The sword, saber, and staff weapons of Taijiquan are implements for improving your health, expressing qi, and issuing intrinsic energy (jin). Even though these three weapons are complete training systems of Taijiquan within themselves, each has a primary focus in its practice: Sword develops the skill of extending intrinsic energy through the arms and hands. The handling of the sword is likened to the skills of a Chinese calligrapher with a writing brush, making use of very refined yin and yang movements. Saber develops the skill of issuing qi from the spine. The handling of the saber is...

In 1927, General Yang Sen invited Li Qingyun to Wanxian, China, to teach about health and longevity. Li Qingyun was reported to be 250 years old at the time, and his visit to Wanxian was big news. In 1970, Yang Sen compiled a book of his and others' accounts of Li Qingyun, titled An Authentic and True Record of a 250-Year-Old Man, which Stuart Alve Olson started translating into English in 1982.
Besides the notion of someone living to 250 years of age, this book goes well beyond the biography of Li Qingyun's life. It has great historical value, especially for Westerners who are...

The books in this two-volume series present the most important tools and information on how to utilize the"Book of Changes(I Ching)."The"Book of Sun and Moon, "an alternative-though accurate-translation for the title of the"I Ching, "is both a book of divination and calculation. Its use in divination means to apply intuition concerning the oracle of the hexagrams (the sixty-four images of broken and unbroken Yin-and-Yang lines). Its ability to calculate and determine possible outcomes for any situation involves examining the logical correlations associated with each of the hexagrams and what...

The books in this two-volume series present the most important tools and information on how to utilize the"Book of Changes(I Ching)."The"Book of Sun and Moon, "an alternative-though accurate-translation for the title of the"I Ching, "is both a book of divination and calculation. Its use in divination means to apply intuition concerning the oracle of the hexagrams (the sixty-four images of broken and unbroken Yin-and-Yang lines). Its ability to calculate and determine possible outcomes for any situation involves examining the logical correlations associated with each of the hexagrams and what...

Being Daoist: The Way of Drifting with the Current (Revised Edition) provides an interpretation on the basic philosophical ideals of living and thinking as a Daoist. It serves as a primer for Westerners on Daoist teachings and practices, encapsulating the heart of what Stuart Alve Olson has learned from his teachers, from his many years of practicing, and from his study and translation of Daoist works.
The chapters on Understanding the Way, The Way of Renewing Life, The Way of Wei Wu Wei, The Way of Immortals, and Following the Daoist Way offer insights into what it...

This volume in the Chen Kung Series presents the two-person Tui Shou exercises of the Eight Styles and Four Skills of Sensing Hands (popularly known as "Pushing Hands"). The main purpose of Sensing Hands-and also Greater Rolling-Back (Da Lu) and Dispersing Hands (San Shou)-is to learn how to Interpret the movements and changes of the opponent, and, just as importantly, how to sense your own defects. The "Taijiquan Classic" says, "Through knowing yourself, you can know others," so in Taijiquan, you learn how to interpret yourself first, and then apply it to an opponent.
Every gesture in...

This book belongs in every martial artist's library, as the Eighteen Lohan Skills are a foundational system for the development of kung fu-not only traditional Shaolin Temple Kung Fu, but for nearly all martial art systems created thereafter. This is true in the applications and functions of the exercises, and in posture names as well.
No full translation or serious presentation of these exercises exists in English-until now In presenting these teachings, Stuart Alve Olson made exclusive use of the original Chinese text by Praying Mantis Kung Fu master Fan Xudong and the later...

In 1927, General Yang Sen invited Li Qingyun to Wanxian, China, to teach about health and longevity. Li Qingyun was reported to be 250 years old at the time, and his visit to Wanxian was big news. In 1970, Yang Sen compiled a book of his and others' accounts of Li Qingyun, titled "An Authentic and True Record of a 250-Year-Old Man, " which Stuart Alve Olson started translating into English in 1982.
Besides the notion of someone living to 250 years of age, this book goes well beyond the biography of Li Qingyun's life. It has great historical value, especially for Westerners who are...

The subject of Daoist sexual teachings and practices has often been confusing to Western readers. This confusion is a result of how Daoism has intrinsically bound sexuality with spirituality and internal alchemy, making the language of its literature difficult to grasp by Western readers.
In "Daoist Sexual Arts, " Stuart Alve Olson demystifies this specialized language through his insightful instructional notes and comments, culled from his many years of intense study and practice of Daoist arts.
This book presents two of the most important texts of Daoist restorative and...