Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #242952 in Books
• Published on: 1998-12-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

A very good introduction to Qigong!
Dr. Yang is a wealth of information on internal martial arts. The book is well written and very informative. My only problem is with the pictures. I found some of them difficult to follow. I would recommend this book as an adjunct for someone who is already training in Qigong exercise. Overall, however, an excellent text!

chi kung
Not really much on the martial side of it, but that depends on what you class as the martial side of it.

For any one who practices chi kung or would like to... this can give you an explantion of what it is about as well as what to do.

This book also show's you his ba duan jin, though he does have a book on just that, this does'nt go through the history of it just the form.

And his yi jin jing, though he did write and show you this in an artical in inside kung fu, this has a bit more info on it.

If you have seen these els where or even if you have but don't practice them buy this book and start. if you have and do, buy this book for more info on chi kung ( internal and external )

This book has much more to offer than what i've wrote about.

lots of exercises
The book starts by teaching you some basic Qigong history and influence, nothing extensive but just there to inform you.

It then starts to teach you two Wai Dan exercises, these are exercises where you learn to direct your Qi into your hands, either a fist or open palm hand. If you are new to Qi-based arts, the open palm sequence is easiest to start with.
These are primarily mind-exercises, not muscle exercises, although holding your arms up for 20 minutes is very hard work, you'll definitely feel in your shoulders.
These exercises are well suited for martial artists training in styles where Qi plays a central role - such as Tai Chi Chuan and Aikido.

Then Dr.Yang teaches you a moving Qigong form, this sequence of exercises are quite gentle on you and coordinates deep breathing with body-exercises that resemble Tai Chi. I always feel refreshed after I've done these, and my mind feels clear. This form is especially good for building up lower-back and joint strength.

Next up is the Eight Pieces Brocade, which is similar to the previous form, with exercises that resemble Tai Chi. There are some stretching-based exercises, some joint-based, some mind-based (Qi). Throughout all of them coordinated deep breathing plays a big part.
This form is abit more strenuous than the previous one.

Next comes still Wai Dan forms, which according to Dr.Yang himself are very similar to Yoga. These are exercises where you hold a certain body-position for x-amount of minutes, for example in one of them you hold a push-up position for 1-3 minutes.
These are perhaps the most strenuous of all the physical exercises.

All of this is just half the book.

Next up is Nei Dan Qigong, this is purely internal or meditative Qigong.
First it covers some historical and theoretical information. Then it starts to teach you how to meditate Qigong-style, it gives you some practical pointers on how to best meditate: food, posture, time of meditation etc.
The first meditative techniques taught are what most of us associate with meditation, they focus on building up a core of Qi inside yourself.
It takes a very long time to learn any of this, to control your mind in this way.
After these are some even more difficult meditation or Qi-techniques, I'm not sure how to describe them well because I have not been able to reach this stage. But from what I understand you start to direct the Qi, that you have now learned to build up, and channel it around your body in various ways. To reach this stage would require years of training I reckon.

The next part of the book discusses the relation between Qigong and health, this contains alot of theory on Chinese medicine or Qi-diagnosis, for lack of a better word. It also talks about acupuncture and massage.
It even shows you how to do some basic massage.

The final part of the book has a brief mention on martial applications of Qigong, it shows you important 'cavity presses' - places on your opponent/attacker where the Qi is concentrated and where you should or should not strike the attacker.

There is so much information in this book, this book will last you years or even decades.

All this said, Dr.Yang makes his point clear that if you decide that you want to learn the more advanced internal meditation methods you should really find a Qigong teacher and not learn from books because there is much that could go wrong.
He implies that self-learners should perhaps stick to only learning the physical forms and the two basic meditation methods.