T'ai-Chi Ch'uan Experience

Sophia Delza is a master of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan and was Director of the First School of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan in the United States.

• List of Illustrations and Tables Foreword by Robert Cummings Neville Preface Introductory Note: As a Beginning Experience Classified Chapters I. THE CENTERED MIND 1. The Mind Must be Willing2. The Mind-Body Connection3 Mind-Alert4. The Unifying Principles5. What Gives a System Validity?II. THE TANGIBLE SPIRIT 1. The Moving Spirit2. The Eloquence of Silence3. With an Air of Innocence4. Spontaneity: The Look of Ease5. The Student Is Forever; Learning Is Forever6. The Ending Is a New BeginningIII. THE EVER-PRESENT SUBSTANCE 1. Landscape of the Self in Action2. The Long Journey3. The Harmonious Anatomy4. What Is the Nature of "Soft"?5. The Integrated Exercise6. A Glimmer of Insight into the Substance of T'ai-Chi Ch'uanIV. THE BALANCED SCALE OF STRUCTURE 1. A Miracle of Movement2. The Constant Curve: The Circle and the Wave3. The Historically Accurate T'ai-Chi Circle4. The Landscape of the Self in Spirit5. Finding the Straight in the Curved6. Form and Transition: Dual Themes in T'ai-Chi Ch'uan StructureV. THE ORGANIC FLOW OF PHYSIOLOGY 1. How Slow is Slow?2. The Life of the Hand: Its Significance in T'ai-Chi Ch'uan3. The Presence of the Eyes in the Action of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan4. The Quiet Control of the Head5. Some Distinguishing Features of the Wu and Yang Styles6. The Exercise-Art as It Functions Creatively for the ActorVI. THE INTRINSIC LOGIC OF PHILOSOPHY 1. A Harmony of Change2. The Spirit of Adventure in T'ai-Chi Ch'uan3. Two Portraits of the Exercise-Art of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan1. As the Viewer Sees T'ai-Chi Ch'uan2. As the Player Lives T'ai-Chi Ch'uan4. A Refreshing Technique: Action and Thought5. Perspective on My Experience with the Art of Classical Chinese Theater (Opera)6. Inherent Qualities: Form, Grace, StabilityVII. THE STEADY FRAME OF HISTORY 1. Chinese Exercise Techniques: Kung Fu and T'ai-Chi Ch'uan2. From Youth to Old Age3. The Art of Wu Shu: Innovations are Changing Traditional Exercises4. Chinese Exercise-Arts from Antiquity to the PresentVIII. CAUTIONARY COMMENTS 1. On the Necessity of Never Omitting Ch'uan in T'ai-Chi Ch'uan2. Is T'ai-Chi Ch'uan "Martial ?"3. On Martial Art "Experts"4. A Letter on the Subject of Music5. T'ai-Chi Ch'uan Is Not Moving Meditation6. On the Spirit in Teaching7. Street Scene at Dawn: People Exercising8. On the Abridged Version of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan9. On Traditional Clothing for PracticeIX. LIGHT VERSE ON SERIOUS THEMES 1. Images of Equanimity2. The Spirit of the Way in T'ai-Chi and the Ch'uan3. The Nine Elements: A Trinity of Threes in the Structure of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan4. A Three-Way ConversationMind Speaks Its MindEmotion States Its FeelingsThe Body Expresses Itself5. Ch'i Explains Its Presence: Objectively6. Aspects of Self-Awareness7. The Way of T'ai-Chi Ch'uanThoughtless ThoughtsInstant SpaceOne over TwoThe Nowness of the Now8. The Essential Quality9. A Message on Non-Violence to the Northeast Wind (The Yin and Yang of It)10. The Opposites Balance in the Chinese Theater11. A Friendly WayX. THE EXPANDING SCOPE OF AWARENESS 1. The Art of the Science of T'ai-Chi Ch'uan2. The Promise of Things to ComeAcknowledgments Illustration Credits Index