Man-ch'ing Cheng (–1975)

from dust jacket

In this erudite yet practical book Professor Cheng shares the secrets of his lineage and takes us to the heart of T'ai chi Ch'uan, presenting it as a martial art, a medicine, and a means of exercise and self-development. With examples from anatomy and physics, he demonstrates precisely how the postures and moves work, internally as energetic principles, and externally on opponents. He makes plain the spheres, triangles, and centripetal and centrifugal forces wthin physical exchanges such as push-hands. Contrasting Western and Chinese techniques of healing, he also explores the relationships of organs to one another in pathology and the necessary dynamics of treatment. Profesor Cheng always emphasizes that disease (like an attack from an opponent) is an opportunity for training. The practitioner of T'ai Chi Chuan may serve as his or her) own doctor and, likewise, as the physician (or trainer) of an attacker. The martial arts are not a special case of unusual power; they are simply an aspect of adapting natural and cosmic law to circumstance. At this pont philosophy intself meerges with mater, physics becomes meditation, and the gravitational forces of the universe are our ally.

This special text includes:
Thirteen essays on his insights into t'ai chi ch'uan
Oral secrets from his teacher, Yang Cheng'fu
Questions and answers giving his commentary on the classics
Professor Cheng's application and function of each of the thirty-seven postures of the short form with the original set of illustrative photographs of him as a young man
Description and mechnanics of push-hands, San Shou, and Ta Lu
Prefaces by both Madame Cheng and Benjamin Pang-Jeng Lo

Contents

Introduction by Madame Cheng
Indroduction by Benjamin Pang-jeng Lo
Biography of Man-Jan
Section I
Treatise One: Explanaton of the Name and Definition
Treatise Two: Understanding the Occult and the Physical
Treatise Three: Developing the Ch'i to Attain Suppleness
Treatise Four: Changing the Temerament
Treatise Five: Swimming on Land
Treatise Six: Equal Importance of the Heart and Spine
Treatise Seven: Strength and Physics
Treatise Eight: Maintainng Life and the Original State
Treatise Nine: Benefiting the Internal Organs
Treatise Ten: Recovery From Lung Disease
Treatise Eleven: The Levesls of T'ai Chi Chu'an
Treatise Twelve: Comprehending Creation and Destruction
Treatise Thirteen: Explanaton of the Oral Secrets With Forward and Commentary
Afterward
Section II
Explanation of the Essential Points-Professor Yang's Essential Points of T'ai Chi Ch'uan ; The Respected Transmission
Important Sectrets of T'ai Chi Ch'uan Diagrams and Illustrations-Single Movements; Push Hands; Ta Lu; San Shou
Section III
Answers to Students' Questions
Song of Substance and Form
Glossary… (mer)

'T'ai-chi ch'uan as an art of self-defense must completely spurn both physical bravery and muscular force. One is told that 'in any action, the whole body must be made as light and free-moving as possible;' so light that 'the addition of a feather will be felt for its weight, and so free-moving that a fly cannot alight on it without setting it in motion.''

Contents

Introductory notes
Part I
Chapter 1 T'ai chi ch'uan as physical exercise
Chapter 2 The body of t'ai chi ch'uan: Its principles
Chapter 3 The function of t'ai chi ch'uan: Its principles
Chapter 4 My personal view
Chapter 5 My hope
Chapter 6 My own experience
Part II
The kung chia of t'ai chi ch'uan
Pushing hand practice with fixed steps
The essentials of pushing hand practice
How to uproot your opponent
Some events in the lives of the Yang family… (mer)

from cover

Master 'Cheng's New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation is the culmination an completion of Cheng Man-ch'ing's life work: the Simplified Method of Yang Style Taichi. This text is his final book, translated into English here for the first time. Now students of all taichi styles have a chance to study the methods of Cheng Man-ch'ing directly, with the aid of 180 photographs and 160 foot diagrams.

Master Cheng provides practitioners with a complete and concise guide to the Short Form, enabling them to make rapid progress. Expanding from the mechanical outline in T'ai Chi Ch'uan: A Simplified Method of Calisthenics for Health and Self-Defense, Cheng goes into great detail describing the postures, and more importantly, how to transition smoothly from one stance to another. As in his previous work, Cheng Tzu's Thirteen Teatises on T'ai Chi Ch'uan, he continues his explanation of taichi's place in the history of Chinese philosophy, drawing parallels with the I Ching, and sampling from the Yellow Emperor's Classic. For martial artists in pursuit of internal achievement, this will be an essential volume.

Mark Hennessy spent eleven years in China studying philosophy, classical language, and taichi ch'uan. He has lectured at the National college of Political Science in Taiwan and Yonsei University in Seoul. His previous translations of Cheng's writings are: Cheng Man-ch'ing: Master of Five Excellences and Cheng Man-ch'ing: Essays on Man and Culture.

Contents

Translator's Introduction
Ku Wei-Chun's Preface
Author's Introduction
Elimanating Three Faults
Three Types of Fearlessness
Speaking on My Experience
Discussions
The Important Points of Self-Cultivation
The Simplified Thirty-Seven Posture Form, with explanation and Illustrations
Afterword
Examples of Taichi Philosophy in Classical Literature
The I Ching
The Confucian I Ching (Hsi Tzu Ch'uan)
Lao Tzu's Tao Teh Ching
The Yellow Emperor's Classic on Internal Medicine… (mer)