A Listing & Rating of

Chen Style Taijiquan Books Available In English

About the Reviews and Ratings

My reviews are aimed at helping students decide whether this book is worth their while purchasing.  They are not comments on the author’s taijiquan ability, or teaching ability, or their character. They are simply trying to help other students make a decision.

My ratings are aimed at giving the beginner student an understanding of the potential value of the book as an aid. For example, while Wang Xian’s book on push hands is excellent and without doubt the best available in English on the subject of push hands, in itself it is not a good aid to someone trying to learn the basics. Hence its overall rating of only 6.5.

Generally speaking as a beginner look at the Content and Accuracy ratings first.

n.b. In this the digital era books cannot hope to provide the assistance in learning movements the same way video media can. Pictures can provide insight when accompanied by appropriate text.

The Review and Rating process

My review usually consists of reading each book three time. The first is a straight read through. The second time is with a highlighter, marking out where a book in my opinion is particularly beneficial or in error. Usually I do a third read through with a pencil making up comments, questions etc before I write the review.  The Ratings are based on four categories, and are my opinions on:

C = Content  - This addresses how much the content helps the reader learn about Chen Style Taijiquan (0 -10)

L = Language / Translation  - This measures both how good the English is and how clearly it is used (0 -10)

A = Accuracy - The more frequent the inaccuracies the lower the mark (> 10% inaccurate=0, 100% accurate=10)

H = Helpfulness - How helpful to the student is the book in improving their understanding of taijiquan (0 -10)

O = Overall score  - The total of the four assessments above, divided by four to give a score out of 10

I try and re-read my reviews and make any corrections every few years. Although I began writing these reviews in 2005, none of them should be more than 3 years old. I also try to ensure that the ratings are accurate relative to each others. I am happy to engage with any writer who believes that my review of their book is unjust.

 If no assessment is provided it is because either the book is not available or I have not purchased it yet or a book review has not been completed.

 If you know of any Chen Style Taijiquan books in English not on this list I would appreciate an email to nickgudge@gmail.com