Opera for T'ai Chi People

 Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has taught opera master classes at Carnegie Hall for many years. In this video, you can clearly see the link to t'ai chi practice: connecting energy, breath, root and how that can be harnessed in singing.

New Book: Taijiquan Master Reference Anthology

 

  

 

Taijiquan Master Reference

Edited by Michael DeMarco

A comprehensive collection of articles from the Journal of Asian Martial Arts, in two volumes.

Volume One & Two combined: 962 pages, hardcover, $74 US

https://www.viamediapublishing.com/china 

"This is an anthology of articles relating to taijquan (tai chi) that were previously publishing over two decades in the quarterly Journal of Asian Martial Arts, noted for its high academic and aesthetic standards. Included here in 960 pages are sixty-four articles, 735 illustrations, glossaries, maps, charts, and bibliographies. Researchers can benefit from this handy anthology, particularly for the information and analyses presented, including the rich bibliographic listings. Taiji practitioners will also gain insights to benefit their own practice, be it for health and/or self-defense.

"Via Media Publishing was founded in 1992 in order to produce the peer reviewed quarterly Journal of Asian Martial Arts (1992–2012)—the first publication of its kind to focus on martial traditions in an academic format. Many of the authors were scholar–practitioners, who utilized their unique talents to present articles from various specializations, such as Asian Studies, kinesiology, history, anthropology, philosophy, and physical education. Those who were serious about this field subscribed to the journal to read articles noted for their high academic and aesthetic standards. Most were in the United States, Canada, and Europe, but also in other areas of the world. These naturally included martial art schools and individual practitioners. There was a strong base among university and public libraries too. As founder of Via Media, I’ve decided to assemble this anthology of articles relating to taijiquan. There are over three hundred million taiji practitioners worldwide, drawn to the art mainly for health maintenance and it therapeutic value. Researchers can benefit from this handy anthology, particularly for the information and analyses presented, including the rich bibliographic listings. Taiji practitioners will also gain insights to benefit their own practice, be it for health and/or self-defense. Included here are sixty-four articles, the same number of hexagrams in the Book of Changes (Yijing). In addition to 735 illustrations, there are glossaries, maps, charts, and bibliographies. Taijiquan is the term representing the general category of study, but taijiquan can be subdivided into its branches, from the original Chen Family Style to the highly popular Yang Family Style. Other lineages are presented, such as the Wu and Sun systems. The variety of material in this anthology reflects in-depth scholarly research and the experience of master practitioners. It will be a valuable source taijiquan enthusiasts for future decades. By making this book available to individuals and libraries, we hope this rare material will greatly contribute to further research in this field and inspire many to learn taijiquan with aspirations to mastery."

Volume One authors include:

Robert W. Smith, Peter Lim Tian Tek, Stephan Berwick , Tim Cartmill , Bosco Seung-Chul Baek, David Gaffney, Zhang Yun , Russ Mason , Kenneth S. Cohen , Douglas Wile , Herman P. Kauz , Stanley E. Henning , Cai Naibiao, Wong Yuen Ming, John Loupos, Jake Burroughs , Benjamin Lo , Michael Rosario Graycar, C.J. Rhoads , Leroy Clark , Asr Cordes, Linda Lehrhaupt, Nigel Sutton , Dietmar Stubenbaum, Barbara Davis, Bradford Tyrey , Marcus Brinkman, Arieh Lev Breslow, Adam Wallace, Wong Jiaxiang, Sophia Delza , Charles Holcombe , Carol M. Derrickson, Stuart Kohler, Donald D. Davis , Dennis Willmont , Donald Mainfort , Miriam O’Connor , Andy Peck, Mark Hawthorne , Yaron Seidman , Joel Stein , Xu Yizhong , Yuan Weiming , Xu Zhengmei, Danny Emerick,  Hal Mosher, S. Dale Brown  Greg Brodsky, Lawrence L. Mann , Michael A DeMarco

Volume Two: Michael DeMarco, Robert W. Smith, David Gaffney  , Benjamin Lo , Tim Cartmill , Stephan Berwick , Stanley Henning , Herman Kaus , Douglas Wile , Bosco Seung-Chul Baek    

Review: Lou Reed's The Art of the Straight Line

The Art of the Straight Line: My Tai Chi
by Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson
Faber, 2023 

 Lou Reed was the singer-songwriter of The Velvet Underground before launching a solo career that lasted from the 1970’s to the 2000’s. A Grammy-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, he influenced musicians such as David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Patti Smith. 

In addition to his artistic endeavors, Reed was a dedicated practitioner of Chen style t’ai chi. He began studying t’ai chi as he struggled to stop his drug use, which he described as ‘reckless excess.’ T’ai chi became a constant in his life. He practiced daily, whether at home or on tour and encouraged friends and acquaintances to take up t’ai chi. He studied with Ren Guangyi, a mainland Chinese master living in New York. Working with Ren, Lou Reed took t’ai chi performance art on tour in the 2000’s. He wanted to publish a t’ai chi book but struggled to get it started.

A team of friends (Scott Richman, Bob Currie, Stephan Berwick) and Laurie Anderson (his wife of 21 years) curated the book’s content and published it in 2023, ten years after his death. The book’s title page correctly describes its contents -- “A collection of Lou’ writings on t’ai chi and conversations with friends, teachers, and fellow practitioners.” While the book includes various writings, emails, and conversations with Reed, it is primarily interviews with and reminiscences of people in Reed’s circle. This included well-known fellow musicians such as Iggy Pop and Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett, as well as friends, fellow t’ai chi practitioners and teachers. Not everyone was engaged in t’ai chi, though all share stories of finding Reed practicing t’ai chi whether on his apartment rooftop or while on tour. Those with knowledge of the Rock and Roll music scene will find sections from Lou’s fellow musicians of interest.

While t’ai chi practitioners may find the discussions of t’ai chi, push-hands, practice and a visit to Chen Village interesting, it is not a ‘sink your teeth into it’ tome on t’ai chi. Rather, the audience for this book is primarily musicians, artists and others who want to discover Lou Reed, the person.

            —Cheryl Powers

 

Review: The Yijing: A Guide

 

The Yijing: A Guide
Joseph Adler
Oxford University Press, 2021
paper, 206 pp.

A certain talent is required to render complex ideas understandable for novices. Joseph Adler, who has written extensively about the Yijing, has accomplished this in a masterful guide to the Chinese Book of Changes. The Yijing: A Guide is an excellent introduction for anyone interested in the worlds of Chinese philosophy, history, and literature. It clearly and succinctly summarizes China’s vast intellectual traditions in a very understandable manner.

In seven chapters, Adler describes the Yijing and its layers. He places the book in the context of divination from around the world, and then turns to the specifics of China’s historical and cultural context, covering early, early modern, and modern China, and Western uses of the Yijing, ending with a chapter that asks “Why the Yijing?”

Adler explains specialized Yijing terminology while keeping jargon to a minimum. He succinctly describes the parts of the Yijing, from its hexagram components to the Ten Wings. In his coverage of the Great Treatise, for example, he shows the development of important philosophical ideas and terms. Adler surveys the Yijing’s major schools (Image and Number, Meaning and Principle) and thinkers such as Shao Yong and Cheng Yi. Chapters include:

1. What is the Yijing?
2. Layers of Change
3. Yijing Divination
4. The Early History of Yijing Interpretation
5. Early Modern Views of the Yi
6. The Yijing in Modern China and the West
7. Why the Yijing?
Bibliography

Adler’s prior works include studies and translations of the great Song dynasty philosopher Zhu Xi (1130–1200), including his philosophy and his Yijing commentaries. Zhu was a pivotal figure in the Song era’s revamping of classical education.

The Yijing: A Guide is part of an affordable series that Oxford University Press produces of “Guides to Sacred Texts.” Another book in the series of interest of particular interest to Yijing readers is Livia Kohn’s The Daode Jing.

This book overlaps some in content with Richard Smith’s I Ching: A Biography and with Tze-ki Hon and Geoffrey Redmond’s Teaching the I Ching, however, Adler’s work is squarely aimed at those who are not necessarily familiar with the complexities of the Yijing or with Chinese culture. This makes it an invaluable book for college classes related to Chinese studies, as well as comparative religion, anthropology, philosophy, and literature. Students of allied arts such as Chinese medicine and martial arts will appreciate Adler’s treating theory and practice as being equally important; the Yijingis not just an academic pursuit.

 

Yang Luchan, Taijiquan Patriarch

 ‘The Many Lives of Yang Luchan: Mythopoesis, Media, and the Martial Imagination.’

In Martial Arts Studies

By Douglas Wile, 2022

ABSTRACT:
The life of Yang Luchan, patriarch of the Yang lineage and founder
of taijiquan’s most popular style, is a biographical blank slate upon
which conservative, progressive, orientalist, and just plain rice bowl
interests have inscribed wildly divergent narratives. Conservative
scholar-disciples sought to link him with the invented Wudang-Daoist
lineage, while progressives emphasized his humble origins and health
benefits of the practice. His life (c.1799-1872) straddled the height of
the Manchu empire and decline into semi-colonial spheres of foreign
influence, while successive generations of Yang descendants propagated
his ‘intangible cultural heritage’ through Republican, Communist,
‘open’, and global eras. Practiced world-wide by hundreds of millions,
taijiquan’s name recognition made it ripe for media appropriation, and
Yang Luchan has been remythologized in countless novels, cartoons,
television series, and full-length feature films. The case of Yang Luchan
offers an unusual opportunity to witness an ongoing process of mytho-
poesis and to compare these narratives with traditional Chinese warrior
heroes and Western models of mythology and heroology. If the lack of
facts has not constrained the proliferation of invented biographies, nei-
ther should it discourage the quest for historical context as we sift and
winnow truth from trope in the many reconstructions of Yang’s life.
 

 

Review: Livia Kohn's The Daode jing: A Guide

 

The Daode jing: A Guide
Livia Kohn
Oxford University Press, 2019
US$26.95 paper, also available in hardcover, ebook 

Livia Kohn, a leading researcher and translator of Daoist works, has produced a comprehensive, useful book about Laozi’s venerable Daode jing. Published by Oxford University Press, long known for its authoritative works, her book is part of their “Guides to Sacred Texts” series that covers ancient works from around the world. She is a retired professor of religion formerly at Boston University, and heads Three Pines Press, which publishes important works on Daoist traditions. She also edits the Journal of Daoist Studies.

Kohn’s volume is organized into twelve chapters that examine the Daodejing over time. In Part One, Kohn looks in detail at the Daodejing’s origins, development, concepts, and use. Part Two follows the Daodejing as it evolves into being an integral part of various sectors of Chinese society, used by religious groups, philosophers, scholars, and others. Part Three looks at the Daodejing in contemporary times, from academics to pop culture, and its translation into other languages.

Kohn helpfully explains terminology in her introduction, delineating the basic concepts of Daoism for health, philosophy, and religion, and how those delineations actually came into being. She describes the three branches as literati, organized (e.g., religious sects), and self-cultivation techniques (e.g., breathing, diet, exercise). She continues with discussion of the role of writing and how the once-new technology affected people’s thinking.

Each chapter has a short bibliography, which makes the book particularly useful for college students. A few reference items would have enhanced this volume such as a timeline of dynasties, rulers, and thinkers mentioned; a glossary and romanization conversion chart, since so many Chinese philosophy books for general readers use Wade-Giles as opposed to pinyin.

Kohn’s Daode jing has a minimum of specialist jargon, and is written in an approachable style that will make it perfect for anyone interested in Chinese philosophy, religion, medicine, arts, or martial arts. Readers of the Yijing, the Book of Changes, will find this volume helpful for better understanding the breadth of the Yi’s cultural roots. (A volume in the series on the Yijing will be out shortly.) Oxford also has published Gary DeAngelis and Warren Frisina’s Guide to Teaching the Daodejing (2008), for professors including China-related readings in courses.

Being an overview, Kohn’s Daode jing succinctly covers a wide range of materials, and, being written by one person, keeps nicely focused on its subject and audience. The book’s slick cover texture can be remedied by covering it with paper.

Highly recommended.

Review: Eight Ways Chi Gong

Eight Ways Chi Gong
by Sara and Michael Stenson
Abiquiu Press

$18 US

72 pages, paperback

This slender book is a great supplement to individual or group instruction in a set of eight chi gong exercises from the Cheng Man-Ching taiji lineage. The introductory section outlines the origins of chi gong and these particular exercises, as well as the principles of taiji movement, without an over emphasis on Chinese words or jargon more familiar to intermediate or advanced taiji practitioners. 

True to its stated intent, the soft-spoken language and presentation are well suited to older students interested in gentle movements to improve their mobility and balance.  Each exercise is nicely presented with a movement visualization, exercise description with accompanying drawings and the specific value or benefit of that exercise.  The description notes potential movement errors for beginners to avoid while encouraging exploration of what may be unfamiliar movements. 

Can individuals with no prior chi gong or taiji experience pick up this book and do the exercises without a teacher's guidance? Naturally, personal instruction improves the likelihood of both incorporating them into daily life as well as averting poor execution of the movements.  However, it is possible, I think, to gain some benefit from learning the exercises without hands-on instruction if a qualified teacher isn't available. While aimed at beginners with no taiji training, more experienced taiji players may find a quick read stimulates physical and/or mental explorations of a daily practice that has become routine and habitual.

    —Cheryl Powers

    Cheryl Powers is the associate director of Great River T'ai Chi Ch'uan in Minneapolis, Minnesota.