Tai Chi Chuan: Form to Function is a detailed manual for the study of the martial techniques of tai chi chuan.It takes up where author Nigel Sutton's earlier title, Applied Tai Chi Chuan , left off, by setting out step-by-step the training exercises necessary for the mastery of tai chi chuan as a true combative art. Sutton outlines a well-defined program designed to lead to understanding and mastery of the useful self-defense techniques.So...

Featuring simple but clear instructions and over 190 illustrations this Tai Chi guide is a great way to learn this ancient martial art.Tai Chi Chuan is a philosophical and martial discipline practiced daily by millions of people worldwide. Though its benefits as a means of enhancing health and relaxation are well known, it is also a viable and effective martial art.The postures and forms written in Tai Chi Chuan are easily understood and including ...

Cheng Man-ch’ing (1902–1975)—also romanized as Zheng Manqing— certainly played a lead role in popularizing tai chi ch'uan throughout the world and greatly influencing the way the art is perceived and practiced. This fact alone should drive all those interested in tai chi to study the man’s history and thought. There is a huge body of writings and video representations of Cheng’s tai chi theory and practice. Unfortunately, much of the available content actually obscures Cheng’s message. The...

Since ancient times, some observant people have made the revered Book of Change (Yijing) their lifelong study. Change is the fundamental principle found in every aspect of our lives. Change is the Way of the universe. Confucian and Daoist texts are filled with anecdotal and philosophic discourse related to this theme. There is little wonder why we find the concept of change in the diverse Chinese martial traditions.This anthology presents articles from the

First published in 1872, Poor Miss Finch tells the story of Lucilla Finch, a young woman who is blind due to an accident. Lucilla lives with her devoted companion, Madame Pratolungo, and fiancé, Oscar Dubourg. However, experimental surgery offers Lucilla the possibility of regaining her sight. Over time a love triangle emerges between Lucilla, Oscar and Oscar’s identical twin, Nugent. Poor Miss Finch is particularly compelling because of Collins’s exploration of themes such as identity, pe...

In 1985, the seeds of a revolution were sown in the UK when people were first able to communicate using one of the most remarkable items of personal technology to have been developed – the mobile phone. The authors, both acknowledged experts in this field, explore the origins of the mobile phone in the UK and its evolution over the following thirty years. Throughout the book they anaylse the background developments, such as the licensing of new networks, the emergence of new data services ...

It has achieved iconic status; it symbolises Britain; but it is now seldom used! The British phonebox or, more correctly, kiosk began life as the silence cabinet in the late 1800s, but started to establish itself firmly as part of the landscape in the 1920s when the first standardised K1 model was introduced. However, it was the K2 design by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, and then his more numerous K6 design, that established the now familiar and iconic red box on our streets. Today the mobile-p...

Elizabeth Gaskell’s biography of her friend Charlotte Brontë the first full-length biography of a woman novelist by a woman novelist is a true classic. It transports us with a deft hand straight into 19th-century Haworth, Yorkshire and crafts an extensive account of Brontë’s life, quoting throughout from letters she sent and received. From her challenging, isolated childhood to her death shortly before the age of 39, newly married and pregnant, the enigmatic author of Jane Eyre is portra...