Cultivating the Civil and Mastering the Martial: The Yin and Yang of Taijiquan

by Andrew Townsend

This book is a complete guide for anyone who practices taijiquan. The content covers the full range of taijiquan and includes chapters on the philosophical and theoretical foundations of the art, the fundamental principles of taijiquan, techniques for cultivating and circulating the qi, detailed explanations of individual postures, pushing hands and martial applications, weapons forms, and practicing taijiquan as a method for spiritual cultivation. Unlike many books on this subject that are limited to a single family style of taijiquan, this book includes coverage of four major family Chen, Yang, Wu, and Sun. Written by an author with over twenty-five years of experience in the art of taijiquan and more than ten years of experience teaching taijiquan and qigong, Cultivating the Civil and Mastering the Martial – The Yin and Yang of Taijiquan is comprehensive in its coverage and precise in the detailed descriptions and more than five hundred photographs and illustrations.

436 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 17, 2016

About the author

Andrew Townsend is a retired college professor and a certified instructor in the arts of taijiquan, qigong, and Taoist meditation. He has over 28years of experience in these arts. He is a disciple of Grandmaster Jesse Tsao and is a 13th generation lineage holder in the Chen family style of taijiquan. Andrew has authored four books on the subject of taijiquan and is presently working on his fifth book on this topic. He has also produced a book on Taoism and the practice of mindfulness, which can be viewed as well on his author's page.

Reviews

[Raymond Goss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts off with intermediate topics but about half-way through the book it covers advanced internal taiji material. The topics vary from push hands and silk reeling to internal energetics, breathing and qi movement to philosophical areas. Most of the subject material I practice or have read previously over the past 30 years. Some references inspired me to go do additional research. Andrew writes in a style that is easy to follow. Pictures included are useful to those who have a taiji background. One thing that bothered me was the mixed Chinese transliterations even in the same sentence. About half were in pin yin while the rest is in a mixture of Wade–Giles and something else. I would have preferred to have the Chinese characters and stick with pin yin. Although a different topic, I enjoyed reading and recommend the author's other book "The Art of Taijiquan: An Examination of Five Family Styles".

[Octavian Lupu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reading full with useful information

This book is a masterpiece in presenting Thai Chi principles for training. It is full of useful and comprehensive information. Thank you!

[Jeffrey Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have studied Tai Chi, BaguaZhang and Karate for nearly 30 years and have read countless books on both internal and external martial arts. Andrew’s book is perhaps one of the best that I can recommend for all students of Tai Chi.

Andrew is really an outstanding writer. What I like most is that the chapters build upon each other and are organized in a logical sequence. Further, each chapter presents a clear and comprehensive explanation of the core principles of Tai Chi and then includes straightforward exercises that will help the student master each chapter’s theoretical material.

Most books, and teachers, talk about Tai Chi concepts such as song, qi, the dantien and the balance of yin and yang. To a large extent, writers and Masters offer only mysterious explanations or are not willing to impart their secret knowledge, except to their indoor students. Therefore, students have a difficult time bringing the essence of Tai Chi in to their own practice.

However, Andrew unlocks the deeper meaning of Tai Chi’s most esoteric principles and openly shares his understanding, as passed on to him from great Tai Chi masters and from his own experiential and practice-based perspective. In addition, Andrew also draws upon his own intensive study of the available Tai Chi and Taoist literature and distils this information into a well-organized and coherent curriculum.

To learn from this book, it doesn’t matter what style of Tai Chi you study. As Andrew explains, while there are definite differences between the various styles, there are central principles which underlie all styles. You will receive a greater comprehension of these principles after reading Andrew’s explanations and more importantly, will begin to feel what real Tai Chi is all about. This is true whether you practice Tai Chi for health reasons, for martial arts or even spiritual development.

Study this book. Your Tai Chi practice will move to a much higher level.