Zhan Zhuang: The Art of Nourishing Life

Great book. Dr. Yu's book is one of the very few texts on Zhan Zhuang to describe the actual internal physical mechanics of the fundamental exercise that lies at the core of all the so-called internally-based arts. The book is well worth the effort, at least if that is your interest. Dr. Yu's description of that he calls "second order kinetics", although it is a small part of the book, is quite readable. It simplified for me the fundamental practice of establishing the balance of muscle relaxation and muscle excitation for all muscles in the body. As Dr. Yu describes it, this balance is to be "set" at a point just at the threshold of excitation, where the muscle is neither resting nor working, but is in a state of absolute "readiness" to act. Dr. Yu's description significantly deepened my own practice, and gave me a way to teach this core material even to people who had virtually no exposure to the internal Chinese arts. My teacher in Hong Kong once described Zhan Zhang to me as "Outside calm; inside very busy". It took a decade for me to figure out what that meant. Dr. Yu's description of simple exercises in this area can allow one to feel that almost immediately. That said, there is a lot of material in the book (such as the lengthy descriptions of effect on heart rate) that, at least in my opinion, could have been shortened. The descriptions of various positions is ok, but can be found elsewhere as well. But, his description of "second order kinetics" was, for me, priceless. One further note... The translations into English and Spanish are both, for the most part, quite good. What is a little odd, however, is that the translated books are not translations of Dr. Yu's complete text, but rather are selections (albeit fairly extensive ones) from Dr. Yu's original text (which was titled, somewhat cryptically, in Chinese, as "In Search of the Object"). Further, the text selections in one language are not same selections as those in other languages, although there is substantial overlap. I suspect that this may be because the original text was not a fixed piece, but rather more a collection of writings, the selection of which perhaps changed over time. Fwiw, the Spanish language version is more complete. If you look at the number of pages of each one, the Spanish text is longer, and it is closer in full content to Dr. Yu's original text.

This is a clearly written and methodically- presented graduate - level presentation on Zhan Zhuang. In essence, it provides the understanding and instruction specifics to help the reader build a quality practice and continued advancement. I easily have highlighted about 1/3 of the book. I've been practicing Zhan Zhuang for about 10 years, and I've probably read the most focused books on the subject that have been written in English.There's definitely novel material in this volume.Highly recommended!

Too bad I cannot read Chinese as probably a lot got lost in the translation. Having practiced Zhan Zhuang for nearly two decades, I can vouch for the effectiveness of this system especially when it comes to eliminating lower back pain and building a strong immune system.

Was hoping for a detailed guide to the practice. Most of the book made references and comparisons of various scientific studies. Most did not make any sort of conclusion, so the information was open ended. The first part of the book was accessible only because I had some familiarity with the prctice from other sources.

This book is an excellent addition to Master Lam's books on Zhan Zhuang. It gets into a lot of little details of the fundamentals of the system that I've not found elsewhere. Granted, the translation is a little roundabout, but it is a worthwhile read if you don't have access to a proper instructor.

Pretty arcane presentation of material . There are a number of books/ practioners that do a better job of explaining zhan zhaung and providing clearer instruction / Pete S

Great ggreat book. I wish we could have thee other books from this master ttranslated to english!

Good instruction. An additional view point. New stances. Insightful.

It is what the author Dr. Yu Yongnian believes makes standing like a tree works and how to manage the intensity of the exercise so you can come with your own program according to your personal characteristics.But its not very easy to understand because it was written and translated from Mandarin.

Ok

Great thank you

Exactly what I needed

Je suppose que la version originale contient bcp d'informations precieuses. Or cette version anglaise ne parvient pas à les transmettre. Les phrases sont superficielles et troublantes...