"Sunrise Tai Chi" might be mistaken as being only a beginner's guide to entering the world of Taijiquan.  However, this DVD truly offers valuable information to beginners, intermediates, advanced students and their teachers.  

The first section on the DVD begins with Romel Rones teaching some core principles.   Found within the DVD are a variety of basic techniques and exercises that teach these core principles.   The students of Taijiquan who reach the highest levels of the art do so in part because of their grasp and knowledge of the core principles of Taijiquan.   Core principles are the foundation of one's skills and mastery and it is easier  to learn Taijiquan when a student has a solid foundation built from these core principles.

Even someone with many years of practice can add these basic techniques to their workout and strengthen their foundation.   I remember my Taijiquan teacher insisting that I do stick exercises, movement exercises, static postures and a variety of other warm up and core exercises that I considered at that time to be a roadblock to my learning the "real stuff".     Even years later each two hour lesson started with one hour of core exercises.   I thank my lucky stars that my teacher understood the importance of these "core exercises" and was strict enough to require my participation in learning them.   

As years went by, I started to return to these most basic of movements to analyze over and over what is at first hidden to the beginning practitioner.   I have come to believe that within the simplest of the movements is a wealth of complexity, just as within the I Ching there is only a solid line and a dotted line, yet somehow "the 10,000 things can be known".    And in computers there is only a zero and a one, yet all information can be represented by these most basic and simple symbols.   Bottom line, core exercises are "where it's at", and this DVD has its share of them.

So embrace these "simple" yet deep exercises.   They will lead the student to a true grasp of the art and are a necessary building block in the quest to master Taijiquan.   The exercises are shown repeatedly and are easy to follow even on the first viewing.   

Well, this review so far just covers the core exercises that make up the beginning of this DVD.   Ramel Rones continues the DVD by teaching a series of Taijiquan postures/movements with which he has created mini-forms that teach the Taijiquan movements for the left and the right sides.   Many students will learn only one side of a posture, for example single whip.   After learning these mini-forms, the student is able to do the postures to either side, left or right.

The DVD finishes with the teaching of the Sunrise Taijiquan Form.   This form requires very little space to perform and combines Qigong, yoga, breathing and Taijiquan movements.  The viewer is then given a choice of twenty, forty or sixty minute workouts that offer a choice of accompanying music.

What I especially love about this DVD is that it is filmed outdoors.   Certainly some of the sections are done indoors after a person wakes up, but the form itself is performed outdoors.        I also enjoyed watching Master Rones performing the Sunrise Taijiquan Form on a hill.  It takes a high degree of skill to perform Taijiquan on uneven ground and requires a firm root.   Master Rones does it well and does not seem to be bothered by the slope.

 To thoroughly review this DVD would take many pages, as there is a tremendous amount of information contained within it.    I strongly recommend this DVD for beginning and experienced Taijiquan practitioners.   The price is very reasonable and the quality of the production is at the usual high level that YMAA products are known for.

CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING PHOTO TO SEE A SAMPLE OF THE DVD.

Copyright 2007 Patrick H. Dickson • All Rights Reserved