Qigong Basics: The Basic Poses and Routines you Need to be Healthy and Relaxed (Tuttle Health & Fitness Basic Series) Paperback – Illustrated, October 23, 2018

This is a great Qigong resource and a very easy read.It is everything it says in the Book Description:"Along with an overview of Qigong, the book contains everything to get started - choosing the form, teacher, and the class best suited to their needs. The book shows the elements of style, - breathing, stances, grounding, expansions, and meditation giving readers hands-on fitness training. .....offers a complete introduction and a manual readers can turn to for years to come."I would recommend it to anyone, regardless of whether you are a beginner or have been practicing Qigong for some time.Of all the books I have read it is the easiest to read to get an understanding of Qigong and where it comes from. Most are the dull reading of the history books you hated at school - a dry reference book style you have to force your way through! Not this one - the passages are interspersed with "quotes" of the key ideas which provide easier learning. And the layout of these, the diagrams which break up the text, and the writing style makes for easy reading.If you start with just one book in your Qigong library, then I would recommend this one.I have read a shelf full of recommended Qigong books and they have all been dutifully read then donated to my Qigong Tai Chi Chuan School's library. This one I am keeping for myself.So why didn't it get 5 stars. Well, the Kindle version is appalling with atrocious "typos" all the way through. It clearly hasn't been proof read - or perhaps even read by anyone before for that matter! At a normal reading speed they are distracting and can quickly become annoying. (I am using the Kindle app on an Android Tablet with Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean so it may not necessarily be the same on a dedicated Kindle device, of course.)One classic example is "Unto thine own self be true" becomes "Th thine own selef by true" which is possibly closer to how it would have been said by an actor playing Hamlet in Shakespeare's day perhaps, but today? "What" becomes "vVat", "It" at the beginning of a sentence drops font size and type, and so on.You may soon find the need, like me, to jump to the description of cleansing breaths, and take a few to get past it!So until they properly proof-read and correct the Kindle version and since it is very likely in my opinion to become one of your primary Qigong references, in the interim you may be better off paying more and getting a proper proof-read printed version.So while the publication itself gets a full five stars, one is subtracted by the a sloppy "Lost in Translation" conversion to Kindle. Not good enough, whoever.

For most of my life I have had a passion for the martial arts of Japan, Okinawa and China. Besides earning black belts in numerous Japanese martial arts (Judo, Jujitsu, Karate-Do) I also earned a teaching certificate in Tai Chi (Yang style). I have also had some training in Qigong and when I saw this book (Qigong Basics by Ellae Elinwood, a Tuttle health and fitness series) for a bargain price on Amazon I immediately purchased it.This 192 page paperback cover book covers an enormous amount of basic and practical material on the Qigong Chinese health/fitness system. This book is organized into 5 parts with 19 chapters. Some of the material covered in this text includes the following: The history, philosophy and different forms of Qigong, getting started in Qigong and choosing your teacher. Learning the basics of Qigong, Qigong sequences of movements, practice of Qigong, eight pieces of brocade, Qigong breathing, Qigong meditating, expanding your knowledge and teaching Qigong to others.My only complaint about this book is the same I have had with other Tuttle basic series; they need more photographs showing the numerous Qigong exercise movements; nevertheless, this is an excellent basic introduction to Qigong. If you are presently taking Tai Chi or Qigong from an instructor this book can serve as a good basic reference source. Like any psycho-motor skill, learning the movements only reading the book is difficult. This is why a hands-on approach with an instructor is essential in combination with reading this book.Rating 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Pro-Systems Combatives Vol.1,2).

Ms. Elinwood's writing style is straight from the heart. The book is a light and engaging read and take this book with me most places. Every time I read it, I pick up something more. A wonderful instruction on the peace and practice of Qigong. I highly recommend this book!

Really old fashioned layout, incomprehensible directions. Disappointing.