Juice: Radical Taiji Energetics

I doubt very much that I was the target audience of this book. Inner Energy is all new to me. I don't know any Taiji, and the only teachers in my area are the 'old folks home' variety. I practice a traditional Japanese sword style. This book changed everything for me. While obviously directed at the serious Taiji practioner, the principles are universal. The author takes an extremely esoteric, difficult subject (which most classical writers could only describe in the vaguest language) and goes through it step by step. His language is remarkably clear and direct. Juice taught me to pay attention to certain energies and sensations, to cultivate certain areas ... and it's completely changed all my weapons practice. Mr. Meredith has explained all of those funny tinglings and small shocks I had been feeling in my arms and legs, and showed me how to turn them into something more. Okay, a lot more. It is as if someone poured a gallon of gasoline on a smoking tiny burning leaf I hadn't even noticed. Everything went FWOOM. I can't bring myself to give this book less than five stars. Believe me, I tried. You see, sometimes the author annoyed me. His defensiveness, his endless acronyms (which made nothing any clearer), his certainty that all his readers had low-value priorities in life (such as feeling good instead of, say, character growth).... these things and more all grated on me. Sometimes I really wanted to detract a star or two for them. But the book's content is just too good for that. Well played, Mr. Meredith. You win this one. In the month since I began to read this book, I have worked on inner energy nearly every day. The progress I've made seems incredible to me. Two years ago I did not believe in Ki, Chi, Inner Energy...whatever you want to call it. Today I'm a convert, looking forward to long years of steady, patient work. Already it has changed my sword style. While Mr. Meredith does everything he can to try to be snappy and conversational, it's an information-heavy subject. There's a lot of ground to cover, most of which was entirely new to me. It reads a bit like a textbook. With the information density, that's inevitable. Still, the clarity and directness of the explanations provided are refreshing. I have pages of notes to review. I am grateful that I found this book.

"I have just enough background to be slightly dangerous, in a dinky kind of way. I'm like a cornered squirrel in your livingroom. You aren't afraid of it exactly, but you don't especially look forward to dealing with it..." - Scott Meredith - from the opening of his new book, JUICE: Radical TAIJI Energetics. Thus from the very beginning, before he even gets to the descriptions of energy, and exercises, the reader knows they are dealing with a madman. And like all the best mad men, Scott is 100 percent honest about what he writes. The treasure of this book is HOW it is written as much as WHAT is written. Unlike so many books on this topic, mr. Meredith endeavors to explain, not veil. He writes as if he is sitting across the table from the reader, telling stories - explaining - what his experience is - and how it came about. He is not the professor, or the guru, speaking obscure Rocket Surgery to a confused and hopeful accolyte - no, JUICE is far worse - It's the guy standing next to you, covered in dirt, smiling, asking "do you want this? Cuz, if you do, yoo might get a little dirty..." the read is exciting and level and what is absolute best is the vigor to EXPLAIN. There is nothing to translate or interpret. In parts, mr. Meredith has already done that for the reader. He has taken his metaphoric wire cutters and stripped bare the live wire that is TAIJI energetics and here, he tells us exactly how he did it. I guess the readers milage will vary based on the desire to learn and the faith that at the end of the form; at the end of hours of standing on one leg, wondering how burning quads will translate into that feather touch that knocks them sideways, that the outcome will be the pure, simple pleasure of coursing energy. There is no book like this - there is no book that endeavors to unlock the vague concept of "the internal arts" - in such a straighforward and detailed way. This book is not the revolution, but it points to the revolution. If you read this book, and you focus on the exercises herein, your taiji will change, that's all it promises, and that's all it delivers.

I have not read it all yet but I very much appreciate the author being honest about this being his personal experiences and he makes some very good points about Tai Chi theory and practice and where it is heading. You can lead a horse to water but . . . . I can tell you about chi but you have to feel your own chi on your own! It is perhaps a work book. It is encouraging. I will adjust my review after reading it all and utilizing some of his insights in my practice. It probably deserves a 5 star but may not be what you think it is. It is radical. As it should be. A lot of society today is being spoon fed news, ideas, thoughts, and sensory stimulation which is not even our own, but is manufactured by others. When you develop a personal practice you may eventually realize how radical it is these days to have direct experience with something that you feel coming from with in yourself, instead of habitually reciting facts and opinions downloaded to the old ego from the world wide web of well adjusted co-dependent consumers.

Very cool stuff. I've already levitated rocks while doing a handstand with a green big eared creature on my foot

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.I think in my case my head should have been forced under the water to put me out of my misery.Around a decade ago my teacher's wife,who was a student of the late Sun Jianyun,daughter of Sun Lutang,told me about the work that is presented in this book but it went in one ear and out of the other.Having been a longtime student of karate and Yiquan I came to the conclusion that Sun style Taiji was a variant of Yiquan due to Sun Lutang having the same Xingyi teacher as Wang Xiangzhai.Very logical.That is until you realise that Yiquan went mechanical and ended up as something completely different to what Wang Xiangzhai had practiced.The fact that the Sun form is almost impossible to "shili-ise" might have told me something.Over the years my teacher's wife has constantly told me its all about relaxation and qi and nothing to do with bio-mechanics,in fact she has told me I am easy to push because I am too tense.She just finds my tension and uses it against me.All this is down to me becoming an alignment freak and forgetting about relaxation.I just wish this book had been around ten years ago as it would have saved me years of blindly wandering around looking for something that wasn't there. As the above poster says,this stuff seems to work straight out of the box.The "missing basic" switches the qi on in an instant and sensations can be felt all over the body.I have been aware of qi for the last 25 years and have trained with several qigong masters but have never experienced anything like this before for such little input.So far all I have done is the missing basic and my form practice and tried to get rid of as much tension as possible but its brought the form alive and made it a pleasure to perform.Early days and I will give an update in a year's time. This book is very honest in that Scott dosen't make any outlandish claims of Taiji being a superior fighting art or even a fighting art at all.He dosen't parrot the so-called heath benefits as he can't produce any evidence to support such a claim.What he offers is a users manual for you to experience the same as he has experienced himself.Scott has the advantage of being able to read "old Chinese" and is able to translate it into terminology a westerner will understand.Sun Jianyun told my teacher that she felt it would be extremely difficult to translate some of her father's work into another language as we haven't got words to desribe these concepts.Scott did an excellent job of his translation of Sun Lutang's key essay and that alone is worth the price of the book.Give it a go as it certainly won't bore you.

De auteur plaatst zich in het middelpunt van het universum. Als je al enige noties hebt over het doorstromen van lichaamsenergie is het lezen van dit werk verloren moeite en tijd. Zijn werk over AXE, xingyi, heeft volledig dezelfde inhoud als The Fundamentals Of Xingyi Boxing waarvan de auteur volgens Amazon Sonnyd L Fieldsr is. Zodus. Huh!!

excellent book who explains internal arts

in diesem buch behandelt der autor taiji konsequent als energiekunst, nicht als mechanische kunst: es ist nicht die genaue ausrichtung (alignment)des körpers, die die energie weckt - es ist die erweckte energie, die den körper ausrichtet. seine energiearbeit in der tradition von cheng manching sieht vereinfacht so aus: die aufmerksamkeit lenkt die energie. der erste punkt, auf den man sich ausrichtet, ist niwan in der mitte des kopfes (oft falsch als baihui übersetzt, der höher liegt). von dort lässt man die energie ins dantian und zu den fusssohlen sinken und führt sie wieder hoch zu niwan. danach lenkt man sie in die hände. wenn man das genügend lange macht, entsteht ein spürbarer ununterbrochener energiefluss im körper. das ist der erste echte taiji-zustand. diese energiearbeit lässt sich im prinzip in jede taiji-form einbauen. die persönliche lieblings-laborratte von meredith ist die 37er-form von cheng manching. allerdings lehrt er in diesem buch keine form, es geht nur um energiearbeit. ein zentraler punkt der energieentwicklung ist de KONSEQUENTE entspannung des körpers. die verteidigt er mit zähnen und klauen gegen andere taiji-meinungen. auch sein händeschieben (push hands) ist auf einem hohen niveau nur noch energetisch. man berührt den gegner - egal wo - , dehnt seine energie auf ihn aus und bricht so sein gleichgewicht. mechanischer druck wird dabei nicht mehr ausgeübt, auch nicht die berühmten 4 unzen. das ergebnis der erweckten inneren energie ist nach seinen angaben ein geisteszerfetzendes glück beim üben, das jede legale oder illegale droge übertrifft: wenn man von etwas abhängig wird, sollte es taiji sein. ich habe ungefähr einen meter bücherregal mit taijibüchern und kenne viele andere. etwas mit "juice" vergleichbares habe ich bisher nicht gelesen. VERSCHÄRFTE KAUFEMPFEHLUNG!