The Great Courses: Essentials of Tai Chi and Qi gong

David Dorian Ross does a masterful job of getting into the history and benefits of Tai Chi and Qigong as well as breaking down the 24 form step by step.I am also using this series in conjunction with Helen Liang's 24 form DVD and they compliment each other nicely though I would say that I find David Dorian Ross' approach to breaking down the forms easier to follow. Mostly I am using the walk-through section of Helen's DVD.Still there are things to be learned from each of them and I have found some additional online resources as well which have further supplemented this process.In any case, the most important thing is to realize that even learning the simple 24 form, is a marathon and not a Sprint so give yourself months to learn this (and I mean to scratch the surface of the overall form, clearly it takes years and best done with a live instructor).Still, I have found this Great Courses program with David Dorian Ross to be outstanding and I am incredibly pleased with it!Note re my Tai Chi journey: I just completed going through the entire set for the first time. I received it Jan 16 and today is Feb 26 and the difference in my practice over that period is night and day. I initially started learning the 24 form on Jan 7 using the Helen Liang's DVD and added David's DVD when it arrived. David's combined with Helen's has worked really well!I also found Andrew Plitt's YouTube channel to be another excellent resource as he gets into great detail and shows everything from different angles. He also has some great fundamental playlists for Basics as well as Stepping Sets.So really in less than 2 months as a stone beginner, I found it was doable to get through the 24 form with a general degree of flow. Of course now I will spend at least 6 months refining it and then may learn a longer form.I wanted to share my progress as at least a glimpse into how long bit might take someone to get a very basic feel for the Yang 24 form.

This is a great series of lectures on the Yang 24 tai chi form. David Dorian-Ross is a knowledgeable and engaging teacher and this multi-disc series provides a lot of depth and detail. But it is a slower way to learn how to do the Yang short form, Paul Lam's DVD or Amin Wu's DVD will likely get you started and skilled faster and will provide the very small learning steps and repetition many like but this lecture series will likely be a little more entertaining and provide more background that may appeal to many.Probably my recommendation would be to start out with Paul Lam's Yang 24 DVD (cheaper/smaller learning steps), find a class by one his many of his certified teachers and add a couple of YouTube videos---a good combination. And then later, if you want to know more, add this lecture series.Also, if you are an elderly person or someone with some balance or health issues, a milder form or of tai chi like the SUN style or Tai Chi for Health form might suit you better. Or Qigong.(It should be noted that there are a lot of tai chi videos out there and Yang style tai chi, though the most popular, is just one form---there are a couple of versions called, the" Yang short form". Very confusing. Probably the Yang 24 form is the best starter form since it is the shortest and most common form with probably the most teachers available).Anyway, if tai chi turns out to be your thing, this lecture series will be something you will probably want to have.

In David Dorian Ross I have finally found the T'ai Chi Master for whom I have been looking.

I watch one episode a week and practice in between. He teaches really well and understandable and It is working out great. I am really learning the moves and I love doing it. I just bought the dvd set in case I lose it on streaming.

The Video was in almost new condition only the wrapping was off otherwise it is new

The presenter is informative and stately. But I was hoping for a bit more energy

I have other dvd by this gentleman - this was a huge waste of money. Although this cost more than I wanted to spend I hoped it was worth the expense - not so. The package came with a 4 dvd set and a book. Thought the practical thing to do was read the book first - no new information here. The popped in the first dvd only to find out that it was a spoken version of the book. After a good deal of rehash for what the book said -- word for word - the first exercise was shown. It then hit me that this set of 4 dvds was going to take forever to see the entire group of 24 exercise. He did not explain the actual moves as he did them -- such as raise arms slowly to chest high / palms down. Nope none of that - although he did have a nice feature to show both an overhead view and front view. I will say that I experienced with this style of tai chi and I wanted a refresher and to have a tape I could follow along with. But to have to listen to the spoken book while waiting for one small portion a the 24 set exercise was a waste of my time.

I like that there is a companion book to go along with the DVD's-The first few DVD's had a buzzing in the audio- Mr Ross is passionate and honest in his teaching of Tai Chi-Though I was lost in trying to follow the 24 movement form