'The Principles of Effortless Power is one of the most profound books ever written about the martial arts. It has completely changed my thnking about my owne art, Aikido. Every time I read the book it opens up entirely new areas of inquiring, possibility and realization.'-John Stone, Aikido in America

'How many of us wished we had met Bruce Lee, sat in a session with Carl Jung, or walked around Walden Pond with Henry David Thoreau? Too late for that, but not too late to take notice of Peter Ralston. His creativity, commitment, and clarity shine through his teachings as he articulates higher principles based on direct experience and piercing insight. A superlative martial artist and caring teacher, he has been to the mountaintop and bathed in the underground spring of Being. His insights speak to us all.-Dan Millman, author of Way of the Peaceful Warrior

'What Peter Ralston does remarkably well is to clarify what the classics have been trying to tell us, and to offer concrete directions on how to continue growing and become better in the internal arts....You can't fix Cheng Hsin on the wall with a pin, because, as you try, you realize that Cheng Hsin is the wall, and the pin, and the action, and the intent.'-T'ai Chi Journal

Peter Ralston was raised in Asia and began studying martial arts at the age of nine. By the age of nineteen he was a black belt in Judo and Jujitsu (Nidan), black belt in Karate (Shodan), had been Sumo champion at his high school in Japan, Judo and fencing champion at the University of California at Berkeley, and had demonstrated proficiencey in Kempo, Ch'uan Fa, and Northern Sil Lum Kung Fu. Later he studied T'ai Chi Ch'uan, Hsing I Ch'uan, Pa Kua Chang, Aikido, Japanese and Chinese fencing, and western boxing.

Consistent with his Zen studies, his investigation into martial arts came to include a questioning of reality. In 1975 Ralston founded the Cheng Hsin School of Internal Martial Arts and Center for Ontological Research which operated for twenty years in Oakland, California. In 1978 he became the first non-Asian ever to win the World Championship full-contact martial arts tournament held in the Republic of China. He currently teaches workshops and training seminars all over the world.

Peter Ralston is also the author of Reflections of Being; Cheng Hsin Tui Shou: The Art of Effortless Power, and Ancient Wisdom, New Spirit.

Contents

Foreword
Introduction, or 'How to read this book'
Chapter One: The principles of Cheng Hsin
The five principles of an effortlessly effective body-being
Concluding chapter one
Chapter Two: A look at body-being development
Eight points on structuring the body-being
Some posture points to remember
Chapter Three:
Establishing a relationship with Cheng Hsin
Questioning our own event
Intrinsic strength
A sense of timing and unified actions
About body-being transformation
Posture
Functional mind
A precious word about function
In pursuit of being (Hsin)
Chapter Four:
The Cheng Hsin body-being: A further description
On the Nature of energy
On adaptation to the great force known as inclusion
On absolute presence in objectified reality
On the intrinsic force of the body-being
An exercise of the life force
Study, contemplation, and practice
The Cheng Hsin symbol
Chapter Five:
An introduction to functional considerations
The Cheng Hsin four principles of function
The power of union and inclusion
Conclusion
Chapter Six: A fundamental consideration of creating ability
The principle of inclusion
Lending being
Giving being
Chapter Seven: Cheng Hsin applied to an art form
Part 1: The practice of an art
Part 2: What does fighting have to do with consciousness? Some points on the art of fighting
Chapter Eight: In conclusion
The question of confusion
Another word about intrinsic nature
Reality: A concept, perhaps?
The principle behind the principles
Chapter Nine: The basic principles of Cheng Hsin-Revisited
An honest heart
The fundamental principles of body-being: An overview
The principle of effective interaction: A summary
It's true
Appendix One: An interview with Peter Ralston-January 1979
Appendix Two: Discourse on the art of swordsmanship by Chozan Shissai