You Are How You Move

For over a year I have been learning and performing a few selected Chi Kung physical exercises in connection with weekly instruction in tai chi. My slight but hands-on exposure to an ancient form of exercise therefore made it surprisingly easy for me to skim through once over lightly -- with a view to returning to concentrate on individual points -- Ged Sumner's YOU ARE HOW YOU MOVE: EXPERIENTIAL CHI KUNG. It also helped me that this introduction to taoist exercise forms and meditations is written in clear native English and is not some often clumsy, translation from the Chinese. Further help comes from six full-page anatomical and symbolic line drawings and 173 black and white photos of a man, several women and a little girl doing the chi kung forms. *** Ged Sumner identifies stress as the dominant health challenge of our age. And, he argues, main-stream hard workouts in fitness centers are a bad idea: stress fighting stress. There is a more excellent way: Chi Kung. This ancient Chinese form of soft, smooth exercise makes a virtue of standing still -- something Sumner says we all hate to do. YOU ARE HOW YOU MOVE also analyzes how human anatomy works and teaches us to become aware of our skeleton, especially the spine, as well as joints, sinews, the works. For those who care, the text also provides a gentle introduction to Taoist philosophy and theory of well-being behind the exercises and meditations. Chi Kung results in demonstrably good posture, relaxation, balance control and other desirable aspects of good health. -OOO-