Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #16144 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-12-14
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Dolby, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Running time: 120 minutes

From Amazon.com
One of the essential principles of t'ai chi is complete relaxation, letting the lower body sink as if rooted into the ground while the upper body floats above. The movements are slow, circular, fluid, and balanced. In T'ai Chi for Health: Yang Long Form, instructor Terence Dunn teaches the complex, 108-posture Long Form with clarity and patience. The format of this 120-minute video is similar to T'ai Chi for Health: Yang Short Form: 7-minute explanation of the qualities, philosophy, and health benefits of t'ai chi; 10-minute breathing and warm-up segment; 20-minute introduction to basic postures; full hour of step-by-step instruction in the 108 postures of the Yang Long Form; and finally a 15-minute Yang Long Form demonstration. Dunn is an excellent instructor, explaining each move in detail and demonstrating with grace, suppleness, and strength. --Joan Price

Synopsis
One of the principles of tai chi is the planting of the lower body to the floor, allowing the upper body to flow smoothly. The Yang Long Form is a complex series of 108 movements which promote balance, relaxation, circulation, and the energizing the chi, or life force. In this 120 minute video, instructor Terence Dunn breaks down the workout into a brief introduction of the philosophy and health benefits of tai chi: a 10-minute warm-up, a 20-minute demonstration of the basic postures, an hour of step-by-step instruction of all the postures, and finally, the video, with a 15-minute Yang Long Form exhibition. ~ Heather M. Fierst, All Movie Guide

DVD Menu

• Side #1 --
  • Play Program
    • Play Program
    • Select Lesson
  • Select Lessons
    • Introduction
    • Warm-Ups
      • Play All
      • Breathing from Tan Tien
      • Turning the Waist - Shift and Turn
      • Snake Creeps Down Pattern
      • Three Basic Postures
      • Circling Exercise
    • Yang Long Form Instruction
      • Select Lessons
        • First Section (1-20)
        • Second Sectoin (21-57)
        • Third Section (58-107)
    • Advanced Exercises
    • Long Form Flow

Customer Reviews

may be the last Tai Chi video you will need for a long time
This was about the third Tai Chi video that I had purchased and it may be the last one I will need for a long while. Although a lot of folks are into Tai Chi as a martial art or for health reasons, I really got interested in it first for its beauty. Somewhere in my varied background is a little Chinese and I wanted to find some way to feel closer to my Chinese roots, so I guess I was really looking for some kind of Chinese art form. I had always favored the Chinese martial arts over the Japanese and Korean ones (sorry, I know I'm stepping on somebody's toes) because they looked so much more fluid and not as choppy. And of course, more artistic looking.

After having learned the first sequence of the Yang style long form from another video, I changed all of the postures to look more like the ones Terrence Dunn demonstrates in this video. The moves are very rounded out and circular, and to me appear more artistic, which is what I wanted to achieve. A while back, I met a guy at work from China who practiced the Yang style long form every morning. I showed him a few of my postures and he said that they looked "perfect." Well, he was probably just being courteous, but if someone of his caliber did not immediately notice something was wrong, I guess the tape can't be all that bad. Wonderful demonstrations. I gladly recommend it.

An overall GREAT video!
I would have given this video 5 stars but I do think for an absolute beginner, it is difficult to follow and there are some basic instructions missing. I took Kung Fu for about a year and am used to learning a 30, 40, 50+ step form. What this video is missing is an explaination as to how you should approach your Tai Chi training. If you've taken a martial art, Tai Chi itself or even ball room dancing, this is a great video.

For those who have not take any martial art etc, here is some advise. When you start to learn the form, realize it is going to take A VERY LONG TIME for you to be able to learn the entire form correctly. To start, learn the first 5-8 steps and then turn off the video. Keep practicing until you can do the steps without thinking about them. Go back to the video and do the next 5-8 steps. Then turn off the video and do all the steps you know until you do ALL of them automatically. Keep this up until you learn the whole form. This will take weeks if not months to perfect. It is possible to learn the form in a few days and be automatic in it within a week or two, but you've got to dedicate some serious hours to Tai Chi training.

All in all, a wondeful video that is easy to follow. Just take your time and be patient. Once you learn the form by heart, you can concetrate on the relaxation power of the form and less on remembering the sequence of manuevers. Good Luck!!

begining tai chi pratitioner
I found this video to be very helpful in my training.I have been taking Tai Chi for a very short time and have learned the fundiments of the Yang short form. My work schedule changed and I will be taking Tai Chi only once a week and needed a traing suplement.I found this tape to a very value training aid and not difficult to follow.I was concerned about some of the reviews stating that this video was hard to follow and confusing. However,I found this was not the case for someone who had a background in Tai Chi even a very limited background as in my case.I feel that the expectation to lean Tai Chi from a video alone is placing an unreal expectation on this video or any other intrustional video.Tai Chi or any other martial art is very difficult if not impossible to learn from a video alone.I would suggest that if someone really wants to attempt to learn Tai Chi from a video they start with the short form video first to build a foundation before attempting to learn the long form on this video.In my case, all I can say is I am very pleased with my purchase and the quality of this product. I am sure this video will help me greatly in my futher training.