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ORIENTAL EXERCISE
Dedicated to maintaining health and vitality through movement

Prevention Better - 12 Nearly-forgotten Secrets to help You
stay Fit and Well Booksurge Publishing

An exciting and rather different approach to health is revealed to you in these pages - 12 nearly-forgotten secrets to help you to stay fit and well. It includes many of those nuggets of wisdom our grandparents would have endeavoured to pass on to us regarding health but which most of us probably ingored at the time - and still do! Traditional wisdom is, however, combinded here with input from two very different sources - the age-old teachings of oriental medicine but also modern scientific research - both of which are referred to in each chapter where appropriate.
I orinally wrote this book for my patients, to help them stay well in-between treatments, but soon realised it could be of use to almost everybody. With information on diet and exercise, alternative therapies and self-help routines, along with lots of useful and interesting information on the causes of many common illnesses and how to prevent them, this is an invaluable book for anyone at all interested in taking responsibility for their health and for giving the doctors a helping hand.

This is a book designed in part for beginners, and provides a useful introduction to the principles and background of tai ji, as well as containing extensive line-drawings of all the movements of the Short Yang Form. Although it is not entirely possible to 'teach yourself' a subject as extensive and far-reaching as tai ji without at least some input from an instructor, a book of this kind is certainly a good way to start. And a book can provide that all-important quality of inspiration at any time.

With its emphasis on the health and relaxation aspects of the subject, Teach Yourself Tai Chi is also designed for anyone wishing to approach the subject from a mental or spiritual point of view, as well as the physical. The Taoist dimensions of tai ji practice is therefore also addressed in these pages - including Yin and Yang and the Five Elements of Chinese philosophy - along with the presentation of foot diagrams, warm-up exercises and directions for co-ordinating your breathing with the movements.

Tips on meditation are also included. I like to think, therefore, that it makes for a useful reference book even for advanced students as well as for those running workshops and classes in need of a reasonably-priced text-book for students to use at home.

This is a straight-forward and clear introduction to the Short Yang Form of tai ji. It is also suitable as a guide for the more experienced student because it shows the whole of the form in detail, with large colour photographs. The yin phase of each movement (usually the in-breath) is also shown - making this a suitable reference book for learning or for assisting those already taking classes.

Notes are included on the health benefits of tai ji - and, in particular, those thought to be associated with certain individual movements. Often we are assured that tai ji is good for us, but rarely is it ever explained exactly why or how. This book attempts to bridge that gap. The ratio of weight for the feet is shown for each photo, and occasionally a floor grid is superimposed over the photograhs to indicate the distance between the feet themselves. Getting the stance right in this respect is very important, of course and is something which is often neglected. Finally, indications for breathing and those all-important transitions from one movement to the next are described in detail.

I like to think this is a useful and practical book and will be a source of encouragement to anyone who loves and enjoys these wonderful and inspiring movements as much as I do

Although the following books are currently out of print, they might still be available on-line. I am listing them here because, if you can get hold of them, they are still quite useful. (Often the best titles are not necessarily the ones which stay in print!).

Tai Chi Made Easy
Published in the US by People's Medical Society 1997

Richly illustrated with colour photography, this pioneering book shows all of the Short Yang Form of tai ji, with feet placement and hand positions all together in one place. It also features chapters on history, philosophy and health which I think still work quite well. Is tai ji easy to learn? It probably is easier if you can relax about it and enjoy your progress each day. I like to think that this is the kind of book that encourages that attitude - and a good companion to going to classes. Clear instructions, easy to follow - useful for beginners and students.