Taichi Classics
1st edition (April 2024)
The first book ever written in English specifically on the three Classics of Taijiquan by Wang Wu and Li.
In this first edition of the book on the first three Classics of the history of Taijiquan, Valerio Bellone expands some key topics of Taiji Quan practice, already addressed in the first Italian edition, useful for completing the understanding of the subject.
However, the core of the book concerning the translation and commentary on what are still considered today in China as the first and most important three manuscripts of Taijiquan, those of Wang Zongyue, Wu Yuxiang, and Li Yiyu, remains unchanged.
The translation of the three original manuals is accompanied by detailed explanations from both a practical and linguistic perspective. Each commentary is also supported by clarifications of a philosophical and historical-cultural nature that are essential for a correct understanding of the practical aspects.
OVERVIEW
For hundreds of years, numerous fighting and self-defense styles referred to as ‘internal’ or ‘high-level’ depending on the era, have been handed down in China. One of these styles is Taichi, a term used as an abbreviation for Tai Chi Chuan, which today is also written as Taiji Quan, according to the current pinyin transcription. This system originally emerged from the integration of certain martial methods with meditative practices and the complex of methods known today as Qi Gong.
In earlier times, when there was no formal codification, martial knowledge was simply a series of experiences derived from daily practice. These were often jealously guarded and were only passed on to a select few within monasteries or closed family groups. Over time, some visionary masters realized that to prevent the arts derived from these experiences from dying out, it was necessary to establish a formal school—a codified system that would articulate the different systems, ensuring their transmission to future generations without loss or corruption through oral transmission.
In the context of what we now call Taiji Quan, these rules were written in the form of poetry, yet they remained known to only a few, and the existing manuscripts were jealously guarded. Such texts were typically entrusted to the most deserving students or eldest sons. For the reasons described, the ancestor of what we now call Taiji remained a largely obscure martial art known to very few, until it eventually disappeared at an unknown time. It was only from the end of the 1800s, thanks to the popularizing efforts of the first three generations of the Yang family, that interest in Taiji began to surge. However, not many people truly understood the essence of the original system. In fact, the Taiji manuscripts were largely kept secret. It was not until the mid-1900s that the first original manuscript, now known as the ‘Taijiquan Classic’ (Taijiquan Jing) by Wang Zongyue, began to circulate in China.
The first book ever written in English specifically on the three Classics of Taijiquan by Wang Wu and Li.
In this first edition of the book on the first three Classics of the history of Taijiquan, Valerio Bellone expands some key topics of Taiji Quan practice, already addressed in the first Italian edition, useful for completing the understanding of the subject.
However, the core of the book concerning the translation and commentary on what are still considered today in China as the first and most important three manuscripts of Taijiquan, those of Wang Zongyue, Wu Yuxiang, and Li Yiyu, remains unchanged.
The translation of the three original manuals is accompanied by detailed explanations from both a practical and linguistic perspective. Each commentary is also supported by clarifications of a philosophical and historical-cultural nature that are essential for a correct understanding of the practical aspects.
OVERVIEW
For hundreds of years, numerous fighting and self-defense styles referred to as ‘internal’ or ‘high-level’ depending on the era, have been handed down in China. One of these styles is Taichi, a term used as an abbreviation for Tai Chi Chuan, which today is also written as Taiji Quan, according to the current pinyin transcription. This system originally emerged from the integration of certain martial methods with meditative practices and the complex of methods known today as Qi Gong.
In earlier times, when there was no formal codification, martial knowledge was simply a series of experiences derived from daily practice. These were often jealously guarded and were only passed on to a select few within monasteries or closed family groups. Over time, some visionary masters realized that to prevent the arts derived from these experiences from dying out, it was necessary to establish a formal school—a codified system that would articulate the different systems, ensuring their transmission to future generations without loss or corruption through oral transmission.
In the context of what we now call Taiji Quan, these rules were written in the form of poetry, yet they remained known to only a few, and the existing manuscripts were jealously guarded. Such texts were typically entrusted to the most deserving students or eldest sons. For the reasons described, the ancestor of what we now call Taiji remained a largely obscure martial art known to very few, until it eventually disappeared at an unknown time. It was only from the end of the 1800s, thanks to the popularizing efforts of the first three generations of the Yang family, that interest in Taiji began to surge. However, not many people truly understood the essence of the original system. In fact, the Taiji manuscripts were largely kept secret. It was not until the mid-1900s that the first original manuscript, now known as the ‘Taijiquan Classic’ (Taijiquan Jing) by Wang Zongyue, began to circulate in China.
