Simplified Tai Chi Chuan With Applications

Well first you have the graduate study in the Yang long form here  Yang Tai Chi for Beginners (YMAA Taijiquan) Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming , that is really an excellent DVD if you want the LONG form.But if you just want the 24 form short version, this DVD is nowhere in the class of the former. First, you are just watching the master (a nice guy no doubt) going through his movements. Unlike the long form DVD (above) there is no explanation of 'now move your hand....', you just watch, and hope, and pray, and.... well, you can't really learn Tai Chi movements in this way. Yes, this is a companion DVD to the book, but even so, it's hard enough watching something and trying to mirror/reverse the movements on your own body. But to do so without any stopping, pausing, verbal guidance, most people will find this approach very frustrating.In fact, by Internet standards this is an old DVD from 2005. What YMAA needs to do is to have Dr. Yang take the same very good approach from the Beginners DVD (long form) and do the same (with less talking extra stuff) for the 24 forms. This could have been a much better DVD with 1) slower movements, 2) pauses in between, 3) and at least voice over narration. As it is most people are not going to make it through the first few movements with this.This is really a DVD to brush up on the movements if you already know most of the form. It will keep you fresh, but the bar is too high for newbies (even for those who remember the first 1/4 or so of the sequences like me).

Yes, I like it, but it could be a lot better. The errors in the DVD are a little unsettling. You watch one thing on the DVD and the narrator is saying something else.. I would hope they revise it someday. I have been doing the 24 postures for quite a while and wanted to learn the 48. A few things as simple as putting tape on the floor to show N S E W would help a beginner. If someone who made the DVD would watch it and see the glaring errors and correct them, it could be a better tape. A start is fixing the glaring errors like saying right foot when the tape shows left foot. Or, having the narrator talk about a new move and they show the end of the previous move. There are at least 3 significant changes to be made and I'm only up to posture 14. I purchased the manual hoping for more description, but the words are exactly the ones the narrator is reading. If one of the creators would just WATCH the DVD....

Very good in every way that is important: practical, clear, plenty of alternate views, explanations, and applications correlating to practical defense technique. Intelligent form. No chit-chat, humor or lulls; good background music, references, no unnecessary distractions. Instruction and demonstration is solemn, respectful and very skilled, just as I prefer from any serious instruction. This dvd is smoothly and professionally edited; no frills, just excellent quality. Good for most at-home users, does not require exceptional abilities and allows for continuing refinement for additional challenge. This dvd can be used alone, with the accompanying book (sold separately), or ideally with an experienced, insightful instructor and physician's recommendations for best individual experience and maximum safety. [Please use patience and thought in your movements, as well as practical and protective warm-up, stretching, strengthening and cool-down techniques with this as with any other new form of exercise.] Comparably speaking, this tai chi instructional dvd is very satisfying and rewarding - a jewel in your pocket. As a perpetual, humble, aging student, I can state this is enjoyable and helpful for me... and after several years of use and viewing of other videos, this is the only tai chi dvd I will keep.

This is my 2nd update. I took the dvd to my son and he was able to get it to load, but it still does not function correctly. I is extremely frustrating to try and navigate backwards and forwards in order to repeat the various movments.And sometimes it loads and sometimes it does not load. I still do think my disc is defective.That said, I must mention that although Master Liang, Shou-Yu is supposed to be extremely experienced he does not seem as practiced as David Dorian Ross, or Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming specifically, IMHO. I may have no right to make that comment considering my limited experience. Liang does some of the forms with straight legs instead of making any attempt to bend his knees, and when demonstrating the movement Needle at the bottom of the sea, which involves bending over to supposedly pick something up from the ground, he ignores that movement completely. He does not even attempt to bend over, tho I rewound and watched this movement many times, thinking I had missed something, I had to conclude that there is no indication at all that he is trying to bend over, and so the movement is unrecognizable. I have watched many experts do the 24 movements online, and they all do this movement the same way, bending way over as if to pick something up from the ground, so I must conclude that bending over to simulate picking something up from the ground is the correct posture for this movement, and anyone learning from this dvd would not learn it that way. I do not understand why this master would neglect to show this movement correctly, he does call it by the same name, nor do some of the other movements with straight legs etc. He does bend down to do Snake Creeps through the grass, so it cannot be that he doesn't want to show the more difficult movements; that is a very difficult movement.Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming's demonstration seems far more fluid and expert with bent knees etc. I have not yet finished watching all 4 1/2 hours of that dvd.OK, this is my first update. My disc just died. First it froze up my computer, and then when I finally managed to get it out of my computer, it refused to boot when I tried to put it back in again, so now it is useless, simply won't boot, my computer does not recognize that there is a disc in my computer.Evidently my navigation problems listed below were due to a defective disc, With the exception of the lack of a menu for the individual movements.I will have to contact Amazon.My original review:I must begin by saying that I had already learned the 24 movements. I learned them with the T'ai Chi in Paradise video from David Dorian Ross. Thank goodness! It took me quite a while, perhaps because I am a senior, but it was definitely well worth the effort, and I don't know if I could have learned at all with this video.I got Simplified Tai Chi Chuan by Master Liang, Shou-Yu just to compare and see if my technique were correct, and if I perhaps needed to refine and improve any of my movements.I am happy to say that I have been doing all 24 movements absolutely correctly (with the exception of Needle at the bottom of the sea, which Liang seems to do differently than everyone else, and it seems I do not need to refine my technique at all. For that I must compliment David Dorian Ross.I only gave this video 3 stars because navigating this disc is not as easy as it was advertised to be at all.I have been trying to use this video for a couple days now to see all the forms, and I am sorry to say that I am having great difficulty navigating the disc to find the specific movements I want.Supposedly, it is easy to select and locate which specific movements you want to watch, but so far I find this to be far from true. I have been very frustrated and usually unable to find what I am looking for.And I simply have not been able to go back and forward in order to REPEAT specific moves. I either wind up going too far back or too far forward, and have not been able to select and isolate specific movements on any menu. WHERE ARE THE MENUS THAT LIST SPECIFIC MOVEMENTS? The menus on the disc are totally inadequate and of no help in locating specific movements. All the back and forth, searching and not finding, too far forward, too far backward, is very irritating.There is narration, which some reviewers say is not there, perhaps their videos are older versions. However, I do not find the narration helpful at all and find it rather annoying, tho you can turn the audio off, which is a good feature. And there are subtitles too for those that might find that helpful.Many views of each movement are shown, front, back, side etc. and this is very good.My major complaint is navigating the disc and the inadequate menus. Again, I can't find what I want, and I can't easily repeat portions I want to watch over again.I also just bought Yang Tai Chi for Beginners with Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, the long form. Since Dr. Yang's video is 4 1/2 hours long, I have not yet completed it, but so far I prefer that to this video. I am very glad I bought that, Dr. Yang is wonderful, and I will try to learn the long form, now that I know I have successfully learned the 24 movement short form.I will continue to try and figure out how to locate information on this disc, I hate to be a quitter, perhaps my disc is defective.

Very good DVD - in real time and slow motion also different angles. Excellent information but would have been even better with a book.

Auf der DVD wird der Ablauf von zwei Tai-Chi -Formen vermittelt.Der 24er und 48er Form des Yang-StilsBeide Formen werden aus zwei verschiedenen Blickwinkeln und in einem erklären-den Modus vorgeführt.Die Richtungen in die man sich bewegt, werden mit Himmelsrichtungen angegeben, was für mich sehr hilfreich war.Für die 24er Form werden wird für jede Figur eine Anwendung demonstriert.Ich habe die DVD mit dem dazu veröffentlichen Buch verwendet:http://www.amazon.de/gp/product/1886969337?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00Hätte die DVD nur die 24er Form enthalten, hätte ich vermutlich 4-5 Sterne gegeben.Mein Hauptinteresse lag aber bei der 48er Form und hier hat mich der erklärende Modus fast verzweifeln lassen. Während eine Figur hier erklärt wird, wird die Figur so lange immer wieder auf den Anfang gesetzt, bis die Erklärung der Durchführung beendet ist. Dieser Loop hat mich total verwirrt. Hinzu kommt, dass bei einigen Figu-ren, die in der Form wiederholt werden, dies nicht gezeigt wird. Sprich bei der Erklä-rung zur nächsten Form steht die vorführende Person plötzlich mit dem anderen Bein vorne. Nur mit Hilfe des Buches und der nicht erklärenden Vorführung auf der DVD wurde mir das klar.Zudem fehlen bei der 48er Form die Anwendungen. Wenigstens die Figuren, die nicht in der 24er Form gezeigt worden sind hätte man noch als Anwendung auf der DVD zeigen können.Nichts desto weniger ist es ein gutes Produkt. Allein für die 24er Form lohnt sie sich das Produkt zukaufen und ja, mit etwas Durchbeißen kommt man auch durch die 48er Form.

Just what I wanted