This book introduces T'ai-chi as a means to a healthier life, as a sport, and as a means of self-defense. It is a complete step-by-step manual for the beginner. It will enable him, with conscientious practice, to master the sequence of thirty-seven postures that make up the T'ai-chi solo exercise. The directions are clear-cut and easy to follow. More than 275 photographs, together with 122 foot-weighting diagrams, guarantee a ready understanding of the correct procedure. A convenient fold-out illustrates the thirty-seven postures in a continuous sequence.

The main emphasis in this introductory manual is on T'ai-chi as a superior way to healthful living. But T'ai-chi, when practiced with a partner, is an enjoyabe sport, and its movements form the basis for an unexcelled system of self-defense. The book therefore gives both of these important aspects of T'ai-chi their due share of attention and shows the student how to progress from exercise to sport to self-defense with the maximum of efficiency.

In addition, the authors furnish interesting and informative sidelights on T'ai-chi and its history, including thumbnail sketches of famous masters and, for the first time in English, a translation of the basic T'ai-chi document known as the "T'ai-chi Ch'uan Classics."