Customer Rating: Summary: The Shaolin Workout: 28 Days to Transforming Your Body and Soul the Warrior's Way Comment: This has great morning workout exercises. Same or similar to the exercises we do in class. Customer Rating: Summary: The best book on basic martial arts on the market Comment: This is, in short, the best book on the basics of martial arts I have ever come across. It is inspirational, well set up and the routines will work wonders for anyone, if they follow through with the books premise, which is to work with it every single day for 28 days. Continue with the program after the 28 days and the book may change your whole life.
Surprisingly, it seems quite a few people are giving this book very negative reviews - claiming that the excercises within are too basic and too simple ... that you can learn them in any martial arts class. I very much disagree with this.
I have over fifteen years of experience in the martial arts, and have taught several styles at various dojos throughout Scandinavia, Scotland, Japan and the US. During my career, I have trained with some of Japan's elite MMA fighters, British and European karate champions, fought and defeated grappling champions and have had the priviledge of studying under some of the most learned figures in martial arts today.
This of course does not mean I am automatically right about whatever I say on this topic - all it means is I have some experience to draw on and have been down a lot of roads that were dead ends. And it is from experience that I believe this is a very, very useful book.
This book teaches the reader basics and basics only. Some may find this annoying, but I cannot stress enough just how important those basics are and how well they must be perfected for a student to advance. One of the books winning points is how well this book stresses the beauty and grace of basics, instead of just treating them as some sort of initiation ritual that must be completed before the student can move on to the `real stuff'. I have seen so-called beginners, who trained their basics and basics only solidly and with utter dedication, absolutely floor much higher ranking students in contests, higher ranking students who just learnt the basics and then immediately moved on to all that stuff most of us find so cool: flashy forms, complex moves and the like.
Flashy forms are icing on the cake, nothing more, nothing less. If you want to move like a character out of a martial arts flick - do the basics slowly, properly and with utter dedication, and you will be moving in ways you never believed possible. If you can perfect the moves in this book, learning a form - any form - will be a snap for you, because you have already learnt every aspect of the body's mechanics ... and that is in essence what forms really are: a reshuffling of body mechanics you ought already know. Train with real dedication and this book will make you a more lethal martial artist than 90% of the enthusiasts I have ever met.
It is not easy and it takes a lot of work, but nothing worth having comes without a price.
So, after all the praise, why only four stars and not five? Because the stretches and moves, while wonderful, are in my opinion taught without regard to safety and may likely lead to injury if not performed with care. The author thrusts an attitude of reckless abandon on the reader, which is the only right attitude to have when learning something new, but regardless of this, safety ought always be a factor - especially for beginners, who through no fault of their own do not yet have proper knowledge of safety and the body's limits. If you are injured, you can't train and may even make the very natural mistake of thinking something worthwhile is actually not for you. Customer Rating: Summary: Inspirational Comment: Very good program. Inspirational. Anybody can do it. I had good results with mobility within a week at age 70. Customer Rating: Summary: Not worth the money!! Comment: I've studied shaolin style for 2 years and like another review said, what he teaches you will learn the first day in class. I was really excited when i found out about the book but I expected way more from a shaolin monk. If you want to loose weight then sure, do some of his exercises over and over again for an hour and I guarentee you'll do so. But if your hoping to learn martial arts or "kung fu", don't waste your money. Customer Rating: Summary: Take this book in the proper context. Comment: If you met Shifu and train with him you would see how he carries himself. It is how he hopes all of us carry ourselves. He teaches us every day is Christmas. If you came from abject poverty and near death to the heights he has, how could you not be grateful for every waking moment? (he is!) That is what he encourages in this work..it is the Shaolin way..it is his way.
I don't know if the exercises are Wu Shu or true Shaolin but they will get you in great condition regardless. A friend of mine who did a documentary of the Shaolin temple says he is their "missing brother" and they miss him very much.
The exercises are EXACTLY what we do in class. It's hard to describe all the little secrets in each move except to say that you generate Chi from the popping action of the hip, and the speed you do them across the floor over and over again until you get them right. After you master each of the moves in this book you move on to the forms.
Buy this book and try to do the moves over and over again in a line. If you just do Sai Jow about 500 times you will burn calories..trust me! Just remember to land each foot pointed and make sure your leg touches the floor "light as a feather." Or try to sit in deep horse stance making sure you push your knees out and open your chest leaning backwards working up to 30 minutes a day!
