The Method of Chinese Wrestling

When I read about the credentials of the author, co-authors and thetranslator/publisher, I was thrilled. Also, when I see old grainy black and white photos of genuine Kong Fu...I am also thrilled. While it is not possible to really learn techniques from a book, this,, with other books I have been collecting, are giving me some very nice leads on Chinese wrestling. Toooo bad...I am almost 60 and cannot be a practitioner, but this is a fascinating subject. When I looked at Liang Shou You's book, it is obvious that the manfrom Vancouver definitely has his skill sets and history in line.My salutes to these fine teachers...McK

I didn't regret buying this book. It's a no-nonsense book from one of the great masters of the early Republic-era China. The pictures may be a little fuzzy, but it's logically presented in order for readers to analyze the movements. This book definitely forces you to think and this is not the book for those who are used to spoon-feeding!

Well organized and detailed work on Shuai-Jiao.Excellent vintage pictures.

This book gives a good general overview of Shuai Jiao. You won't learn much in terms of techniques. It also gives a good genral overview of the history of the art.

A Shuai Jiao classic. If you are looking for a glimpse at basic, traditional Shuai Jiao exercises and a little history about this imitable Kung Fu style, look no further.

A lot of historical background.For me, the main benefit were the training methods and their similarities and differences from those used in tai chi chuan. 2 kinds of bang, rope.

The pictures and the throws are kind of hard to decipher, although this problem didn't bother me enough to take away a star. I love the cover, and the formatting is good. Writing is clear and very interesting.Overall, excellent book on this increasingly rare and little-known method.

Terrible illustrations

OK, so I have deducted 1 star for the grainy quality of the illustrations (which, given that this book was first published in 1935 is forgivable). However, this is a really practical book for any student of martial arts. The directions are a little laconic, ie. "swing your arm down," "pivot your right leg" but when combined with the illustrations they make perfect sense. Which, is more than can be said for a lot of more contemporary martial arts manuals.The real treasure of the book is not the wrestling techniques but rather the training methods, with great sections on kicking and stepping for waist flexibility, hand drills and training with objects. This really is an excellent book for any martial artist looking to develop power, whether in throws or striking. If you're willing to put in the effort to learn the movements, you will get a great deal out of this book.Like most training books, it needs a partner and an experienced instructor to master the fighting techniques fully but the training techniques are invaluable.

not what I expected.