A quick heads-up for internal martial artists: Ken Gullette has a new book out that looks really interesting called, “Internal body mechanics for Tai Chi, Bagua and Xingyi”.
I haven’t read it, or even seen a copy, but I thought I’d give it a mention because it looks pretty good. It sounds like it gets straight down to the business of teaching you how to move and dispenses with the usual boring histories and form photos. Ken’s bio of how long he’s trained and who he as trained with looks pretty good too.
In Ken’s own words:
Basically, I wanted to write the book that I wish I had when I began studying the internal arts back in 1987. If I was able to read it back then, it would have saved me many years and thousands of dollars in class fees. Based on some of the martial artists I have met during the past 20-something years, I know there are millions of internal arts students who are not learning these skills.
The six fundamental body mechanics for internal power include:
** Establishing and maintaining the ground path at all times.
** Using peng jin at all times along with the ground path.
** Using whole-body movement — when one parts move, all parts move.
** Silk-Reeling “Energy” — the spiraling movement that adds power to techniques.
** Dan T’ien rotation — guiding the internal strength and power as the body moves.
** Using the kua properly — opening and closing the kua, like a buoy in the ocean, helping the body stay balanced as incoming force changes.
You can find out more details about the book here, and it’s on Amazon US and UK.
The Tai Chi Notebook 