The Book of Soft Martial Arts: Finding personal harmony with Chi Kung, Hsing I, Pa Kua and T'ai Chi

196 Pages·1998·33.869 MB·English

by  Howard Reid

THE BOOK OF
MARTIAL
SOFT
ARTS
Finding personal harmony with
Chi Kung, Hsing Pa Kua and T'ai Chi
I,
Boston Public (Library
THE BOOK OF
SOFT MARTIAL
ARTS
\
(,'
*£
THE BOOK OF
SOFT MARTIAL
ARTS
,
Finding personal harmony with
Chi Kung, Using Pa Kua and T'ai Chi
I,
By Howard Reid
with Danny Connor, Lam Kam Chuen,
Nigel Sutton and Robin Rusher
Photography by Fausto Dorelli
WEATHERHILL
New York • Tokyo
VG UAORIGINA1
\\ ritten In I loward Reid
w ith I limn ( onnor
I ,im Kam C huen
Robin Rusher
Nigel Sutton
Photograph) In I austo I )orelli
ditorial Roslin Mair
1
design Sara Mathews
l
Illustration Debbie I Imks
Brian Mckonzie
Calligraphy Mow long Km
I
Production Susan Walby
I Erection Luc) I idell Ro BR
I ase) I lorton
Patrick Nugent R^q49
1998
Firsl edition(UK), NSSC,aia BooksLimited
66CharlotteStreet
I ondonW IP11 R
I .rst Weatherhill edition, L998
( .aia Books 1 united. PublishedbypermissionintheUnited
Matesb\ Weatherhill, Inc.,ofNewYorkandTokyo,witheditorial
officesat 568 Broadway,Suite703, NewYork,N.Y. 10012.Protectedby
copyright underthetermsoftheInternationalCopyrightUnion;all
rightsreserved. Except forfairuseinbookreviews,nopartofthisbook
maybereproduced torany reasonbyanymeans,includinganymethod
otphotographic reproduction,withoutpermission.PrintedinSingapore
b\ ImagoProductions(F.E.)Pte.Ltd
I ibrary-of-CongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Reid, Howard
Thebookofsoftmartialarts findingpersonalharmonywithChi
:
Kung, UsingI, Pa Kua,andT'aiChi /byHowardReid,withDanny
Connor... [etal.] : photographyby FaustoDorelli.-- 1st
Weatherhilled.
p. cm.
Originallypublished: London:GaiaBooksLimited, 1998.
Includesindex.
ISBN0-s.s4S-04b0-(soft)
1. Exercise. 2. Exercisetherapy. 3. Medicine,Chinese.
RA7M.R34W 1998
M3.7'l-dc21 98-17561
CIP
987654321
10
Notes on pronunciation ofChinese terms
The key words in this book are sets ofChinese characters
representing concepts rather than sounds. While the written
language ofChina, Standard Chinese or Mandarin, is common
to hundreds ofmillions ofChinese nationals, the spoken word
is far more complicated. There is a bewildering arrav of
regional and local dialects - a Cantonese cannot understand
spoken Mandarin at all, and someone from Shanghai is barely
intelligible to either ofthe latter. This situation inevitably
complicates attempts to give standard Chinese pronunciation
for Westerners. There are, however, traditional Western
pronunciations for the chiefterms used in this book:
Chi is pronounced "chee"; Tan Tien "dan dee-en";
Chi Kung "chee goong"; Ba DuanJin "ba doo-wan
jin"; Hsing I is "sing yee", with a slight aspiration on
the "s"; Pa Kua is "ba gwa"; and T'ai Chi Chuan is
pronounced "tie chee choo-wan".
Unfortunately, this standard usage has a few inconsistencies.
Ba and pa are both pronounced "ba" (both mean eight); and
Hsing I and Pa Kua should be fully titled as Hsing I Chuan
and Pa Kua Chang.
Spellings ofChinese terms
The spellings used in this edition are also standard in Western
martiai arts' usage. However, it should be noted that the Pin
Yin transliteration advised by the People's Republic ofChina,
and thought by some to give a closer indication ofcorrect
pronunciation, is now predominant in the Western media (for
example, Peking is spelled Beijing). The Pin Yin spellings of
the key Chinese words used in this book are as follows:
Chi -Qi\ Tan tien - Dan tien; Chi Kung -Qt Gong,
Ba Duan Jin - Ba Duan Gin; Hsing I - Xing Yi; Pa Kua
-Ba Gua; T'ai Chi Chuan - Tai]iQuan.
Special martial arts' terms
There are other special martial terms apart from the Chinese
words mentioned above. Most common ofthese is the verb
"to circle", which applies to arm movements within the
exercises. Whether you are circling up or down, or to one side
or the other, this action is a smooth, rounded one, with the
movement ofthe curved arm describing an arc. The arrows Note
that appear in the illustrations ofthe exercises will help to Mostoftheexercises
guide you in the circling movements. Another word taughtin thisbook un-
commonly used in the martiai arts is "form", meaning an gentleandrelaxing, but
exercise or position. A form may be an extended sequence, youshouldbesure tofollou
such as the T'ai Chi Short Form, or just a few steps, as in the allthe instructionswith
Twelve Animal forms in Hsing I. due care.
Contents
,.
Introduction 8
PART ONE
The Soft Arts 21
Chi Kung Breath power 22
1
:
Hsing Ways harmony 44
2: I to
Kua
3: Pa Eternal change 64
4: T'ai Chi Chuan The art ofawareness 82
TWO
PART
Way
The Balanced 47
1
5: Oriental paths to balance 148
6: Therapeutic uses 172
Index and bibliography 189
Allthingsare backedby theShade (Yin)
Andfacedby the light (Yang),
Andharmonisedby the immaterialBreath (Chi).
From Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching

THE WAY OF HARMONY
8