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 - My Teacher.I put off writing a review on this book for a long time,...Since Mr. Wu is my teacher. I did not want anyone to think I was Jumping on the band wagon, when this first came to Paperback, So I waited to review it. So here it is: This book is probably the most needed book on Kung Fu, Gong Fu, Shaolin. It is HUGE,.....I mean HUGE!! It just doesn't get any better than this book. This book is "SO" worth the money that it is ALMOST OBSCENE!!! Buy it, I guarantee you will not regret it. Rating: - good stuffVery detailed book, exellent reference material, as well as gives some insites into different styles.I am very happy with it and it has helped me already. Highly recomended to anyone intrested in the martial arts of this type. Rating: - Best non-Chinese book on wushuThis volume is nothing but great. It covers all the things you'll need for your wushu training and is crammed with loads of extra information about styles, people, weapons and more. I especially like the fact that it stresses jibengong, the fundamental excercises of wushu, and not taolu (form). The sanda applications are well explained and covers a lot of ground. A little bit more fighting strategy and tactics would be a good thing though. The explanations and presentation of neigong, the internal martial arts, are also very good. I think that neigong and qigong have to be felt and describing them in words is an impossible task that nobody ever will be able to do well, but Shou Yu Liang does a good job none the less. The glossary in the end is very impressive indeed. It has a LOT of entries of which many are illustrated. Very well. My only real criticism of the work is that I don't think it covers wushu history well enough. It's too much of a runthrough and dosen't really give any in-depth information. It is a subject that is very dear to me so I guess I'm biased on that point. Also their explanation of the character wu (as in wushu)is not satisfactory. There are generally two mainstream theories in linguistic circles of the original meaning of the word (the most popular by far is Berhard Karlgrens) none of which is the one presented in this volume. However, that is only a tiny complaint and it dosen't alter the fact that this is a very impressive book. It truly IS the best book on wushu in English. I live and train traditional wushu in Beijing and have trained for some 8-9 years. I am of the opinion that wushu cannot be learned from a book, no matter how good it is, but it can definitely help you improve and clarify things for you. This book is a very good reference, especially for beginners, but also for the advanced student. It offers a lot of information and is WELL worth the price. Rating: - Modernistic Kung FuThis book does not illustrate the visually captivating "flowery fist" kung fu often seen in the movies. It really addresses the root elements of kung fu.Not only does it cover the fighting elements but also the fitness and spiritual aspects as well. This is a must have for anyone interested in martial arts. Rating: - Great book on WushuI think this is one of the most complete book on Wushu that I've came across. It contains information on warmups, techniques, sanshou, chin na, and chi kung. The appendix at the end of the book was very informative. It provides information about many of the Wushu figures and styles. The only thing I was unclear on is how to actually apply the wushu techniques from forms in free sparring or fight. It seems that there is a disconnect between the techniques used in the forms and the techniques used in Sanshou. The technique used in Sanshou looked more like a combination of Kickboxing and throws or even jeet kune do. Maybe for many people, it questions the usefulness of learning technique used in forms other than for training movements and calesnetics.
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