Long description
Based on the author’s extensive experience with such past masters as Wang Shu Jin, this book clearly explains how the awareness and development of chi energy in the mind, body, and spirit give the internal martial arts their strength and edge over external disciplines like tae kwon do, karate, and kung fu. Mixing a compelling personal story with inspiration and instruction, author Frantzis describes in detail such concepts as Fa Jin, the ability to project the opponent without harm or injury; drilling power and magnetic hand; soft and hard power; the differences between the major internal martial arts; the 16 concepts of mastery of the internal style; the use of speed and power; and much more. Frantzis includes brief, vivid biographies of the great martial arts masters with whom he studied and offers hard-won insights into the kind of dedication and training that made his 16 years in Asia as a warrior/healer/priest so rewarding. This edition includes a new foreword, a new introduction by the author, an extensive chapter with practical explanations on the spiritual traditions of the internal martial arts, an index, and more.
Review
Bruce Frantzis has a depth and breadth of knowledge of the nei jia (internal arts) that few Westerners possess.
--Don Ethan Miller, Four-time national USA tai chi Push Hands champion
This work by Bruce Frantzis on the practical structures and essence of the internal systems is definitive. It will become a classic, and will serve as a catalyst for kindred spirits. A must for all serious students of the martial arts.
--Stan Israel, senior student of renowned tai chi master, Chen Man-ching.
Bruce Frantzis is one of the few Westerners to comprehend the Taoist internal martial art system. For those seeking to understand energy principles in their own art, Frantzis has now opened The Way.
--Robert Nadeau, Aikido Sixth-Degree Black Belt, Director of City Aikido, San Francisco, CA