The Yang Family Thirteen Principles: A practical guide to the biomechanics, energetics and martial fundamentals of Yang family tai chi chuan

This is unquestionably invaluable reading for both Tai Chi and Xigong practitioners who seek to develop their inner practice. Mr. Boyd explains everything with the clarity that only comes from a deep understanding of his subject. Moreover he sets his learning of Tai Chi firmly in its historical lineage, less there be any doubt (as expressed by some US reviewers of his previous book) of his credentials , which is also important for the reader in grasping the significance of his teaching. (I have attended more than one of his London workshops run in conjunction with the well respected Chris Ray Chappell, and can attest to the depth and power of their practice).He reveals the core aspects of Tai chi and then opens them up into a modern context, quoting freely from Liz Koch's 'the Psoas Book', (a slight but very expensive read, according to one reviewer) by exploring the modern understanding of internal physical connections with the Nei Gung practice. This is his 'thing' - connecting snake Tai Chi to a modern exploration of the skeleto-muscular structure and how it interacts with the mind and spirit, drawing to a great extent on Pilates and related practices.While, as the author points out, much of this work is not a unique discovery, by bringing together this knowledge and exploring its implications, he provides proof, as it were, of the inwardness of Tai chi, both on the physical and spiritual levels. The 3-D illustrations of the muscles and how they wrap around the skeleton give us the graphic evidence. Powerful stuff for those who know how to read it. But I looked in vain for more on how to use it in practice.Which brings me to why this book loses a star: it is very very expensive for what it is: only 75 pages in large print with lots of empty space and blank pages, so in reality it is hardly more than a pamphlet of around 45 short pages (and that includes illustrations) - it's a quick 20 minute read for the casual reader. But of course it is not directed to the casual reader and I have to assume it was priced so high in order to put off such people. However, I do feel he could have taken things a step further by giving the serious practitioner an in depth exploration of some of the Tai Chi postures which would have rounded out his thesis and taken it to a whole new level.When I compare writers of similar depth and understanding in the field of Tai Chi and Xigong - and they are very few - while none of them are cheap, (they need to eat, after all) neither do they push the price to anything like this extent, and they go much deeper into their subject. This book is more of a summary or even sometimes a hint of a sales pitch for Mr. Boyd's method.And it is notable that the best of these writers keep themselves in the background and let their offerings stand alone, while Mr. Boyd shares the common characteristic of many trained in martial arts - to step high and wide and up front. Does it matter? Hmmm. Since this practice has its roots in classical Daoist teaching, I think it does. Even the irrepressible and by now over exposed Bruce Frantzis was careful, in his early books at any rate, to refer to himself in the third person, thus distancing himself from his work, in true Daoist tradition.IN the end, however, I have to concede this book contains valuable, even precious insights and is extremely well presented. But considering most of his readers are unlikely to be extremely wealthy, £15 maybe?