Customer Rating: Summary: Just a beginner Comment: Dr Painter is an excellent writer and teacher and his books are very helpful in understanding this art, which is Jiulong Baguazhang specifically. Internal martial arts rocks!
Customer Rating: Summary: Baguazhang as a modern day self defense system. Comment: This book and the second book by John Painter are the first books that I have seen that have the primary goal of teaching Baguazhang as a modern day self defense system.
Other books seem to be more focused on the cultural or personal experience aspects. In these books, Dr. Painter combines the effective historical Baguazhang with more recent discoveries in training. And presents them in a very well explained and easy to understand manner.
The books are very well written with lot of pictures and drawings to illustrate the contents.
I also recommend getting the 6 DVDs that Painter made, along with the two books. As good as the books are, it is helpful to watch the techniques demonstrated. Both the books and DVDs are published by Unique Publications and there is more information on the DVDs at Artemis Seminars.
I highly recommend Dr. Painter's Books and DVDs for anyone that wants to learn Baguazang as a modern day self defense martial art.
Customer Rating: Summary: Combat Baguazhang: Incredible Information Comment: Dr. John Painter has finally put down some of the most well written information out there on Baguazhang in general and his system of Jiulong Baguazhang in specifics.
The material in both volume one & two is is presented with no fluff, and none of the mystical mumbo jumbo like mishmash that you see from other people who have written books in the past.
What you get is a straight forward approach to how this system of Chinese martial arts is trained from the very first stages to advanced levels.
You will learn how to sit and quiet the mind.
Learn how to stand correctly for health and combat effectiveness.
Study skills that will lead you to better understanding of yourself, your body, your mind and the reality of combat.
I cannot recommend these two books enough.
Sincerely,
Dale Dugas
Customer Rating: Summary: Very detailed. Comment: This is an excellent book for either the beginning student of Baguazhang such as myself, or an advanced player as well. Dr. Painter's writing is clear and concise. He tackles a wide range of subjects, from the basic stretching and warming up you first learn to more advanced topics such as power generation and combat principles. There is a ton of information in this book and Dr. Painter is widely known and respected both as a martial arts teacher as well as a Law Enforcement trainer.
The best part about this book is that there is no mystical or esoteric material. Jiulong and Dr. Painter's methods are scientific and to-the-point. I think there are alot of misinterpretations with the "internal martial arts" that they are mysitcal and hard to understand. Dare I say this is a revolution from that misconception. This book is based on science, body mechanics and physiology.
A great read for anyone interested in martial arts in general. People from all styles can benefit from these *principles* and teachings. Thank you Dr. Painter for bringing this material to light!
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