Simple Qigong Exercises for Health: Improve Your Health in 10 to 20 Minutes a Day

I am just starting to review it.

Qi Gong is like basic car-care maintenance for your body. I recommend this system to anyone. It is easy to get started. Don't worry about absorbing every little detail of the instructions on the first time through. Since you will own the book, you can always go back and look at the pictures again to see where your hands are supposed to be on each pose. The pictures are very good. There is also a video you can buy if the still photos aren't clear enough. There are lots of books and videos on Qi Gong, and I like this one because it tells you exactly what to do on a beginner's level ("Practice") and it also gives you the "Discussion" to explain why you are doing it. Also, this book has an index of other books you can read on the same subject to get more detailed information.

While I can attest to the effectiveness of the Eight Pieces of Brocade, when done properly, I was expecting this books to have more information specific to the exercises themselves.This is a small book of 112 pages, and only 20% of this book is dedicated to the actual Eight Pieces of Brocade, half of that to sitting exercises, and half to standing exercises, that's about 10 pages for each, and since illustrations take about half a page, you'll get the bare minimum of guidance for the exercise.As Dr. Yang says, he wrote the book to be used together with the videos. Although you can get the gist of the exercises from the illustrations and the right-up and you may be able to perform them to some point even using this book, and you may get the benefit from the purely physical movement, there is no specific guidance for coordinating breathing with the movements, nor the visualizations that help you to get the most of the exercises, nor a key instruction regarding a simple thing you must do get the energy circulating.Also, for some reason when talking to Middle Dan Tian, Dr. Yang keeps saying several times that it is in the solar plexus region, and sometimes that it is at the heart center. And the kidney point, the Door of Life, which is called Ming Men, he has renamed here Jing Men. Acupuncture charts depict Jing Men as a point on the side of the ribcage.The first chapter of this book, which is about 30% of the book deals with the history of Qigong, second part of the book, again about 30% deals with the theory of Qigong, and the last 20% of the book is the glossary.While Dr. Yang emphasizes that he believes that the theory of Qigong is more important than the actual form of the exercise, and while I respect all the hard work he invested in translating the works and sharing the information with the west, he also added that he found it difficult to translate some Chinese concepts into English and at times his choice of English words doesn't help to make the meaning any clearer. At times the writing style seems somewhat erratic, as if Dr. Yang was just jotting down his thoughts on paper, and feel that further editing might have helped to organize and present the information in a way that would be easier to comprehend.I have read books by Mantak Chia, Bruce Frantzis, Eva Wong, Thomas Cleary, Robert Peng and others, and have found these writers to present the information in a clear and easy-to-understand way. Again, I do greatly appreciate Dr. Yang's life-work, but have found this book to have, perhaps a lot of information that may be interesting, but not necessarily helpful for the Eight Pieces of Brocade, and I have found some information which would've been more helpful for the Eight Pieces of Brocade missing.

Update:Still "practicing" it. I might need to read the book again to make sure I haven't deviated from the technique.Not enough to do the motions. Accompany the exercises with coordinated breathing, relaxing, "meditation", etc.Old review:Tried all these things in the past: gym, indoor bike, zumba, elliptical, running, powerblock, etc. These may be effective for some, but I was not able to get to do them consistently, just not right for me.Started to do this exercise daily at first (December of 2013) then cut back down again to just doing it early on the days I go to work. And I just do the minimum 6 set. The exercises are gentle and does not really take that much effort to start.The effect: more energetic at work (RN 12 hours day shift). And that is also why I make sure I start those days with the exercises at the least. The only compromise I had to do, wake up 30 minutes earlier (5am). But after doing the exercise, it does not matter anyway.I noted to be a little stronger, although it was subtle. While pressure washing the deck last year, I had to stop frequently (maybe more than 20x) because my arms were tired from squeezing the trigger, and it took the whole day to finish it. And I was so tired I slept for almost 18 hours the next day to recover.This year, it took only about 4.5 hours, and 3-4 rests. And I was not as tired. And I am 1 year older.Like other reviewers suggest, better to complement it with the video.

Written in his normal manner the Eight Piecss of Brocade povides a good refresher on techniques. Although I learned from a differnt school the bool provided some insights that I had missed.

Good place to start with physical Qigong. Thank you Dr Yang.

I have read chi kung books by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming since the 90's and he is clearly dedicated to bringing to the world the history, origins, and methods of Chi Kung. I understand from posts online that he is engaged in chi kung the greater part of every day, and has many students.His is not a mere money-making enterprise, and this book is yet another that serves to inform, as well as instruct.The information in this fine manual goes beyond the comprehensive instructions, and I am quite sure that anyone reading it in a hundred years time will gain just as much knowledge and benefit as they would today. The principles shown in this book for the Eight Brocade exercises apply to any style or forms of Chi Kung.The full quota of stars for a full book of Chi Kung in general.

Very nice and simple.I really love all the history and other background included.Got me into searching for more of the authors works as well.

Si vous avez chercher comme moi une vidéo de qi gong et que ce livre est apparu ... ne l'achetez pas. C'est un livre et il n'y a pas de vidéo.

Master Yang jwing ming is the real deal. Most of the chi-kung books i have are either badly written,hard to follow, and or sometimes even dangerous to practice. Master ming teaches safe effective styles that work. These exercises may look "simple" however they work! One ive realised is that its better to a do a few exercises correctly than a lot badly. Eight brocades has stood the test of time as an effective safe chi-kung set that can be used by anyone. Do this 20 mins a day and i guarantee you WILL feel benefits. More energy, better posture, better circulation,calmer mind,blanced emotions. But to get it you HAVE to DO it! So buy it and DO it!!

Goog

Die 8 Brokate sind ein Thema für sich! Eine Standardisierung der Ausführung hat im Qi Gong nie (so richtig) stattgefunden und viele Varianten sind einfach schlecht - gerade unter gesundheitlichen Gesichtspunkten. In diesem Buch endlich eine gut erlernbare Variante, die m.E. dem Ursprung sehr nahe stehen (zumindest der südlichen, weicheren Schule). Von den Bildern alleine die Übungen zu erlernen dürfte Anfängern schwer fallen, es ist Vorerfahrung notwendig.Leider keine deutsche Ausgabe.