Tao and t'Ai Chi Kung Paperback - 1990

From the rear cover

T'AI CHI / PHILOSOPHY A Master instructor of T'ai Chi Chuan, fourth-degree black belt in Korean karate, herbalist, and acupuncturist, Dr. Robert Sohn shows how philosophy and practice are inextricably bound together in the discipline of T'ai Chi Kung. While there are numerous exoteric benefits of T'ai Chi Kung--such as relaxation and meditative calm, general health improvement, and the curing of insomnia, backache, and digestive disorders--the author emphasizes the meaning and method of T'ai Chi Kung as a direct vehicle for inner perfection and self-mastery. Contrary to the common perception of T'ai Chi Chuan, the practice of T'ai Chi Kung is physically very strenuous. Of special interest to advanced students, Dr. Sohn delves into the more profound aspects of energy development, explaining how to use the mind to assume the correct "inner posture," ways to distinguish between intrinsic and extrinsic muscles, and how to become rooted (as demonstrated on the front cover illustration) in the tan tien--in the Earth, or inner Being. Tao and T'ai Chi Kung does what no other book currently accomplishes: it grounds the student/practitioner deeply in both Taoist philosophy and the practical physiology of T'ai Chi Chuan, providing the necessary link between the two. Skillfully guiding the reader from the most subtle philosophical landscapes to concrete anatomical realities, Sohn's style can only be described as T'ai Chi in the form of words; his transitions are unfelt and invisible, expertly conveying the emotion, intellect, movement, and spiritual principle that are the essence of T'ai Chi Kung.