The Eight Pieces of Brocade - Ba Duan Jin Qigong

Great book. Clear and concise explanations and diagrams.

Well written and comes complete with detailed but easy to understand exercise explanations. Supporting data also very helpful.

Informative book which explains the movement shapes and stances. Used with regular classes and YouTube videos I would recommend. Not for novices but for those who want to learn more.

As you can see by the author bio listed above, David Deich has been a student of mind/body connections for over 35 years. According to his forward in The Eight Pieces, he has been practicing the Ba Duan Jin regularly for over 16 years, under many masters of the art.For anyone who is interested in practicing the Ba Duan Jin, you will quickly notice that there are many variations from master to master (often slight differences but differences nonetheless) and it's quite difficult to know which is the "correct" method. This is the problem I found when wishing to practice this art. Deich noticed this as well but found that some masters techniques felt "more complete than others" as the author puts it and combined them - this set of exercises is all the "winners" that he has discovered while still maintaining the traditional 8 exercises. Overall, even without all the acupuncture points, meridian lines, energy flows, etc. in great detail within this book - it's the best and most complete (that I've found) Ba Duan Jin routine to follow - because it's all there... without simplifying it so much that movements are lost or avoided like some routines will do. You won't have any questions regarding when to inhale or exhale or foot placement etc. Extremely well written book with plenty of instructional photographs/drawings to guide you.If you're like myself and find it somewhat necessary to have a basic knowledge of all the "nuts and bolts" of a system before you jump in and practice diligently without doubts - this is the book to get. Highly recommended. He also has a video of the Ba Duan Jin as well. I also recommend his (and Shane Lears) Wild Goose - Dayan Qigong - related titles.

On page 63 he gives a "well known quote" which he doesn't attribute the source to. This quote is in direct opposition with the principles of soft martial internal arts."The body leads the mind. The mind leads the qi. The qi leads the body."The body does NOT lead the mind. Even common sense will tell you that.In any case much of the rest of the book has good information.Perhaps the only mistake is just this one part. Perhaps the author has a misunderstanding of the principles. Or perhaps he's saying the same thing as the classics but in an overly complex way that causes confusion.I would recommend a video to learn from as it is much better to see it demonstrated than looking at pictures in a book.I would recommend Yin Chian Ho's book on Qigong which is now on Kindle. That has the 7 pieces of brocade AKA Ba Duan Jin. He also has a video available. If you click on the link to his site in the book it will take you to the DVD order form. Or the DVD by Dr. Yang Simple Qigong Exercises for Health.

Good background to understand this Qi Gong