David Carradine's Tai Chi Workout for Beginners [VHS]

I am a therapist who just recently attended a 3-day Tai Chi training sponsored by David Carradine, where all of the trainers on this video tape were present. They all turned out to be highly skilled and credentialed martial artists. After giving us awesome demonstrations of martial arts skills, and showing us how various martial arts were related to the moves on this tape, they then methodically taught us the Tai Chi moves shown on this video. The designer of this video, Arnold Tayam (who also appears on the companion video David Carradine's Chi Kung Beginner's Workout, which I also recommend), is on the tape. Arnold is a wonderful instructor, has a doctorate in Chi Kung/Tai Chi and teaches medical applications of these arts for a living. He has distilled the essence of Chen style Tai Chi down to an easy-to-learn routine that is expertly taught. During our training weekend, he and the other instructors told many wonderful stories of how these Tai Chi moves shown on the tape have healed and prevented many ailments. David Carradine himself taught us how the peaceful philosophy of Taoism ties in with the movements on this tape. During the tape, Carradine narrates while all the martial artists go through the movements. He not only describes the correct movements but also describes the health benefits of each exercise. The tape has five sections, a warmup, repetitive practice of the moves, a section on stillness and meditation, and then two sections that tie the individual movements into a continuous Tai Chi form, first in slow motion, and then at normal speed. This instructional format makes the moves much easier to learn than other Tai Chi videos I have used. I do a lot of computer work, which tends to accumulate tension in my body, especially upper body and shoulders, and I can verify that the movements in this tape completely relax my body in just a few minutes of practice several times a day. As a therapist, I do training seminars frequently, and I consider the teaching technique on this tape to be excellent. I learned Tai Chi from this video, and after six months of working with it every day, studying in a live training with the actual martial artists on this tape was a thrilling experience. This is not just another "celebrity video", this is the real McCoy, a video by credentialed professionals with years of experience. This video has my highest endorsement.

Great workout, tai chi is an easy, smooth everyday workout that stretches the body. This tape stretches your entire body without stress, keeps you limber, helps with balance, aligns your back, can’t say enough about the tape. It is dated but the best., back, neck

Not really worth the money and quite boring.

This is a great way to learn Tai Chi at home! I especially love that it is in the VHS format, as I can easily stop and rewind the tape as needed--a lot more difficult to do if it were in a DVD format. David Carradine was a great instructor and I'm so glad that I was able to obtain it! I hope that Amazon will continue to offer videos in VHS format, as I understand that there are many classics that can only be assessed through VHS.

This video is a companion to the book by David Carradine and David Nakahara, "David Carradine's Tai Chi Workout: The Beginner's Program for a Healthier Mind and Body". The video is easy to follow and assists in understanding some of the movements in the book. However, in my opinion, the book was more useful and checking individual movements can be done much more quickly using the book.

Very disappointed; screen as black and white "snow." =- no sound.I will order another tape, hoping for a better result.

This Tai Chi workout VHS tape by David Carradine was purchased to replace the same tape that I owned. My tape was mangled when the VCR stopped working. I replaced the VCR and tape so now I am able to do my Tai Chi exercises. I find these stretching exercises to help me loosen-up and prepare for my tennis matches. I also believe it has helped to keep my knees working without taking any medication, icing, or other medical procedures. In short, I recommend Amazon and its suppliers in providing me with an excellent product at a low price in a timely manner.

...Too bad almost everyone else in the video was NOT, and that the producer and cameramen didn't know what they were doing. If you do the warm ups slowly and carefully (in spite of the complaints about this video's lack of warm ups, the whole first section of the video is nothing but) and then follow the master's moves ONLY, as shown later on in the video, you will build your Chi. I gave this 3 stars because this was the first video workout I ever attempted that actually helped me feel the Chi (regular practitioners will know what I'm talking about); the master was that good. DO NOT FOLLOW THE MOVES OF THE OTHER STUDENTS- MOST WERE CLUELESS AND MAY INJURE THE PURITY OF YOUR OWN PRACTICE.