Description: A GENTLE BUT POWERFUL WORKOUT FOR PEOPLE OF ALL AGES AND ABILITIES
A daily ritual practiced by millions all over the globe, Tai Chi offers a wealth of health benefits. The low-impact, flowing movements sharpen the mind and strengthen the body, reducing stress and increasing flexibility. Regular practice can help lower blood pressure, relieve chronic pain, and improve sleep. If you’re an athlete, you’ll find that Tai Chi improves your focus and endurance.
But to get the most out of a Tai Chi practice, expert instruction from the start is key. So is the ability to repeat sections over and over until they are second nature. International martial arts champion Tiffany Chen learned this 60-movement Yang-form practice from her father, Grandmaster William C.C. Chen. Her expertise and the unique features of this DVD make it ideal for beginners or others wanting to improve their practice.
SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE learning segments with continuos loop option, complete form with dual audio tracks for movement or breath instruction, real-time practice for advanced students, and optional mirrored instruction for complete form and real-time practices.
Amazon.com: An old tradition meets new technology in Step by Step Tai Chi, a user-friendly, 88-minute (plus bonus material) program presented by martial arts champ Tiffany Chen. Also known as tai chi chuan, this "internal" or "soft" martial art has been around for a couple hundred years, and while it has steadily grown in popularity in the West, it’s still often demeaned as an "elderly person’s exercise"--a notion that Chen aims to dispel, while emphasizing the use of tai chi to effectively relax, clear the mind, sharpen focus, and increase self-awareness. The practice she demonstrates, known as the "Yang style short form," consists of some 60 movements, organized here into eleven segments. Some of the movements have poetically descriptive names ("White Crane Spreads its Wing," "Retreat to Mountain Camp for Rematch," "Step Back to Drive the Monkey Away"), while others are more prosaic; virtually all of them are slow, involving subtle shifts of weight and balance, small steps forward and back and side to side, and graceful arm and hand movements. Chen’s instruction is good--clear, concise, and free of frills--but perhaps most impressive is the use of a variety of DVD features. The program can be viewed with the instruction turned off; the use of "mirrored" instruction is optional as well, and while each of the eleven segments is repeated twice (from slightly different angles and with different instructions each time) before moving on to the next, users can also opt for the continuous "loop" feature, in which a given segment is repeated indefinitely. That’s a good thing, as these movements are not easy; what’s more, on initial viewing they don’t seem so different from one another, so watching them again and again isn’t merely useful, it’s vital. All in all, it may be that no fitness video, especially one devoted to a practice as subtle as tai chi, can take the place of actual, in-person instruction, but Step by Step Tai Chi is undoubtedly the next best thing. --Sam Graham
Peaceful,Artful and Useful I enjoyed Tiffany Chen's peaceful approach to Tai Chi and to life. It is a pleasure to have her insight into the mystery of Tai Chi. I highly recommend this DVD.
Peace and movement I basically cannot disagree with any of the reviews. However saying that, I absolutely love this dvd. I don't know whether it's the music or the movements themselves or Miss Chen, but I find the whole thing hypnotic. I don't think it's so much confusing as much as the fact that this is a very complex art form, I mean it is so deep you could spend a life time on it and still be learning.
I think it is an enchanting video, and yes I am just starting out with tai chi, and it may take me the rest of my life to really learn this form. But I get so much out of doing just one or two movements, even though shifting from one leg to another properly is still a mystery to me, a lot of it is. I just keep looping the first movements over and over and if I'm stuck there forever, so be it. I'm enjoying my ineptitude in some way. I may never get it. but it is worth the pursuit, even if I remain in tai chi kindergarten. Thankyou Tiffany Chen!
WHAT??? Maybe fancy camera tricks are cool, but they are a burden when you have NO idea what is going on and are trying to learn something. Here's a hint: Let's NOT focus on the face when the whole body is moving. Let's NOT focus on a side angle when the opposing, blocked, leg is moving. And so on. Also, Ms. Chen, perhaps actually describing your movements in layman terms for all of us who have not been raised by a Tai Chi Kung Fu master would be helpful. Kthxbai ...
I'm a total noob to Tai Chi, and really want to be successful. This video is NOT for you if you have NO idea what you're doing. Thank goodness I got it as a freebie from another site!
A Thorough Introduction to the Chen Modified Yang-style Form I am favorably impressed with this complete introduction on the William C. C. Chen Yang-style form. This form is unique enough that it will take months to truly learn the 60-movement choreography. I have the opportunity to learn this form and its related martial arts from a Chen certified instructor but didn't want to waste the first 3 to 6 months just learning the basic form movements. The competence gained through practice with this DVD will allow me to enter into the refinement phase where master instruction is more valuable. Yes, Tiffany's instructions are precise and that is the goal of a good instructional program. "Peace and movement" can be a result of diligent practice, as well as other more beneficial effects, but not the goal of this DVD. This is about grounding the student in the solid fundamentals of the mechanics necessary to perform the movement correctly from which all other things flow.
The innovative features of this DVD are very valuable in understanding the mechanics and breathing of the form performed well. I've found the automatic continuous looping of each segment (12 segments in the entire form) an invaluable tool in learning the form. The momvements in each segment are presented 3 times from slightly different angles and with different vocal instructions on each pass. These can then be looped continuously until sufficiently familiar. The whole DVD can be shown in mirrored format making it much easier to mimic the movements.
If I have one gripe it is that the director of this DVD (as well as other Tai Chi instructional DVDs I've tried) can't stop himself from switching viewing angles in the middle of a movement. It's enough that each segment gets 3 seperate treatments.
Thanks for a great introduction to Grandmaster Chen's form.
Fine, not great. I realize that this DVD is step by step, however for beginner's the instructions are confusing and visually it is confusing also. The approach of this instruction also seems to be rather goal oriented rather then being about peace and movement. Tiffany's perfectionistic manner makes this rather less enjoyable than it should be. I find other DVD's of Tai Chi to be better.
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