Basic Information:
- Gender: Male
Testimonial:
I have read several books on Tai Chi and have also taken a few lessons. Many of the books and lessons have tremendous amounts of information for a Tai Chi student. The problem I have of the translation or instruction is that the information is often presented in random order. It is like being given a jigsaw puzzle in pieces and having to figure out how to put it back together.
Owen Liao’s Ph.D is very organized and logical in his approach to presenting the material of Essence Tai Chi. Consequently, the layout of the lesson, book and DVD on Essence Tai Chi is extremely easy to follow and is presented in the order that one should learn the techniques taught. Now the organization of Essence Tai Chi alone would compel me to take lessons, Yet, there is an even more compelling reason to learn Essence Tai Chi. The translations of Essence Tai Chi are not of old traditional text rather they are the teaching of Dr. Owen himself. Anyone taking lessons will get a wonderful distillation of the years of practice and knowledge that Dr. Owen brings to the lessons.
The lessons cover a 15 step easy to learn Tai Chi form:
- Regulating the body
- Regulating the breath
- Regulating the mind
- Regulating the Qi
- Regulating the spirit
Dr. Owen starts off with an overview of Essence Tai Chi then goes into to the four basic movements of Hand Clapping, Relaxing the Shoulders, Wu Chi and the Tai Chi Walk. What is very satisfying is that Dr. Owen takes each of the four parts and thoroughly models and explains them with much detail.
In summery, Dr. Owen has created a short but comprehensive model for busy professionals on the move to practice and retain the Essence of Tai Chi. Dr. Owen describes the form as living wisdom. The only way to really gain access to this living wisdom is to practice the form. My first Tai Chi lesson helped me get started.
Dr. Carl B Myers
September 19, 2006
