Essentials of Tai Chi and Qigong

If youve ever seen a group of people moving in exquisitely graceful dance-like exercises in your local
park, gym, or community center, you have witnessed the ancient Chinese arts of tai chi (taiji) and
qigong. These ordinary people are improving their health, strength, balance, concentration, and
mental well-beingand they are having fun while doing it! Best of all, you can enjoy all these benefits
yourself, regardless of your current level of physical fitness.
Tai chi is a philosophy of balance and a pinnacle of the martial arts, known as tai chi chuan (or
taijiquan), which means the ultimate martial art. Qigong, which is traditionally studied alongside tai
chi, means energy exercise. Together, these two disciplines are transforming the way people take
care of themselves. No need for high-intensity workouts that focus on a limited set of muscles and
leave you feeling drained. Instead there is a better, centuries-old way to exercise that has these
advantages:
The slow-motion moves of tai chi and qigong utilize more of your muscles than other exercises, giving
you a total-body workout.
Tai chi and qigong are meditation in motion. You lose yourself in the rhythmic flow of the forms.
Anxiety and the cares of daily life dissolve away.
The documented medical effects of tai chi and qigong include improved heart, lung, bone, and mental
health, and an enhanced immune system.
Tai chi and qigong require no equipment. You can do them anywhere and need only enough space for
an ox to lie down, as the traditional expression puts it.
People of all ages enjoy tai chi and qigong, while the low intensity of the poses makes them especially
well suited for older people.
Essentials of Tai Chi and Qigong is a complete introduction to the practice, history, benefits, and
philosophy of these immensely rewarding activities. In 24 half-hour lessons, you learn the
fundamentals of tai chi and qigong from an internationally renowned tai chi champion and trainer,
David-Dorian Ross, who has been practicing tai chi for more than 35 years.
No other presentation of these venerable arts is as comprehensive and enjoyable. Unfailingly friendly
and helpful, Mr. Ross explains each movement in easy-to-follow steps. He has a gift for anticipating a
beginners questions, leaving no doubt about how you should be positioned for each pose.
And where other video products exist that emphasize mimicking an instructors choreography, which
can end in boredom or burnout, this course is a multi-layered combination of practical instruction
aimed at physical and mental health, together with deep insight into how to motivate and enrich
movement and mindfulness in your own life, using the best of qigong and tai chi.
Those already experienced in tai chi and qigong will gain an unprecedented scope of understanding
and will find Mr. Rosss mindset and detailed instructions invaluable for refining their own skills. And
his presentation of background topics, such as Chinese philosophy, medicine, and martial arts history,
will enrich the practice of tai chi and qigong for everyone.
Master the Worlds Most Popular Tai Chi Routine
Each lesson of Essentials of Tai Chi and Qigong starts with a standing qigong exercise to get you
energized. In the middle, you perform an easy tai chi movement to get you into the flow. You conclude
each lesson with a posture from the Yang family short form, the best known of the different tai chi
styles. The 24-movement Yang family short form, often called simply the short form, is the most
widely recognized and performed tai chi routine in the world. When you see tai chi practitioners in the
parkfrom Beijing to San Francisco to Paristhey are most likely doing the short form. By mastering
one segment of the short form in each lesson, you will be able to join them, and even step out on your
own, in no time!
The short form includes such memorable movements as Parting the Wild Horses Mane, White Crane

Spreads Wings, and Waving Hands Like Clouds. The names are mnemonics to help you remember the
graceful shapes you create as you take a step, turn, raise your arms, and then move forward, back, or
to the side, making a distinctive figure depending on the movement. One posture beautifully merges
with the next, with moves that are the foundation for many other tai chi routines.
You also learn about four other family styles of tai chi, as well as personal modifications you can make
so that tai chi and qigong will work for you, no matter what your level of fitness or flexibility.You even
investigate rudimentary weapons exercises, as well as a two-person exercise of tai chi, called push
hands, that you play with a partner.
Get in Balance and Improve Your Health
Studies by Harvard Medical School and other research centers show that tai chi and qigong have a
wide range of health benefits. These include:
Blood pressure and cholesterol: Tai chi and qigong are good for your heart, with effects including
lowered blood pressure and improved levels of cholesterol.
Weight loss: Tai chi burns calories at a surprisingly high rate and reduces stress, making weight loss
easier. It is also an excellent activity for people who are overweight.
Healthy back: One of the principles of tai chi and qigong is proper body alignment, which leads to
good posture. The practice also helps control and relieve back pain.
Managing chronic disease: Tai chi and qigong are an effective adjunct to standard medical therapies
for chronic diseases, helping you manage symptoms and stay healthier.
Better balance: Even simple tai chi and qigong poses improve balance, reducing the risk of falls for
older people and those with neurological problems.
Balance also encompasses the way you lead your life, both at home and at work. We are all familiar
with the competing demands on our time and attention that produce stress. Practicing tai chi and
qigong can help resolve these tensionsnot by making them disappear, but by putting them in
perspective and making them manageable. Whenever life is in balance, everything works better. This
inner harmony is represented by the ancient Chinese yin-yang symbol, and you will be intrigued to
learn how completely this idea of balanced opposites permeates Chinese philosophy, medicine, and
martial artsand how tai chi epitomizes the best of those traditions, bringing them together for you in
ways that are eminently practical, and potentially life-changing.
Take a Journey of Health and Fulfillment
Impressively graceful, Mr. Ross looks like he was born to do Chinese martial arts. But its inspiring to
know that he was never athletic growing up; that as an adult he couldnt sit still long enough to
meditate in a seated posture, yet he fell in love with the moving meditation of tai chi; and that he has
gone on to win the highest awards ever given to an American for international tai chi performance.
Theres no reason you cant take a similar journey of health and fulfillment. The best way to begin,
says this consummate practitioner and guide, is to find a joy in the basic rhythms. All you have to do
is put one foot forward and start. Take that step and experience the joy of movement yourself with
Essentials of Tai Chi and Qigong.

1 The Snake and the Crane

2 First Steps in a Journey
3 Harmony and Balance
4 The Ultimate Martial Art
5 The Five Families of Tai Chi Practice
6 Qigong and the Five Animal Frolics
7 Energy Exercise: A Branch of Chinese Medicine
8 The First Pillar of Practice: Forms
9 The Second Pillar: Push Hands for Two
10 The Third Pillar: Standing Meditation

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Benefits to the Heart and Immune System

A Healthy Weight and a Healthy Mind
Tai Chi Legends: Stories of the Masters
Reading the Tai Chi Classics
A Superior Workout: Use More of Your Muscles
Eight Pieces of Brocade and a Better Back
Tai Chi Weapons: When Hands Are Not Empty
Using the Mind: Inner Organizing Principles
Mental and Physical Flow
Creating Space for Choices
Flow at Work: When Business Is in Balance
Energy Flow in Your Surroundings
Taking Practice Deeper
The Evolution of Tai Chi

David-Dorian Ross is the founder and CEO of TaijiFit and the creator of the TaijiFit mind-body exercise
program. He has a B.A. in Human Movement Studies from San Francisco State University, has
completed graduate course work in Physical Education and Chinese, and is currently developing a
project with the head of the Harvard Medical School research department to study the stress-reduction
benefits of tai chi (taiji) in the workplace.
Trained in China with championship martial arts coaches, Mr. Ross has had an illustrious career in
competitive tai chi, winning seven U.S. gold medals, two world bronze medals, and a world silver
medalthe highest awards ever given to an American for international tai chi performance. He was
the founder and chief instructor of the Honolulu Tai Chi Academy and a certified continuing educator
for the American Council on Exercise. Mr. Ross is the host of the PBS series Tai Chi: Health and
Happiness and the author of five books on health and wellness, including Exercising the Soul: How Tai
Chi Connects You to Your Authentic Self.
Since 2012, he has collaborated with international action film star Jet Li on a mission to introduce tai
chi to 100 million new people worldwide by the year 2020