The Philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan

Freya and Martin Boedicker, the authors of the book “The Philosophy Of Tai Chi Chuan” are both practitioners of the Wu style of Tai Chi Chuan. They are students of Ma Jiangbao, who is the son of the famous Tai Chi masters Ma Yueliang and his wife Wu Yinghua. They live in Germany and teach the Wu style of Tai Chi Chuan all across Europe and even in South Africa.  Together, Freya and Martin Boedicker also run the Forum for Traditional Wu Tai Chi Chuan. You can also read their Blog on “Tai Chi Chuan and Philosophy”

Watch this wonderful video for the book which features Ma Jiangbao demonstrating the finer details of the Wu style of Tai Chi Chuan on Martin Boedicker and other students.

Here is an interesting review of this book by Gerardo Lopez Sastre. To read the full review as well as others, visit the Amazon page for book “The Philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan”

It has been a real pleasure to read this book. If one wants to do more than copy a lot of movements without any meaning one needs to know “the reason behind”. This means not only the more or less hidden applications, but the philosophy that supports them, the core ideas that provide the strategy of Tai Chi and allow the practitioner to know what is right and what is wrong. In this field it is very easy to get lost. A lot of big words and flurry concepts: dao, de, full and empty …. Why not skip all this and concentrate in the practice? A big mistake! Theory without practice is not going to improve our health or our martial ability. But practice without theory is blind. We need to know that some Chinese philosophers believed that the weak overcomes the strong, and that this principle is embodied in Tai Chi. Chinese strategists thought about the art of deception. So if the enemy is strong we must evade him, but if he is holding back, we must look arrogant. And we could continue …

You can now own this excellent book about the philosophy of Tai Chi Chuan. Enhance your understanding of this profound martial art known as Tai Chi Chuan. Just click on the image below to view the details of the book.