T'ai Chi for Health: Yang Short Form with Terence Dunn [DVD]

I use this product to learn Tai Chi. I like that i can go at my own pace.

I have been a student of Tai Chi for aver 15 years and an instructor for 10 of those years. When asked if I know any good videos showing the Yang family forms I never fail to suggest Terence Dunn's videos. These are old videos of Mr. Dunn in his youth (maybe late 20s - early 30s) and Mr. Dunn is now my age I would guess (60+). I always caution the people that I recommend Terry's videos to, not to try too hard to emulate Terry strength and flexibility that they see in the videos. I caution that Terry's form is an ideal to strive toward but is the best example of each movement explained clearly, slowly and (what I like most about his videos) showing views from the front and back of the movement simultaneously. His videos are a great aid and supplement to actual instructor lessons and offer a chance to see some of the finer points often missed while following the group exercise. I only recommend one other source of Tai Chi videos that are available from Dr. Paul Lam.

I took Tai Chi lessons over 3 months and after a few years of not practicing it daily, I forgot a lot of the movements. So I purchased the VHS format and found it to be demonstrating the Yang short form as I had been taught. I found it to be a perfect refresher course. I would think a total novice would find it difficult to learn from a tape but Mr. Dunn takes each step slowly. In some ways it's excruciatingly slow. He meant for a novice to view one part at a time and not view the tape all at one sitting. That makes sense. But I would think that without hands on instruction and someone to be there in person to correct your stance, this tape would not serve you well to learn the Yang short form on your own. That being said, I found it to be a great refresher course for me after having forgotten a lot of moves 10 years removed from my initial lessons. The VHS format is maddening because it's a long tape and it's hard to skip to the parts you want. The DVD is a very poor copy of the VHS. But it does allow you to skip around to the sections you want. After looking at a ton of Youtube videos on the Yang short form, I would say it's better to buy this DVD than to be learning tai chi from the Youtube videos. I could not give this product five stars because of the poor quality of the recording on the DVD but overall, I would highly recommend it for someone who needs a refresher course.

I purchased this DVD to enhance my study of Tai Chi. I had heard positive comments about Terry Dunn, and was excited to view this new video. However, I was somewhat disappointed by the DVD.On the positive side, I felt Mr Dunn did an excellent job explaining the stances and the breathing, and did a good job demonstrating them. Often, two views will pop up on the screen to assist you when he turns his back, so you can see both front and rear views. Each section of the form has an automatic playback feature that loops that portion of the form over and over, making it easier to learn it step by step, without constantly fiddling with your remote. The evidence of the utility of this video is that I bought it two months ago and I still use it several times a week to guide my home Tai Chi workouts, when I elect to perform the Yang style short form.On the negative side, the video quality is subpar. I get the impression that multiple portions were perhaps lifted from an older VHS version. I would have preferred more traditional garb (Mr Dunn wears a t-shirt and shorts) and more traditional chinese music rather than the dated, New Age type keyboard music, which frankly gets on my nerves after a short time. In addition, the lighting on the set is subpar, and the set is not very attractive. Given that this is an instructional video, these are perhaps not the most important parts of the video, but they do detract from the overall feel, and bring a less than satifactory aura to the experience.Despite giving the video 3 stars and the above mentioned drawbacks, I still feel it is a good bargain (I paid $14.99 here on Amazon), and I plan on buying Mr Dunn's Yang style Long Form in the future.

Terry Dunn does an excellent job of presenting T'ai Chi. His voice and his manner are very pleasant - super important for a presentation you are going to view again and again. The DVD offers choices. You can choose step by step analysis of the postures or a flowing presentation once you have enough skill to follow the full Short Form. The Short Form is plenty long enough for anyone who is not a monk in a monastery. The DVD includes a series of warm-up exercises. The interesting thing about T'ai Chi is one gains the most benefit by performing very slowly. It does wonders for proper breathing,relieving tension, relaxing the body and achieving balance (physically, emotionally and mentally). Western civilization seems to wind us tighter and tighter, The East recognizes the need for balance - the right balance of Yin and Yang. If the only thing you use this DVD.for is the warm-up exercise portion and a few of the steps of the Short Form, you would still get your money's worth. When correcting your breathing, try letting your shoulders relax.

One of the best tai chi videos I’ve seen the breakdown very easy to follow. He’s very thorough and well knowledgeable in the art.

I am a complete responder to chemo - and cancer survivor going through breast cancer treatment including total mastectomy with reconstruction. Recently I had severe back pain that put me in ER twice in a week. I switched my primary caregiver to a DO who referred me to a pain doctor who recommended this DVD among other things to build up my core. Along with labs and diet to monitor my calcium and other things. Right now I do just the warm up. I could feel the energy flowing better first time I did it and my body thanking me for the tune-up. I studied American Karate before and earned my black belt. Now perhaps Tai Chi. Easy to follow, simple explanations.