Harvard tai chi book

Just spotted this via my fellow blogger cloud hands. Seems like an interesting book that might be worth a read for those with an East meets West interest. Seems to have a lot of positive reviews too...

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi: 12 Weeks to a Healthy Body, Strong Heart, and Sharp Mind

Review: The five levels of taijiquan by Master Jan Silberstorff

This is a review, so I'm going to get straight to the point. Should you buy The Five Levels of Taijiquan? Yes - but only if you are a really serious or "advanced" tai chi practitioner.

So to rewind little, I have the greatest respect for Master Jan Silberstorff (and Grandmaster Chen Xiaowang), and have a lot of time for what he has to say. Indeed, I was quite excited about reading this book before it arrived, and being only a thin volume, devoured it in a couple of sittings. Master Silberstorff has a clear and simple style, writing as someone who evidently practises what he preaches and knows his subject matter extremely well. This is a subtle and thought-provoking book, but the problem is, it is almost certainly lost on you (and me).

So why is this? Well, first of all this is a translation and commentary on Grand Master Chen Xiaowang's essay on the five levels of tai chi chaun. This essay itself is freely available online and translated (for example here), and so the cold hard reality of the value for money equation is immediately diminished. But just like practising tai chi, what you see at face value is only a small part of the story - the subtleties of explanation and fine points are neatly identified and teased out in Master Silberstorff's commentary. Master Silberstorff also brings a Western perspective even going so far as to include graphs and dagrams. Where as Chen Xiaowang's essay talks in terms of chi, it is noticeable that master Silberstorff never really does so, preferring instead to use terms such as centre, connectedness and awareness. For me personally, this makes his explanations much more relevant and meaningful.

In a sense, this makes the book worthwhile, and there is much to recommend it, but only if you can appreciate those subtleties. In order to do so I would say you need to be at least a level 2 or a level 3 practitioner as, to quote from the book:

"We shall pay particular attention to level 3 (beginning at the middle of level 2), 4, and 5."

The problem is, that in all probability you are but level 1. To quote again from the book:

"About 99% of tai chi practitioners (students as well as teachers) worldwide are at level 1 and the beginning of level 2" ....[and in a subsequent section]... "Therefore, we can see that 99% is a rather conservative estimate, and a reminder to beware of ranking oneself too highly too soon."

Back of the envelop calculations based on some further explanations in the book, means that for a typical Westerner, fitting in tai chi practise around their 9-to-5 life and family, even if they take it quite seriously, are talking about decades of training before they reach level 2. Oh dear. To extend the analogy Master Silberstorff himself uses - this book is aimed at a post gradutate level audience, but 99% of practitioners are still in junior school. More than likely this book is simply wasted on you. No doubt you will gain a nugget or two of insight, but on the whole I would advise looking around for reading material aimed at a more approriate level.

The power of this book therefore is that it shatters illusions and puts you in your place. It makes you realise that tai chi is a lot of hard work... for the rest of your life... a mountain to climb, with a summit you are unlikely to reach. Perhaps that will cause many people to give up, but for me I actually find it quite inspirational. This book has helped me to focus on training with renewed vigour, to appreciate that I cannot just coast through and hope to one day wake up a Master.

There are two, equally valid, paths in tai chi the first is the "I do it for health" - the gentle dance path, the second is the "serious martial art" path. If you are on the former this book is irrelevant for you. If you are on the latter, it is worthwhile but only if have been practising for decades, most likely you are a tai chi teacher yourself already or a senior student at least. The fact that the target audience for this book is so incredibly small enhances my respect for Master Silberstorff. He writes for the elite as only a true Master can.

Review: Tai Chi Imagery Workbook

Generally there are three types of tai chi book: The classic ("reflections on historical manuscripts"), The theory ("the power of chi") and The instructional ("A step by step guide to the yang style sword form"). A Tai Chi Imagery Workbook: Spirit, Intent, and Motion by Martin Mellish, is none of these, and so is to my mind one of the most exciting tai chi books I have read in a long time.

Each of the three traditional categories are at some level unsatisfying to the typical Western reader. Martin Mellish clearly understands this and his novel approach to the subject means that his book is one that truly is accessible to Western readers, rather than the mere lip service to accessibility that "theory books" pay. Theory books are generally based on the premise that Westerners simply do not understand the concepts of chi, meridians and energy and set out on a bold quest to educate and enlighten us. In this workbook however, the premise is entirely different. In tai chi "intention" is fundamental, as the way the mind communicates with the body is through visualisation. Traditional tai chi theory is designed to tap into this to help the practitioner use their imagination and the metaphors to guide their actions. That is why the classics are filled with exotic poetry and the names of postures are analogues for everyday actions - at least everyday in China 400 years ago.

In order to use the traditional visualisations for practical tai chi benefit, the Westerner needs to understand the historical culture of China 400 years ago. In order to do tai chi you need to visualise, and in order to get the visualisations you need to understand Chinese culture - a big barrier for most westerners. Martin Mellish's book throws off these doctrinal shackles by realising that it is the visualisations that are important not the Chinese cultural understanding (although he modestly and respectfully declines to point this out). The visualisations were originally created from everyday actions so Martin skilfully recasts them using modern everyday Western culture. Many of these visualisations will already be familiar to tai chi practitioners and teachers, as this "problem" has already been consciously and subconsciously recognised, hence allowing many of these modern metaphors to creep into our classes, particularly where beginners are involved. The power of Martin's book is that he authoritatively collects a wealth of disparate imagery together as the perfect resource for tai chi practitioners and teachers alike. This book will make you think and I guarantee it will spark at least one mini eureka  in everyone who reads it.

I should also mention that this book also has an excellent, although slightly incongruous, appendix on tai chi research. As evaluating medical research is Mellish's day job, he takes the opportunity to share this expertise on the subject of tai chi. I found this this an extremely useful and concise explanation of the benefits of tai chi and the degree to which each of these is supported by proper scientific analysis. A refreshingly authoritative review in the sea of propaganda.

A Tai Chi Imagery Workbook: Spirit, Intent, and Motion is a must have, not necessarily to read cover to cover, but to regularly return to for inspiration as a trusted reference source.

Dr Yang's Chi bioelectricity conection

Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming is a Tai Chi Master and also a scientifically trained physicist and mechanical engineer PhD. His book The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets of Health, Longevity, & Enlightenment (contains a section on the scientific interpretation of Chi).

The main hypothesis of the book is that Chi and bioelectromagnetic energy are the same thing. Chi is what the ancient Chinese and Chinese medicine is based upon. Bioelectric energy is what Western science calls bioelectricity. Western medicine understands that electricity plays a fundamental part in the operation of the human body, such as electrical nerve impulses of neurons or ion-exchange.

In many ways I find this connection to be quite intriguing. Clearly there are a lot of parallels due to the fact that many parts of the body such as the (fasica) are electrically conductive. It has also been well reported (in fact shouted from the rooftops by every alternative healer in the world) that research has revealed that each of the traditional Chinese acupuncture points corresponds to a point in the body of a particularly low electrical resistance. Equally bioelectricity can help to explain the presence of the near-field electromagnetic force around the body which have strong parallels with an aura and kirlian photography.

Equally I could be convinced that there is a sound scientific basis to the fact that electrical flows in the body generate an electromagnetic force and hence an EM field around the body. When two bodies come close to each other these fields can plausibly interact with each other and hence, "sensing person's aura" or "healing by laying on of hands" are not totally without foundation in my opinion.

Dr. Yang however takes these principles too far in a desperate attempt to "prove the existence of Chi", making massive logic leaps, which is disappointing for academically trained scientist. To be fair to him however he readily admits that these are only hypotheses on his part. A couple of his howlers include:

[a halo] is commonly seen in paintings of Jesus Christ, the Buddha and other Oriental goods. Frequently the light is picture as surrounding the whole body. This phenomenon may again be explained by the body Electric theory. When a person has cultivated his Chi (electricity) to a high level, Chi may be led to and accumulate in the head. This Chi then interact with the oxygen molecules in the air, and ionise them, causing them to glow.

No. Do we see oxygen molecules of the air glowing around the transmission line strung up to electricity pylons? Does your washing machine glow? No. The minute voltages and currents in human body are never likely to cause ionisation.

[Talking about interaction with the Earth's magnetic field] I believe this means if you live in the northern hemisphere, your brain (i.e. your upper dan-tien) is constantly being nourished and stimulated by the energy from the lower dan-tien. <....> This may be a possible explanation for why more human technology was developed in the northern hemisphere.

Nothing to do with the fact that the majority of the population live in the northern hemisphere then? Or perhaps the huge numbers of socio-economic and political factors throughout history that have shaped the world. These types of statements annoy me, as they undermine Dr. Yang's entire argument with ludicrous alternative new-age mumbo-jumbo. Dr. Yang makes a convincing case for the parallels between Chi and bioelectricity, and then shoots himself in the foot by getting carried away. To quote again:

Countless experiments have been conducted in China, Japan and other countries to study how external magnetic or electrical fields can adjust the body's chi field. <.....> Although many experimenters have claimed a degree of success in the experiments, none has been able to publish any detailed convincing proof of his results, or give a good explanation for the theory behind his experiment.

So that is simply all we're able to say at this point, the rest is speculation. There maybe parallels between bioelectricity and chi, but there is simply no proof that they are one and the same. This is not for lack of research mind you, hence given the plethora on null results, it is tempting to draw the opposite conclusion, that they are in fact different (but I will resist that temptation for now). Despite Dr Yang's best efforts therefore (and I recommend reading what he has to say) Chi remains intangible, bioelectricity is not.