Tai Chi and Qi Gong Basics

Matthew Cohen is an excellent teacher of Tai Chi and Qi Gong, and the production quality of both this DVD and his Fire and Water program are very good. That being said, if you already own Fire and Water you already have one of the two workouts on this DVD. The other one is not his best. Bottom line: if you own Fire & Water, skip this one. If you don't have either, buy Fire & Water instead.

Dear Acacia: Listen up... Your customers are NOT happy when you re-package old programs with new titles. They feel ripped off, deceived and angry when you do this. Its bad karma to boot.

Agree with "A Reader." Cohen is by every indication a wonderful teacher, one we'd all be fortunate to work with in person, and I probably use the older "Fire and Water" DVD six times a week.

When I bought this new DVD I knew part of it included pre-released materials. But I thought Acacia, Mr Cohen and the producers might have reworked that material in some fashion -- perhaps blending elements of "Fire" and "Water" practices into one? I had no idea -- instead simply of lifting half of "Fire and Water" and copying it here.

It's additionally disappointing that the production quality of the newer Tai Chi segment is lower than that of the prior disc. It's shot inside, not in the glorious setting of the older DVD, which is fine. But the visual direction and sound quality is lower. Worse, the three-step process for repeating the moves of and entering into what is a very short Tai Chi routine seems frankly like filler. To be blunt, the Tai Chi segment feels glib. I would have gained much more from a disc entirely devoted to deeper exploration of more Tai Chi principles and moves. The interview with Cohen is great, but also has a could-have-been-free-on-You-Tube quality as well.

I can live this time with giving my money to support this terrific teacher. But I'll be much more careful with my next Acacia product and other productions in which Mr Cohen participates; much less willing to support the cynical decision to recycle in the worst possible way.

First off:
This DVD is not, I repeat, not for anyone that has any real Tai Chi practice under their belt. I have had very limited instruction, and I was disappointed with the Tai Chi form presented as the "third" exercise of this disk. My most rudimentary Tai Chi DVD presented a better form in the first 5 minutes.

But, having said that, there is one overriding feature of this DVD that makes it a must buy for anyone wanting to incorporate some Tai Chi and Qi Gong elements into their daily fitness routine. (Or that has any interest in learning Tai Chi or Qi Gong) Matt Cohen teaches the entire routine in mirror image poses.

OK, what does that mean?

Watch most every other workout, or Tai Chi DVD. The overwhelming majority of the time as you perform the moves, you "mirror" the instructor in screen. That means when they say lift the right arm, you end up lifting the left arm because it is on the same side as the person in the screen. Matthew Cohen takes this very common and normal human behavior into account, showing the left leg forward, but saying right leg, etc... This makes it about a million times easier to follow the routine then I have ever experienced before. Absolutely zero eye muscle confusion based on what I was seeing on screen.

Another additional benefit, the first two sections of the Tai Chi exercise have in the short time I have owned this DVD, replaced my stretching and warm up routines. In a few short minutes, I feel like I am more then ready to take on any number of strenuous exercise in only about 5 minutes. That works for me, cannot speak for anyone else.