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 - Shaolin meets Praying MantisI'm new to Praying Mantis Kung Fu and was looking for some material to supplement my classes. This is a quick read, and the time necessary to integrate the exercises in this book into your workout routine are minimal. There is a great deal of similarity to the various exercises between Shaolin and Praying Mantis, so this has been a great recipe book for me on exercising between classes. As mentioned before, some of the meditations are a little over the top. However, Sifu's enthusiasm for life, learning and teaching shine through all throughout the book. I give it two very enthusiastic thumbs up. Rating: - Impressive, Insightful, IntenseThis is an amazing book, and an amazing program. A must have for any Shaolin practitioner. That being said, I've studied Karate for several years, worked with dozens of Senseis, and even a Sifu or two, read tons of books, and many more about general health. This book has done more for me than all the other books I've read. The book introduces even the simplest neophytes of martial arts into the world of Shaolin gung fu (kung fu). It briefly outlines Tai Chi, Chi Kung, and the Shaolin Kung Fu. The added bits of history are well described, though it will probably be old news for scholars. I enjoyed reading it nonetheless. It also talks about the life of Sifu Ming, and the trials that he shows people can endure. He is truly an amazing person. This guy reiks of awesome. Whether it's working with students ages 5 to 65, collaborating with The RZA from The Wu-Tang Clan (who is one of his best students), or working on his new mission of rebuilding a Shaolin Temple in NY, you couldn't make this guy up if you tried. The program itself entails a 28 phase workout. It is designed to be fully understood in as little as 28 days, but it is not a miracle-workout, a detox, or a weight-watchers challenge. This is a blueprint to how to energize, and tone yourself, for the modern world as well as martial arts training (regardless of style!). After just a week of studying this workout I've noticed an improvement in myself both in and out of the dojo (or gym if you prefer). This has helped a lot with my posture, my flexability, and to a lesser extent my muscles. This book won't tell you how to pack on muscles and look like a line-backer, but as it reminds us, people who do nothing but lift weights are generally only good at lifting weights. These exercises tone the muscles you'll USE when you train. I feel quite sore after some of the exercises only because they're muscles I generally never flexed when lifting or training, but with these stretches I feel them beginning to harden and improve my abilities. SIfu's encouragement and meditations are very insightful too. He reminds us that we're all wonderful, and that improving ourselves is something we must always do. Not just something we do when we want to look like a model. He also reminds us that Shaolin Kung Fu is a very approchable subject. Not all monks are men who shave their head and smash bricks with their pinky toes, but rather they are humans who respect others, always do their best, and train harder! In the end, No; This book won't get you ripped like Bruce Lee in 15 minutes a day for a month. But it will give you the perfect blueprint to improve yourself in all aspects of life. Shaolin is everywhere, not just the temples. As Sifu says "The more you train, the more you'll WANT to train." Amitoufo Rating:  - The Shaolin Workout: 28 Days to Transforming Your Body and Soul the Warrior's Way This has great morning workout exercises. Same or similar to the exercises we do in class. Rating: - The best book on basic martial arts on the marketThis 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. Rating: - InspirationalVery good program. Inspirational. Anybody can do it. I had good results with mobility within a week at age 70.
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