Essential Tai Ji

Chungliang Al Huang is the founder of the Living Tao Foundation, an international cultural-arts network for lifelong learning, and he is also director of the Lan Ting Institute, a cross-cultural study and conference centre at the sacred and historic Wu Yi mountain in China, and at Gold Beach on the southern Oregon Coast in the USA. An extremely well-known Chinese Master, he grew up in China steeped in the studies of the classics. fine and martial arts. He came to the USA as a student in 1955 to become an architect and performing artist and began building bridges in East/West cultural synthesis, teaching at all the Human Potential Centers around the world, including Esalen Institute and Omega Institute in the USA; and Findhorn and Dartington Hall in the UK. He has written many classic books including Quantum Soup: Fortune Cookies in Crisis, Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain, and The Chinese Book of Animal Powers, all of which are now brought back into print by Singing Dragon. He has collaborated with Joseph Campbell, John Blofeld and Huston Smith, and is also co-author with Alan W. Watts of "Tao : The Watercourse Way" and with Dr. Jerry Lynch of "Thinking Body, Dancing Mind".Si Chi Ko, who took the photographs in this book, was born in Taiwan and received his training at the College of Photography in Tokyo, Japan. A world traveler and a multi-ranged freelance photographer, who has collaborated with Chungliang Al Huang for over 4 decades. An internationally renowned artist, Ko is considered a "National Treasure" both in Taiwan and in Mainland China.Additional photographs are by Christine Gertsch, an artist who lives in Switzerland and Portugal, and a long time Tai Ji student of Master Huang.

First published over 20 years ago, this classic book distils the basic art of Tai Ji, which are lovingly presented in eloquent writing, and accompanied by splendid photography and beautiful calligraphy. Chungliang Al Huang shares the basic movements of Tai Ji and it's relationship with nature, space and time. The book promotes strength, relaxation and clarity.

• 1. Introduction. 2. The Origin of Tai Ji. 3. The Meaning of Tai Ji. 4. The Vocabulary of Tai Ji. 5. The Form of Tai Ji: Some Basic Moves. 6. The Tai Ji Dance: The Fire Moving Forces. 7. The Practice. 8. Summary