“There seems to be a consensus amongst Tai Chi and Qigong practitioners that it is possible to have a middle-age spread and still be healthy and to regard exercises that focus on physical improvement as somehow inferior and cosmetic. But an expanding waistband is often a sign that visceral fat – the fat that sits around the major organs and linked to diabetes and heart disease – is accumulating in the body. After practising Jiangan for several weeks my middle-ages spread was gone and I felt fitter, leaner and stronger, more supple than I had for years. I hope that my book will be particularly useful to people attracted to internal Chinese health but who also need to reduce weight and keep fit.”

By Michael Acton, author of Eternal Spring: Taiji Quan, Qi Gong and the Cultivation of Health, Happiness and Longevity. I came to Qi Gong through Taiji Quan, which is considered in China to be both a high level Qi Gong and a highly respected traditional martial art. I started Taiji in London back in 1976[... read more]

“Understanding the Absolute by practising in the Relative – For me this is what t’ai chi is about. If everything in the world is a microcosm, then ‘life’ should reflect Divinity, and anything that happens in our lives (any skills that we learn, all interactions, etc.) should reflect Divinity and ‘life’. Therefore, t’ai chi should be able to explain 1) Divinity, and 2) how the structure of ‘life’ operates (although, these are probably the same, as it’s arguable that ‘life’ is ‘Divinity’ in process), and how best to function within this structure of ‘life’.”