Embrace Tiger, Return to Mountain by Chungliang Al Huang

[Guest]

Hi folks,

This one may be of more interest to Taijiquan practitioners, Daoists or caligraphy enthusiasts.

I have only recently started re-reading this book, having first read it before meeting Sifu (I have been living out of boxes for the past few years and am finally unpacking everything!).

The author writes with a very simple style, talking more of the 'Living Dao' - feeling your bodies movements, breathing, interaction with itself and its surroundings. No pictures or techniques being discussed, the book is based around one of his seminars, in that it is taken from what he was saying to the students, so for the most part everything is described and nothing is illustrated.

The book also contains the Zen Ox pictures and the authors description of the meanings and the journey portrayed.

For caligraphy, he talks of how writing can exemplify Taiji, with beginners writing each line on its own, with more and more experience they learn to write the whole ideogram then (my interpretation) into writing whole sentences.

Pushing Hands, energy flow, visualisation (which I dont really do) and the essence of a conversation all mix together very nicely into a very warm, friendly, fluid read.

I'd forgotten how good this book is, I definitely recommend it to anyone with a more internal/gentle approach to the martial arts.

[Guest]

I think this book is could be good for helping tai chi dancers get more out of their practice, but personally, I found it a bit "fluffy."

Quoting from the biography:

"Chungliang Al Huang grew up in the villages of China, where he received his training in the classics and a variety of Oriental fine arts and martial arts. The son of prominent Chinese scholars, Huang left the mainland with his family in 1949. He came through Taiwan to American to become an architect, concert performer, and lecturer, with his unique blend of East-West synthesis."

Huang's perspective on tai chi is mostly that of an artist/dancer/scholar. I'll admit that he seems very artistic in a refreshing, well-rounded way. He also had some good points about brining the "art" out of the martial arts. Nevertheless, I wouldn't really consider Huang a martial artist since there is nothing martial about his tai chi.

This book is an interesting read, but I wouldn't call it an essential part of my bookshelf. For those on a limited book budget, your money might be better spent elsewhere.