T'ai-Chi: The Supreme Ultimate Exercise for Health, Sport, and Self-Defense

This might have been the first work in English on tai chi, and Smith was Cheng Man Ching's first western or American student. It's still one of the best introductory tai chi books out there. The photos of Cheng's form are worth the price of the book by themselves, his form being impeccable as usual and a high benchmark we should all strive to attain. One caution, which is that the photos of Cheng are from two other previous books and some are reversed from what they are in the actual form; for example, single whip is shown on the left side when it is actually done on the right side. You can tell they're from different books since some photos show Cheng in a white jacket, and others show him in a dark jacket. Smith includes the best brief, several-page summary of tai chi history and its origins I've seen, giving you essential details and facts without getting into an overly meticulous recounting of its origins, the lineage, and other controversial issues, which are still unresolved, anyway. But if you become more of an advanced student you'll want to learn all about that later. For an introductory text this is enough information for now. A nice chapter on the martial arts applications is also included, something neglected too often in present day tai chi texts. Also, some good information and instruction on pushing hands techniques. By the way, pushing hands was a skill added to tai chi much later, it being originally a dim mak or point striking art, which most practitioners aren't aware of. One minor quip. The pictures for the photo sequences of Cheng's form are a little small and sometimes a bit dark by present reproduction standards, but one has to remember these plates are now almost 40 years old. However, they're still good enough so you can see the postures and techniques okay. Overall still a fine book and at this point a true classic and landmark in the history of martial arts books about the more obscure Chinese arts. Smith's books on hsing i and ba gua were also important early efforts and excellent books also, and if you are interested in further information on the two other Wu Dang internal arts those are working getting too.

This book is really comprehensive. It has many pictures and descriptions of them to help you along with the forms. I'm taking a Tai Chi class at my college, and this book is the perfect companion. It is very well layed out and can be easily followed. Of course it is always necessary to have an actual master, but this book is probably the best on the market. Many Tai Chi books are confusing and poorly made, but this is one of the few that is not. Learning Tai Chi straight from a book is a little silly, at least look for classes or a video. But this is the perfect companion piece to perfecting your Tai Chi. If you want to buy the best, this is the one - no question about it.

The photos on the cover have varied over the thirty years this book has been printed. My preference is the original one with Chen Man Ching vice the leotard clad dancers, old people, etc. that had evolved from marketing. This book is a classic. The highest point are the photographs of Chen Man Ching. What an example of elegant and correct Tai-chi.

Cheng Man-ch'ing and Robert W Smith do an excellent job of showing the western readers the real traditional tai chi. With over 275 pictures and 122 diagrams Robert Smith continues to produce the high quality books he is famous for. I would recomend this book to all serious martial artists.

This text by famous grandmaster Cheng Man-ch'ing and his first Western student, the well-known martial arts authority, Robert W. Smith, was written specifically for Western readers. One of the very first books written in English about T'ai Chi (first published in the U.S. in 1967), it is the first to present Cheng's now famous Yang style short form. It is also provides an English translation (by R. W. Smith and T.T. Liang) of the extremely important T'ai Chi Classics which provide the written wisdom essential for understanding and progress. The book includes pictures of Cheng doing the postures along with text describing them as well as a very helpful foldout chart showing the complete form. Other excellent chapters cover T'ai Chi history, T'ai Chi for a healthier life and the Principles of T'ai Chi. In the section, T'ai Chi for Self-Defense, Cheng is pictured (with T.T. Liang) in demonstrations of some of the postures such as "Turn Body and Sweep Lotus with Leg" in which he advises that the "...waist and thigh must be relaxed and sunk or the sweep will not be effective." In "Withdraw and Push," Cheng tells us that "The energy used must come from the leg, not the hands." The section entitled "Yang Cheng-fu's Twelve Important Points" introduces Westerners to the insights of the Yang family, the originators of modern T'ai Chi and the ones to bring forth T'ai Chi to all of China and the world in general. In "Questions and Answers," Smith asks Cheng a series of interesting questions. For example, "In doing the postures how does one know when he is relaxed?" (Relaxation, of course, is the first principle of T'ai Chi practice.) Also, he asks "How important is the Pushing-Hands Practice?" Cheng's answers to these and other insightful questions provide helpful guidance to a student at any level. This early, excellent text would be an important addition to any T'ai Chi player's library.