5 comments about T'ai Chi for Dummies.

1. Lots of books on Tai Chi and Qi Gong out there, this is the best one for the beginner. Good explanations of the 24 form Yang Style set, with a sense of humor and a love of the form and its history. Does emphasize correctly the energy aspect of the exercise.Added bonus: The Eight Pieces of Brocade, a classic Qi Gong system.So what's the caution. It is really impossible to learn Tai Chi from a book or video. You need correction, correction and more correction. You need the insights only a teacher can give you. This book is great as a text to go along with what you are being taught.For that reason, I recommend it highly.



2. First off, I'm not an expert on T'ai Chi, so I'm not qualified to tell you whether this book presents an accurate portrait of T'ai Chi or not. I'm just a beginner, and I was looking for a suitable book for beginners. I have found many dummies books to be of extremely high quality, written by experts who are able to distill their knowledge effectively to teach people who don't know anything about the subject. However, I found this book disappointing. The author seems to have practiced for only a few years, and doesn't seem to have the broad base of knowledge of an expert. As such, I would feel uncomfortable relying on this book for information. It's not a bad introduction to the topic, and if all you're interested in is learning some basic moves to add to your exercise routine, this book will help you get started. But if you really want to understand T'ai Chi, I wouldn't trust this book to teach it to you.



3. Contrary to the contributer who felt qualified to submit a review despite knowing nothing about T'ai Chi, this book is most useful.
   
   I've read everything in English I can get my hands on about T'ai Chi, and was delighted to find this. Please, all you T'ai chi teachers out there, share this with your students. Despite the cute and off-putting title, it is an excellent and worthy work. The author did her research and knows her stuff. I've studied T'ai Chi a long time, traveled to China to check it out, and find that the author has most successfully translated the elusive art to Westerners.
   
   Congratulations to you if you can get your hands on this!
   
   Buy the book, keep it, study it, then move on to The Tao of tai-chi chuan: by Tsung Hwa Jou. Now there is some challenging reading, worth reading over and over!



4. What a helpful book! My chiropractor suggested T'ai Chi to help my muscle tone, balance and strength, but I wasn't sure I wanted to do it. This book helped me understand T'ai Chi basics so I wasn't a total goof in my first class. (And it helped decide whether to even go to that first class.)



5. If you compiled a dictionary of words used to describe the Eastern martial arts, you would never find the word "consensus". Nobody agrees with anyone on anything, and this ranges from subjects that are the domain of the martial arts scholar, like jing energy and fighting, to the most mundane, like how to spell the names of the arts!! So, let's say you are faced with the task of writing an introductory text to a subject that is certainly among the most controversial of all of the Eastern arts (even to the point of violent (!) disagreement as to whether this is a martial art or not). What are you going to do?? I think that the authors of this book have done a good job of this. There is a lot of info in this book about a very complicated subject. None of it is in a great deal of depth, but that is not the function of this book. The idea is to show readers the vibrancy of the world of Tai Chi Chuan, the wealth of possibility, and the sheer joy of practicing the art. This has to be done without scaring anyone off! The authors worked hard to pull this off, and they did so. Other introductory books are so dry and stuffy as to be unreadable - don't the authors have any fun at all??? The authors of this book do. They enjoy what they do, and they hope you do too.
   
   Can you learn Tai Chi from this book? The authors don't think so and ask you to find an instructor. Can you learn a great deal about the world of Tai Chi from this book? Yes - none of it is in great depth but once again, if you are curious to learn more, then for heaven's sake go further than a Dummies book.
   
   I gave it four stars because there are some things I don't understand and don't agree with (see the beginning of this review!), but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and appreciate the effort involved.

5 comments about Step-By-Step Tai Chi.

1. Good, easy to follow directions and illustrations. It also helps to take a beginning tai chi class at the same time. They will complement each other.



2. Very useful. The first section provides stretching exercises to improve and maintain flexibility. The next section includes exercises to increase and improve strength. The final section provides easy-to-understand instructions for performing the "small circle" form Tai-Chi routines.



3. Purchased as a gift for a lady recovering from back surgery. Excellent reference book for a beginning Tai Chi student.



4. This is a very easy to understand book with simple, easy to follow instructions. I was having very painful sciatic pain in my left hip and after 2 weeks of doing the Tai Chi exercises, it went away over night. Nothing else had helped the problem. I know other people who have struggled with sciatic pain for years so I am very impressed with this book and will continue to do the exercises.



5. This is a wonderfully illustrated book, that teaches you step by step instructions on Tai Chi.
   It is also great for older adults to learn balance.

5 comments about The Dao of Taijiquan: Way to Rejuvenation (Tai Chi).

1. I recommend this book to anyone who is seriously practicing Tai Chi. There is very good advice for practicing in it. It might not help you very much if you are just starting Tai Chi (less than one year) or if you practice only for health reasons. A good supplement to a good teacher.



2. This book has much more wisdom packed within its pages than can be understood or appreciated on a first, second or even third read. It was written with the earnest desire to introduce Americans to the practice of Tai Chi, as the author would say, "not for fame or money, but to spread good health to American people." Having used Tai Chi practice to cure his own serious heart and gastrointestinal condition, he wanted to share its health benefits with all who had an interest. Master Jou would frequently say that a student could take Tai Chi practice as far as he or she had interest and perseverance: health exercise, martial art or enlightenment. He was in it for enlightenment.
   
   I was one of Master Jou's first students and benefitted by his generous (free) instruction for many years in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Although he immigrated there to pursue an advanced degree in mathematics at Rutgers University (He was already a very successful and widely published author of mathematics text books in Taiwan), by the time he came to the US in 1971, his true passion was Tai Chi all day, everyday, with an intense desire to communicate what he had learned and was learning to his new American community. Master Jou was not fluent in English when he arrived, so he began by writing this entire book by hand in Chinese. He had the outline translated and then painstakingly worked with a small group of Tai Chi students (myself among them) to transcribe content and intent, frequently using mathematics to explain both underlying philosophy and technique. Although the first edition was rough, it was quickly recognized as a treasure and translated into many different languages and distributed worldwide. English improved with each new edition so that this book can now be appreciated by a beginner but is a "must read" for any serious student.



3. The original hardcover version (The Tao of Tai-Chi Chuan) is a classic of sorts, with numerous line drawings of different taiji forms, silk-reeling exercises, and Taoist diagrams galore. The paperback edition (The Dao of Taijiquan) is updated with Pinyin transliteration, but unfortunately all of the drawings have been very poorly scanned; the whole book looks as if it was done with an Etch-a-Sketch.



4. When I bought this book, my financial circumstances were such that the purchase was probably not justified, but my thirst for knowledge about the art compelled me to do so anyway. I met Master Jou in a qi gong workshop that he conducted. His love for tai ji was evident and infectious. I requested that he show me the power of tai ji and he responed by tossing me across the room as if I were a rag doll. At the time, he was 69 years old and I was a 20-something taekwondo black belt. I've been involved in the study of tai ji for more than 30 years now and this book still makes my short list of the best books on the topic available.



5. I have had this book around for years.... I am assuming it hasn't changed much in it's revision... but I could be wrong. It is a great reference for many aspects of Taijiquan.
   
   My two biggest reservations about recommending this book are:
   
   1. Having seen the authors Tai Chi Chuan form on YouTube, I would question at least his application of proper body structure, however, that may not mean that the book is in any way deficient... it's just that I was dissapointed to see the author demonstrating his Tai Chi Chuan.
   
   2. Unless I have an older revision of the book... the illustrations of the Yang Style Form have a couple of spots where the drawings are either completely out of order, wrong, or both. If these drawings alone were correct, it would make a fantastic reference for Yang Style enthusiasts. I can't speak for the other Tai Chi style forms, but am pretty sure the Traditional Yang Cheng Fu for is messed up at a couple of points. I highly recommend that the publisher revises the book and fixes that issue. I'm surprised that reading the reviews that I didn't see more comments on those errors. If they fixed this, i'd add a star to the rating!
   
   I do find the book to be very informative in many ways, but I would recommend discernment, as I would with any book like this.

5 comments about Complete Idiot's Guide to T'ai Chi and QiGong (Book & DVD).

1. It is a good book. easy to understand. the dvd w/ it helps to understand information provided. One thing I did not like, in an earlier edition of the book they had "pocket cards" at the front that you could tear out and carry w/ you and this 1 doesn't.



2. This is my teacher. I wanted the book he wrote as well as his latest DVD (available at Amazon). Wonderful--there is lots of great info here as well as instruction in Tai Chi and Qigong movement.



3. Misleading-----thought that we were getting a dvd for instruction as well as the book. The book is to difficult to follow but the author will be more than glad to sell you another dvd for instruction. I wish that I had not wasted the money!



4. It is amusing reading some of the reviews of this book. In spite of what some of the previous reviewers stated, this is a very good book to learn the basics of Tai Chi and QiGong. As for the author creating his own system, so what? If he has studied these arts under previous masters for many years, he is free to create his own method of doing Tai Chi or QiGong. Most of the so called masters did the very same thing. They learned from someone else and than created their own Tai Chi or QiGong system. This is an excellent text for beginners in Tai Chi who are also taking it from an instructor. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Martial Art Myths, Season of the Warrior, Never Trust a Politician, Monadnock Defensive Tactics System, Use of the Monadnock Straight baton, PR-24 Police Baton Advanced Techniques).



5. I have been a TaiChi practitioner for more than 10 years.
   TaiChi is also one kind of Qigong (ch'i kung).
   My life experience about TaiChi: it is life, healthy, and powerful, if a learner is on the right track.
   
   I think this book is as good as lots original Qigong books in Chinese.
   
   
   Sam Song
   Author,
   Learning Chinese The Easy Way with great fun and joy!

5 comments about Tai Chi Chuan: 24 & 48 Postures with Martial Applications.

1. Very nice book about Tai Chi, it has very clear illustrations and explanations of the movements. I like it very much!



2. No instruction on this DVD.... Not the 48 form I was looking for..For me it was a wast of money.... very disapointing from this Grandmaster... his TV show is very good..Yang Style 48 form..without instuction it os just a movie.. Terry Dunn's Tape is Excerlant... just perfect for learning from.



3. This book is about the 'new' 24 step Yang style tai chi, as
   well as the 48 step set. The book has good photos along with
   well written instructions about the different moves as well
   as the actual applications. The author is truly a master, and
   he has the ability to explain well tai chi movements in a book.
   There are many other books out there about all this, but this
   book and the author deserve a 5 star rating.



4. Good book. The pictures could be better. They are simply gray, informative enough, but not as good as the cover page. Still 5 stars.



5. I really enjoyed this book since it acts as an excellent guide to students of Tai Chi Chuan. This book seems more of an excellent buy for the Westerners trying to learn Tai Chi. It introduces the person to both the first 24 and 48 form of the book in an excellent way. Going into deep detail about the fighting applications of the first 24 form and then teaching the moves for the next 48 form, leaving the practitioner in a good place to go and find an instructor or more advanced book.

5 comments about The Healing Promise of Qi: Creating Extraordinary Wellness Through Qigong and Tai Chi.

1. A great book. Simple to follow but with great benefits. I would recommend this to anyone, even if they don't have health problems.



2. I have only recently begun reading about, and practicing, chi gong. I like the practice of chi gong (Qigong) because it is much easier than learning tai chi and just as beneficial.
   I have a couple of DVDs which show one how to do basic exercises of chi gong and a couple of books. I am practicing almost daily and noticing little changes in myself, mainly being more aware of my breathing. These DVDS and books ones are a bit simple and did not answer some of the questions that came up for me. So I bought Jahnke's book based on reading a bit of it and all the reviews. After reading the first few pages, I turned to Chapter 15 which contains guidelines for practice. Gone were the "rules" like, repeat certain exercises 9 times or, practice at a certain time of day. These could be important for an intermediate or advanced practitioner but not for a beginner. In the beginning, it is enough to do the best you can with each exercise, try to get the breathing right and keep practicing. And there is no such thing as "no pain, no gain." In fact, he stresses NOT to do anything that is at all painful, even mildly so. He also stresses the great variability and styles of chi gong and that you're not committing a crime by doing an exercise "wrong" or differently than someone else does.
   Now that I'm clearer on the basics, I'm reading the rest of the book and am quite happy with the level of detail - it doesn't seem "bloated" as one reviewer put it. I think that if it's not already, this book is destined to be a classic English language introduction to chi, chi gong and tai chi.



3. I have been working with various books, DVDs and classes for some exercises, so I purchased this book to learn a bit more about the practice and the science.
   
   He is able to explain clearly and directly how to practice, and just as importantly, he spends time discussing how this ancient practice helps you and relates science to the practice and benefits, which I found fascinating.
   
   
   If you interested in the practice and want good written instruction, and have any interest in the history/science at all, this book should be on your book shelf and readily at hand.
   
   Well done.



4. This was a very informative introduction to Chinese medicine written by
   an American who became a Chinese doctor. The only criticism would be the
   description of exercises to maximize "chi". A video/DVD is a much
   better tool. I highly recommend this for those interested in a
   different but highly successful approach to health care.



5. great info on your own self. you can learn to heal yourself with your own self. easy gentle excerises that can have a great effect if one is consistant with the practice. Also read THE HEALER WITHIN by same author.

5 comments about Sunrise Tai Chi: Simplified Tai Chi for Health & Longevity.

1. Sunrise Tai Chi is a great system for starting your day. The beginning student will find enough information in this manual to start a practice that will enhance their health and longevity. The beginning chapters give enough background information and line drawings to lay the groundwork for a practice. A lot of attention is given to breathing practices, the keystone of any taiji form. Photos of the form are clear and easy to understand, however, as some others have suggested, it would be nice to have them numbered for easy reference. I very much like the photos of the wrong way to perform a movement and wish that there were more illustrations used. Having studied taiji under several teachers, I found that it is sometimes very hard to understand how to do a movement or stance correctly, but I can see right away, when someone points out how not to do it. Using the bamboo pole to show knee and sacrum alignment are good examples of this type of teaching. Sifu Rones does a wonderful job of explaining the movements and mindset of tai chi. I would recommend this book to any beginning student, people with health problems, older people, looking for a way to retain health and experienced people from the hard arts, looking to balance their practice.
   
   As a side note, I received this book as a gift to review for the ymaa. I do not own the DVD, but imagine it would be a useful companion to the book. I have been teaching taiji and qigong for about six years and would not hesitate to recommend this, as a starter book, to students.



2. I've been practicing Tai Chi for just under a year now and found that this book filled in many of the holes that I had in my understanding around the practice. I was skeptical that I could learn much about Tai Chi from a book, as I have tried others but didn't really take much from them. This book however is laid out extremely well and covers both the physical and (to me more importantly)the mental aspects of training that I never got fully from my instructors, DVDs, or any other books I read. I had several light bulb moments as I read this book that immediately translated into more effective practice. While it is always best to learn the actual physical movements of Tai Chi from a knowledgeable instructor, I highly recommend this book, especially to those who are interesting in learning more about the internal aspects of Tai Chi.



3. I must say I had some energy-work experience not just from Tai Chi or Qi Gong excercises, but also from visualistation excercises and so. But in spite of that I found "Sunrise Tai Chi" useful and helpful. There are some common things to person who is familiar with "chakras" or "energy flow" terms, but excercises, which the book concentrates on, are still really good. So I mixed my expierience with Ramel Rones' teachings and it is very successful mix.
   
   With just one sentence I could describe it as how to pracitise theory learnt earlier and benefit from both. Recommened!



4. For someone looking for a solid introduction into basic principles of Tai Chi, this would be a helpful book; especially if you want more than just lists of forms but would like information on eastern ideas of body energy.
   
   However, if you are looking for a simple, effective exercise plan built around Tai Chi principles, I would recommend that you purchase the DVD.



5. Tai Chi is a relatively new form of exercise and mental conditioning for me after a life of Martial Arts. I found this book straightforward, easy to follow and I would highly recommend it to anyone new to the practice. I would like to see his book for Sunset Tai Chi, too. I would recommend also picking up Mr. Rones' DVD of the same title.
   
   As always, I find the YMAA products a highly valued addition to my library and suggest if you don't have any of their works, to find some and include them in your readings or viewing. Health. Peace.

5 comments about Chi Walking: Fitness Walking for Lifelong Health and Energy.

1. Who would have thought that by changing the way you have always walked you could alleviate pain, add to your endurance walking and enjoy this very normal form of movement. Simple to follow steps to improving your main mode of transportation. Very enlightening. I want to take the instructors course and teach others this method.



2. I have the Chi Running Book and have even taken the class and I knew I wanted to understand the Chi Walking technique. This method is completely injury free. I have never been a runner or a great walker and this is enabling me to do both with no pain and definite gain. I highly recommend this book and methodology.



3. I persevered with "Chi Walking" techniques long after they caused back pain thinking the pain was caused for some other reason or I just needed to polish the techniques.
   
   In retrospect, there much misinformation in this book, but I think there are four errors of advice that affected me negatively the most.
   
   Firstly, Dryer suggests walking with a "pelvic tilt" (or retroverted pelvis) that leads to back tension. Secondly, Dryer suggests tilting forward to walk
   which stresses many muscles and encourages a hard landing on the foot. Thirdly, he suggests not pushing with the toes which fails to use the right muscles for walking. Fourthly, he allows the hands to come forward to the body's center-line which pushes the shoulders too far forward.
   
   Gokhale's 8 Steps to a Pain-Free Back: Natural Posture Solutions for Pain in the Back, Neck, Shoulder, Hip, Knee, and Foot (Remember When It Didn't Hurt) describes "Walking as a series of forward propulsions, not falls", which is basically the opposite of "Chi Walking". Practicing Gokhale's theory and techniques for several weeks has mostly undone the damage and eliminated the pain that "Chi Walking" caused me.
   
   If you try "Chi Walking" and it hurts, don't persevere because you've probably already mastered the techniques all too well.



4. This is a good book to learn Chi-walking. In my opinion, you need a second person to help you learn. Very hard to do it on your own. He explains it well enough but you need that person to help with the placement of your feet and your posture.



5. Kept waiting for this book to tell me something useful. What a waste of time.

5 comments about The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance.

1. First off, Josh Waitzkin has an incredible life story. Being a world champion in probably the most intellectual competitions, chess, and then also being a martial arts champion is truly amazing. Being a world-class performer isn't all about talent but the incredible amount of hours needed to be put into the discipline (10 years being the minimum) and the fact that he was able to do it twice is impressive.
   
   How he did that was what I was interested in and some of the concepts were very interesting. However, that was too small of a proportion of the book. The majority was an auto-biographical sketch. I do think that you need that from a narrative perspective but I would have preferred to spend a bit more time on those concepts and maybe some more empirical or in-depth information around that as opposed to it just being purely anecdotal.



2. I've come away from this book with an awful impression of "Mr." Waitzkin. He blames his failure to proceed any further in his chess career on everybody but himself. His portrait of Mark Dvoretsky as a veritable ogre is absolutely disgraceful and seems colored more by his disagreement with Dvoretsky's training suggestions than anything. More than once too the author portrays his opponents at chess tournaments after the publicity surrounding the Searching for Bobby Fischer movie as "seething with jealousy". Really, 29 year-old (now 30 something) man-child, get over yourself. Nobody this obviously immature could possibly have anything worthwhile to teach about how to learn.



3. First of all, I am not a viral marketer, which is what I assume all 5 star reviews are.
   
   If you are one of those people who reads biographies of exceptional individuals trying to extract wisdom to apply to your own life and circumstances then I highly recommend this book to you. It is loaded with concepts that you can take and start personalizing to meet your own ends. If you are a seasoned self-help/lifestyle veteran like myself then I would still recommend this book for the gems like circle making.
   
   If you want concrete, step by step paths that require small amounts of introspection, then look elsewhere. If you want an amusing story with boatloads of applicability via intense, and most importantly, honest introspection then pick this up immediately.
   
   It is in my top 5 of all of my self-help/lifestyle purchases, perhaps top 3.



4. I really enjoyed this book by Josh. It takes the reader step by step towards mastery of one's chosen field, be it art. It is well written, as well. I think the best part for me is on how to use adversity to your advantage. He is into fight and not flight, usually, but it is fight with insight and not blind rage. There are the 4 Fs of life: fight or flight, feed and .....O foolery, have focus, and be my friend. Lucky, John Cutler Anderson, still on the road, make it a blue road. OK - read Josh's book!



5. Ok, I'm not really comparing this book to Herman Hesse's Siddhartha. Siddhartha is a classic in literature and I don't mean to falsely compare. Although, there is an interesting parallel. Some reviewers think that this book is too narrowly focused on Mr. Waitzin's experiences. Others believe it to be too amorphous. Either way, if one believes either of the opposing views then Siddhartha (and a lot of other classics) would hold absolutely no value to them.
   
   Some of us already know some of the truths in this book. We've applied them throughout our lives. But maybe we didn't consciously recognize them. As such these truths would be hard to improve upon or pass on to others. It is also valuable to hear them enunciated by another. I plan to buy this book for 4 friends. It is my hope that this book will provide some introspection for them to continue their accomplishments. I don't doubt these same people would continue to excel but it is useful to have a coach point to areas of focus and other paths to learning.
   
   Yes, this book is "vague" in some respects. If you are looking for a book on mental tricks to learning and a step-by-step guide then this book is not right for you. You are looking in the wrong area. If you want more personal advice then you probably need to enlist a coach of the type used by Mr. Waitzkin and other top performers. This book is more along the lines of "Chess Praxis" than "Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess."
   
   Take this book as an introduction to improving your performance in any endeavor and life in general.
   As someone that also values mental and physical pursuits I value the cross pollinated discussion of the two.

5 comments about ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running.

1. I have been a barefoot runner since 2005, at which time I re-learned how to correctly run using my awareness and the teachings of numerous sources. I have read Danny Dryer's ChiRunning book and watched his ChiRunning DVD. I have also studied The Pose Running Technique on DVD and the workbook. In addition, I have experience practicing Qi Gong (Chi Kung), meditation, and yoga. I have also studied anatomy, posture, The Alexander Technique, and Rolfing Structural Integration. My partner is also a Chinese Medicine professional and Acupuncturist. So basically, I know a thing or two in this field...
   
   In light of the acclaim that Danny Dryer is receiving for his ChiRunning technique, there are some critical errors and marketing misperceptions that I feel should be addressed. I base these insights on my own personal experience and my extensive research into natural running techniques and chi energy.
   
   1. This book does not at all use the chi (qi) energy for running. Dryer teaches a method of using gravity to encourage the body to move through space. After reading and watching Dryer's published material, it is clear to me that he uses the term "chi" as a marketing strategy. All things eastern - yoga, tai chi, etc - are hot selling points these days. Yes, Dryer states that he has practiced Qi Gong under a teacher. However, nowhere in the DVD or book does he teach about the movement of chi the body, its pathways or its functions. Dryer should have title his technique "Gravity Running" instead.
   
   2. Dryer combines a commonly misunderstood Pilates technique (tightening the core), claming it to be engaging the "hara" or "dan tien / tan tien". While the dan tien is the chi energy center below the navel, never are core muscles used when working with this center. Tightening any muscles will take a person's awareness away from the energy and into the muscular contraction sensation. Contracting muscles may create heat which is often believed to be chi by many beginners, however heat and chi are very different.
   
   In the original Pilates technique, as taught by Joseph Pilates, only the largest, deepest muscles of the core are "engaged" not tightened. This is more akin to placing the awareness in the core while using only the softest tension. Most people misunderstand Pilates and tighten the abdominal muscles which then causes improper posture. Watching the ChiRunning DVD and observing Danny Dryer's posture, it is clear that his posture is far from ideal. Improper core tension and running technique could possibly be the cause of this, however other causes could also exist.
   
   3. Dryer teaches to tighten the core muscle to tilt the pelvis. This lengthens the lower back, thus straightening the spine and removing the natural curve. By straightening the natural curve, the natural spring in the spine is removed leading to possible spine injury. Watching the DVD clearly shows the postural flaw caused by this unnatural movement. I am very suprised to see the noticably poor posture that Dryer and his students showed in this instructional video.
   
   Also, by tightening the core muscles, excess tension is created in the body that will interfere with the body's natural movement. By creating tension in the core, the entire body is adversely affected because the core is the body's center of gravity and the psoas muscles in the deep core extend into the legs and upper back and ribs. Tension in the core will also restrict the rig cage's ability to expand sufficiently to allow proper oxygen in the lungs.
   
   4. Landing on the middle of the foot works against the anatomy of the foot. The arch of the foot acts like a rubber band that allows the foot to spring forward when running on the ball and toes. Running with the middle of the foot first causes the ball and head to hit at the same time, causes jarring sensations in the foot, ankle, and leg.
   
   As seen in the photos in the book and in the DVD video, Dryer wears modern full cushion running shoes that elevate the heal. Ask any expert in anatomy and/or Olympic-level running will teach, these shoes are injuries waiting to happen. A person can only get an accurate anatomical running experience by learning to run barefoot. Barefoot running quickly shows us how to correctly run. We can then return to running in shoes in a safer, more natural and more energy efficient way.
   
   5. Danny Dryer encourages the runner to tilt the body forward, taking the work off of the muscles and letting gravity act as a source of propulsion. Yes, this does work. However this style of running does not make effective use of the muscles and creates a very awkward experience that does not feel natural. Observe the running style of the world's greatest Olympic athletes and you will see all long distance runners stand erect while landing on the ball and toes of the feet.
   
   --
   
   If you have read this far into my review, you may be left looking for a solution. My best recommendation is to read the book Running Fast and Injury Free by Gordon Pirie. Pirie has held many world records and Olympic medals. He is one of few runners who, in my opinion, has perfected the art of running. His principles are based upon a lifetime of learning from top Olympic runners and beating nearly all of them or their records. Since age 14, Pirie ran with Olympic record holders. In addition, Dr. Nicholas Romanov's Pose Method of Running contains value insights into the physiology of running.
   
   Above all else, since most of us grew up in shoes, we must re-teach ourselves to walk and run as the body's design intends. We must learn to move barefoot. Even if we choose to run every race in shoes, learning to run while barefoot is a necessary part of the process. So find a soft stretch of dirt, sand, grass, sidewalk or road and get started. Skip 99.9% of the theory and get back to the reality of running. Use your mind to observe your body and make corrections as you go. And above all else - have fun!



2. I wanted to know how I could become a faster runner. This book gave me some new insights on running that I had never had, nor known. I was well satisfied with the book.



3. This is a must-have read for any new or seasoned runner. Well written and quickly applicable advice. This book has truly made a difference in my running.



4. Nice ideas.., able to pick up some excellent refreshers and tips.., more like "PhysiologyRunning"..A possible scenario would be incorporating anyone's spiritual background into running.., drawing parralels.., not just Taoism...



5. I read ChiRunning in Sep 09. It took me 2-3 wks to get the form right while running. I've been ChiRunning since.
   
   It's not effortless - my heart rate meter tells me so - though it does feel effortless for a whole minute or two doing medium sprints. I now run 4x a week, an hour or two each time. This is something I'd never been able to do in the past because my knees always started giving problems and I'd have to train on an elliptical afterwards. The knees are fine now. I'm sure Danny wouldn't recommend it, but you can even run on a bad knee with this technique - I ran 10k on a poor knee without much loss of speed.
   
   My timing has also improved, though not as much as I'd hoped or expected (hence 4 stars).
   
   Enjoy running? You should give it a go.