Long before Tai Chi and Qigong became household names in the West, an American sailor visiting Shanghai discovered a gentle Chinese exercise called Jiangan - The Chinese Health Wand. This exercise system is simple yet potent and involves the manipulation of a lightweight pole traditionally made of bamboo. Jiangan co-ordinates slow diaphragmatic breathing with graduated stretching and strengthening exercises to promote circulation and stimulate the cardiovascular system. This book offers a concise practical guide to Jiangan exercises, providing detailed instructions and illustrations while also exploring the Chinese philosophy behind the art. Although a gentle and meditative form of exercise, the book shows that Jiangan has the muscle-toning and weight-loss potential of more robust gym workouts and is an ideal daily exercise routine or warm-up for a range of sports and martial arts classes. This book will be a valuable resource for teachers and students of Tai Chi and Qigong, as well as anyone looking for a simple and effective way to improve health and fitness using Eastern health arts.

A brilliant and captivating insight into the bizarre nature of contemporary Japan. Adrift in Tokyo, teaching giggling Japanese highschool girls how to pronounce Tennyson correctly, Robert Twigger came to a revelation about himself: he'd never been fit. In a bid to escape the cockroach infestation and sweaty squalor of a cramped apartment in Fuji Heights, Twigger sets out to cleanse his body and his mind. Not knowing his fist from his elbow the author is sucked into the world of Japanese martial arts, and the brutally demanding course of budo training taken by the Tokyo Riot Police, where any ascetic motivation soon comes up against blood-stained dogis and fractured collarbones. In Angry White Pyjamas Robert Twigger skilfully blends the ancient with the modern - the ultra-traditionalism, ritual and violence of the dojo (training academy) with the shopping malls, nightclubs and scenes of everyday Tokyo life in the twenty-first century - to provide an entertaining and captivating glimpse of contemporary Japan.

A behind-the-scenes look at the life of the most extraordinary martial artist of all time--Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee: The Celebrated Life of the Golden Dragon is an illustrated biography of this fascinating martial artist and movie star, from the start of his career to his untimely and tragic death in 1973. This book reveals a quiet family man behind the charismatic public persona. It shows the real Bruce Lee--the man who was so much more than an international film and martial arts celebrity. This brilliant photo essay--compiled and edited by Bruce Lee expert John Little with the assistance of Lee's widow, Linda Lee Cadwell--reveals never-before-published family photos, including rare photos of Bruce's childhood in Hong Kong. Tender moments with his children are caught on camera, and action shots from his martial arts films are shown. With a preface by his daughter Shannon Lee and a foreword by wife Linda, the text is drawn directly from Bruce Lee's own diaries and journals. Based on the award-winning Warner Bros. documentary, Bruce Lee: In His Own Words, sections include: Chronology of the Life of Bruce Lee Early Years--why he began studying gung fu (kung fu) and took up wing chun, his first starring role, and his return to the US Hollywood--why he got the part in The Green Hornet, teaching Steve McQueen, James Coburn and Stirling Silliphant, filming Enter the Dragon, The Way of the Dragon, Fist of Fury and more, training and acting with Chuck Norris, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dean Martin and Sharon Tate, and the creation of Jeet Kune Do (JKD) Family--meeting Linda, having children and daily life This Bruce Lee Book is part of the Bruce Lee Library which also features: Bruce Lee: Striking Thoughts Bruce Lee: The Tao of Gung Fu Bruce Lee: Artist of Life Bruce Lee: Letters of the Dragon Bruce Lee: The Art of Expressing the Human Body Bruce Lee: Jeet Kune Do

This book presents the best Taekwondo techniques and training forms in order to effectively learn self-defense independent from competition. This allows not only for a successful promotion test in the domain of self-defense but also for a greater chance of successfully responding to dangerous situations in everyday life. The series of techniques introduced are designed to let the reader develop his or her own self-defense strategies by using the exercises presented.

"Long Life, Good Health "traces the historical and philosophical development of Tai-Chi Chuan within the context of the sister martial arts from which it was created. This book includes precisely sequenced photographs, and step-by-step instructions. Though intended for beginners, "Long Life, Good Health "should fascinate more advanced students who want to research and compare ancient forms and lineages of Tai-Chi Chuan.