-Style-Taijiquan-Source-Boxing/dp/1556433778

I've read through the other comments here and think I understand what you're looking for.

I'll recommend 2 DVDs, one by Liang, Shouyou (Ian Sinclair's teacher) and the other by his daughter Helen Liang.

The first DVD goes through all the movements complete with two demonstrations (front and rear) that you can watch and even follow. The disk also covers the 48 form. The second DVD pretty much covers the same material, also with two demonstrations, the first by Helen Liang and the other by Chenhan Yang (who is excellent).

You can still buy both these dvds from the ymaa website. However, the first one could be getting phased out. (I see that's no longer available on Amazon as a disk, but only as Prime video.)

Of course, there are many, many 24 form DVDs. I just happen to own these and can speak to their quality.

Lots of quality recommendations here. I second pretty much all of it.

I have a quite a few English translations of the classics, but if I were going to recommend one to someone who hasn't read them at all, I'd probably say YJM's Tai Chi Secrets of the Ancient Masters. It's a slim and inexpensive paperback and will get you started.

As for more general reading . . . Martial Arts Essays from Beijing, 1760 is a great read for anyone who enjoys TCMA. It's awesome.

I learned on my own. I highly recommend Dr Yang’s materials.. I’d get the book and dvd to be honest.

And actually, I think you can get the first section of the form on Amazon prime if you have that. So I started there and then shelled out the cash for the whole thing.

>The Chinese character for Peng is the hand radical followed by two full moons.

True.

But it's a pictophonetic（形声）character. That is, one element (the hand radical 手, shǒu) conveys some meaning, and the other element (朋）conveys a sound: péng. Today, 朋 means friend.

My first master liked to talk about the two moons and arcing arms thing too. I don't know if that's right.

>In the Oracle-Bone and Bronze Inscriptions, the character 朋 represents two strings of cowrie shells, suggesting a monetary unit. Later, 朋 extended to mean "friend" because the strings of the shells are together. In Regular Script, the two shells are replaced by two moons 朋 . Source.

Maybe the phonetic element is meant conveyed a sense of being linked, connected? I don't know.

For now, I'm just treating it a purely phonetic element until I hear more from the real tai chi scholars.

A Tai Chi instructor I know participated in one of these studies, and I personally saw some of his students recover from cancer by doing tai chi:

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The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi: 12 Weeks to a Healthy Body, Strong Heart, and Sharp Mind (Harvard Health Publications)

https://www.amazon.com/Harvard-Medical-School-Guide-Tai/dp/1590309421/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=harvard+tai+chi&qid=1604175664&s=books&sr=1-2

I found this book helpful for the form. I have trained with the authors and know a large number of people who have trained with them (although choose not to now). They are official disciples of Chen Xiaowang. The book breaks down the first section of Laojia (the traditional Chen Form) with photos overlaid to show how the movement progresses. It's also in a ring binder format that means you can stand it up and look at it as you do the form.

Here's a link on Amazon and also a link to the Authors' website. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tai-Chi-Every-Body-Koskuba/dp/0762106840

http://ciaa.org.uk/

Amazon Italy has the "Sword Fundamental Training" DVD from Yang Jwing-Ming.

The DVD is good as a supplement to what I have already learned in class. It gave me ideas for solo exercises to do at home in addition to solo exercises learned in class.

i've only read my teacher's teacher's book, Taijiquan: The Art of Nurturing, The Science of Power

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0974099015/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_btf_t1_N9gDFbNZNGM16

http://centerfortaiji.com/qibalance/books.html

If you're learning the 24 yang form from a DVD this is the best resource for you. Covers the form in forensic detail, lots of useful diagrams to explain foot positioning and transition movements. Would definitely recommend video instruction initially to get the basic movements down, but this is a brilliant refresher if you are looking to further refine things, at least before classes reopen again. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B006STNJGO/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I found Internal Structure of Cloud Hands by Robert Tangora to be a great book https://www.amazon.com/Internal-Structure-Cloud-Hands-Advanced-ebook/dp/B00BE24WA2. It explains various tai chi principles using just cloud hands including the aspects of Peng Lu Ji and An. Makes what's going on in the rest of the form a lot easier to comprehend.

This one of the best books about Taijiquan. In my opinion, it is the best for practice, incredibly precise, complete and fluent.

Style: old, classic, 1970s

Master: Cheng Man Ching

https://www.amazon.it/Master-Chengs-New-Method-Self-Cultivation/dp/1883319927

Internal Body Mechanics for Tai Chi, Bagua and Xingyi: The Key to High-Quality Internal Structure and Movement

I would highly recommend this book by Ken Gullette. It covers the 6 basics of body movement in Tai Chi. This is the foundation of Tai Chi. I have not watched his Tai Chi videos, but his Xingi videos are very good, so the Tai Chi videos may be worth check out. But definitely get the book.

I also agree about the Michael Gillman videos on You Tube. With the Body Machanics book, the Michael Gillman videos which are free to watch, all else you would need to get for your dad would be a book covering the Yang Long Form.

This is a good book:

Yang Style Traditional Long Form T'ai Chi Ch'uan: As Taught by T.T. Liang

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Well qigong and taijiquan practice zhanzhuang differently. It even varies within tijiquan styles. Using this as a reference, I'd say you can't go wrong with first, second and third.

The order itself doesn't matter as much, the first one is the easiest, so it's a good place to start. The third one in that link is I think the second easiest. The one with the hands at head-level is the hardest (Holding the Balloon in Front of Your Face, in that book), is quite tough, so if I were you I'd wait for that one.

Unless you follow a particular system, you can't go wrong with just practicing the "second position". Or at least include it in daily practice together with other positions. It's like the mother of all postures :)

Many teachers when they teach zhanzhuang they just show that position, particularly taijiquan teachers. They might use the wuji stance (first position in that reference) with beginners so they don't tense up too much.

While controversial, for Zhanzhuang, I recommend this book. It includes some other stuff, but the pointers to practice zhanzhuang are great, and he teaches you how to use a wall for self-correction, which is great when starting out.

Neil hasn’t probably read this translation: https://www.amazon.com/Taijiquan-Classics-Martial-Artists-Translation-ebook/dp/B01NBZFPAQ

But he is probably right in suggesting that getting taught by a good teacher is much better than studying Taijiquan from books.

Get one of these, they are awesome.

Sorry mate, but Master Yang made this qigong available to a Western audience well before 2008. In fact, I worked for him in the 90s and he already had a well established martial arts publishing empire even then.

The VHS goes back to 1995 and there was a book before that.

Here’s a link.

https://www.amazon.com/Yang-Style-Tai-Chuan-Applications/dp/0940871181

I was reading Master Yang Jun on ethics today and he says, “When you share what you’ve learned at a class, workshop or seminar, give credit to the original presenter.”

This should obviously hold true for videos.

This is the one I have.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F4MRWY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_iZJ0CbMNVKGFN

I had to carry it around all day on campus since I took the class in college. I tried both it and a wooden one, I prefer the collapsible personally. My instructor also used a similar collapsible that he had gotten in China on one of his trips back there. Hope it works well for you.

Same with my country, Australia, Taijiquan isn't really a big thing here so there are a lot of sad excuses for teachers, but you can almost always find a real master if you look hard enough, they don't always run big schools, if there's a Chinese or Malaysian community around there somewhere, ask around if anybody knows a good Taijiquan teacher.

It could even just be someone practising in the park alone in the mornings, maybe they'll agree to help you practise.

In the meantime you can start with a good book that'll go through the basics.

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Chengs-Method-Taichi-Self-Cultivation/dp/1883319927

You are no longer "esteemed" in my post, so your reputation is safe once more. I shall take caution to not impune in the slightest your style and lineage lest you be compelled to give me a lesson. That other fellow is sadly, in need of instruction. If you can find this book at a library it is worth a read. It is not worth the purchase price.

https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Knight-Errant-J-Y-Liu/dp/B0007DEX4O/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1544399314&sr=1-1&keywords=Chinese+Knight-errant

Very good and thoughtful answers.

As for books, I suggest reading Taiji Classics - most recent translation by Scott Rodell is very good interpretation by martial arts practitioner. But all the rest are very good sources for anyone interested in deeper understanding of Taijiquan.

Read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Juice-Radical-Energetics-Scott-Meredith/dp/1478260696

Tai Chi Chuan is about energy cultivation and refinement first and foremost. If you really want to learn how to fight (or increase chances of such) join a boxing or BJJ club. Do continue w tai chi either way. "RELAX" with intent is key to success. That and never missing a day. Would highly suggest investing in daily standing (zhan zhuang) practice.

If you're just doing it for health I'd recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Chengs-Method-Taichi-Self-Cultivation/dp/1883319927

It's Yang style though, not Wu.

For Wu style I think there might be something here:

https://brennantranslation.wordpress.com/

If you want to learn it as a martial art you need an instructor though.

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Chengs-Method-Taichi-Self-Cultivation/dp/1883319927

Maybe some parts might confuse but this one for example is very easy to follow, it's literally drawn for you step by step.

Mark Chen, author of this book, is in the San Mateo area. Berkeley area also has Terry Chan. Both, I believe, were students in Chen Jia Gou. Even if you don't train with them, they probably know of other masters/instructors in your area.

I understand. I think a lot of people on the net forget that while most people live in urban areas, not all people live in urban areas, and that if you don't your choices probably boil down to Web/Print Tai Chi or no Tai Chi.

If Yang is what you are interested in, I'd start with Simplied Tai Chi it's a pretty decent book that covers the short form. There is a companion DVD, but I haven't seen it so I can't give you a review. You could also check your local library, they may have more materials

I'd always suggest working with a live instructor if possible, even if just to get the basics body mechanics down. Even if you are too far away from a Tai Chi instructor 6 months or so of Karate or Tae Kwon Do could give you a big jump if you work hard at it. Martial arts to a certain extent are martial arts, and a lot of the basics transfer. If that's not feasible, then go for it, as long as you listen to your body and don't do anything that causes pain what's the worst that happens, you get a little exercise, hopefully outside in some nice weather. :)

Look for someone that teaches Taiji as a martial art, and someone that teaches forms. Look for someone with a good lineage and a good definition of what style they teach. Look for someone who teaches the basic taiji principles. But, most importantly, look for someone you feel comfotable with.

If you're not sure, look at amazon for some books you can read before committing to a school. Taiji is very easy to learn, but very difficult to master.

I found this book very helpful: http://www.amazon.com/Tai-Chi-Chuan-Wen-Questions/dp/0938190679/ref=pd_cp_14_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=1ENPP988QJYY5HZ20P28