The Tai Chi Book: Refining and Enjoying a Lifetime of Practice – Slow Movements for Fast Results in Health and Longevity
About this audiobook
Balance that holds. Blood pressure that settles. Joints that move more freely. A mind that finally quietens at the end of the day.
These are not promises from a fad workout — they are the documented, researched benefits of tai chi, the slow-motion Chinese practice that more people over sixty now do regularly than almost any other form of exercise on earth. The Tai Chi Book is the complete guide to learning it properly, whether you are picking up your first gentle exercise after a diagnosis, a fall, or simply a doctor's suggestion to "move more," or you have practised for years and want to finally understand the history, the philosophy, and the finer points of your form.
Written by Bruce Chung Liao, who has taught tai chi for more than three decades to students from their teens to their nineties, this book takes you from complete beginner to confident, lifelong practitioner across five clear parts:
The history and philosophy of tai chi — where it came from, what yin and yang actually mean in practice, and the five family styles, so you understand what you are doing and why
Safe, sensible preparation — space, clothing, standing practice, breathing, and finding your "root" before you ever attempt a full movement
The complete twenty-four-movement form, taught step by step, plus a shorter eight-movement sequence for readers who want results sooner
The health evidence, chapter by chapter — what the research actually shows about tai chi for balance and fall prevention, blood pressure and heart health, arthritis and joint pain, and sleep, stress, and the ageing brain
How to build a practice that lasts decades, not months — the honest, unglamorous habits that separate people who quietly keep practising for the rest of their lives from people who stop after a few weeks
No jargon. No promotional exaggeration. No equipment, gym membership, or prior fitness required. Every chapter is written the way a patient, experienced teacher would explain it in person — clearly, honestly, and with the real questions beginners actually ask, using plain English throughout.
Whether you are looking for a gentle, doctor-approved way to improve your balance and reduce your risk of falling, a natural approach to support healthy blood pressure, a low-impact way to move with arthritis or joint pain, a calmer mind and better sleep in later life, or simply a lifelong practice you can still be doing in your eighties and nineties, this book is the only one you will need on your shelf.
Discover more
About the author
Bruce Chung Liao was born in Taipei and raised mainly in Bristol, where he first watched his grandfather practise tai chi every morning in the courtyard behind the family home. He began practising seriously in his late twenties, initially on the advice of a physiotherapist treating a back injury, and went on to train formally under teachers in Taiwan, mainland China, and London, studying for the better part of a decade under a Yang-style lineage holder before beginning to teach his own classes. He has now taught tai chi continuously for more than thirty years, to students ranging in age from their teens to their nineties, in community halls, leisure centres, and private classes across the north-west of England. The Tai Chi Book draws directly on those three decades of teaching, combined with a careful review of the current health research, to offer readers a complete, honest, and practical introduction to a practice he has built his own life around. He continues to teach and practise most mornings, generally before most of his students are awake
