Yin Yang Taiji 13 Postures

If you want to learn from the best Master Helen Liang is it. With her father, a six generation Grand Master, Helen effectively teaches traditional Taiji 13 Postures in a patient but disciplined manner that is masterful. Her style is graceful and true. The demonstrations of Taiji martial arts applications brings it all together into a beautiful and functional art form.

I purchased the Yin Yang 13 Postures and the Taiji 13 Postures, the latter being simplified. I recommend them both. Helen Liang's demonstration of the forms is truly outstanding but one will have to learn the forms from the demonstration as there is no verbal instruction given. The names of each form is written in Chinese and English - but that's it. Making it more challenging to learn is the background: it is solid white with no clue as to the direction Ms Liang is moving. The overall quality of the DVD is also excellent. I do wish, however, that key elements regarding the moves would have been described.

Very beautiful sequences, but not really an instructional video. It would be hard to learn the form from the video without additional instruction.

Great DVD - excellent combined form to stimulate your Taichi learning curve in a more physical (if balanced) way . Great teachers and demonstrations - only gripe would be that directional pointers are lacking in the form section so one can easily get lost while laerning. Overall great though . Highly recommended.

From the things that you can get "out there". This is one of the best, not only because of the product itself. But for Master Liang's wide experience doing videos. Of course there is no substitute for an actual teacher. But as a reference tool is great.

Beautifully presented.

This video is another high quality product from Master Liang. His taiji appears effortless but is full of power as he exhibits the principle of steel wrapped in cotton. It is appropriate for serious beginners and intermediate players alike. Oh, and it's a pleasure to see Helen Liang, Master Liang's daughter also playing the postures; she has learned well at her father's knee. The applications are an added bonus to this excellent DVD.

I've been practicing Yang style Tai Chi Chuan (Taijiquan) for 30 years, and I'm familiar with the high-quality work work of Master(s) Liang Shouyu, and his daughter, Helen Liang. The previous reviewer of this DVD made an interesting point about the video: I also would have enjoyed a line or grid on the ground as Helen Liang demonstrates the form. A line marker would have made it easier to tell in which direction she is stepping. Several of the postures are performed at a 45-degree angle to the main stepping pattern,(at least I think so). But that's a small quibble. This is a valuable contribution to the literature of Taijiquan for several reasons. Overall I found the demonstration quite clear. Camera work is good, and I didn't mind the minimal narration. A lot of martial arts DVDs are far too chatty, and far too skimpy on content. This form takes about four minutes to perform, and contains (as the name implies) about 13 postures. The priceless thing about this form is that it incorporates, say, a Yang-style, "Step Back to Repulse Monkey," and then a Wu- or Sun-style version of the same posture--but done on the opposite side. "Grasp Sparrow's Tail," for example, is done in both left and right versions. This posture is also called "Ward Off, Roll Back, Press, and Push," in many styles. This new form which Master Liang designed after decades of martial arts study, also has fa-jing built into it--something the main Yang forms do not include. In fact, a person doing Master Liang's form will execute fa-jing in all eight of Taiji's movement patterns. (Fa-jing, if you're new to Taiji, is en emission of energy done at combat speed.) The Chen family has argued for years that no Taiji form can be complete without some practice of fa-jing. The Yang tradition does not follow this line of argument, and so, clearly, the point is controversial. What's not seriously in dispute is that a key element is missing somewhere between the way Taiji is usually practiced in the West--a slow-motion exercise for seniors--and the martial art practiced by Yang the Invincible in China a century and more ago. Fa-jing, must be a part of that missing key, and I think Master Liang's form is an important step is transmitting the fullness of what Taiji can be--a health exercise and a martial art. Now, please note this DVD does not demonstrate a beginner's form. The authors have another version of the set that is designed for beginners and older students. The set we have here, in its full version as performed by Helen Liang with deep stances and full fa-jing, is an advanced Taiji set. It's beautiful. I recommend this DVD highly.