Book Review - The Yi Quan meta: The short, practical guide to the art by Dragos Ghitiu

It is a pleasure to finally sit down and read the latest offering from Dragos Ghitiu. Today started with what has become a recurring theme for me, arguing with a business that behave more like a criminal gang than a corporate entity. Today it was motor mechanics who kept increasing the quote they gave my daughter, unbelievable that women still get different treatment in these places. Anyway, I’ve been down there and shown them somewhat more of my yang side than my yin side. Thankfully Dragos is the man to bring balance back to the force. As a much needed counterpoint to the above story, there are wonderful people in the wellness space who are teaching their arts with passion, courtesy and ethics. So to the book…

It always amazes me how people can operate on a high level in multiple languages. It appears that this is the first book that the author has written in French. It is also available in English which was the point of entry for me. This is a short guide focused on practicality and is pocket money pricing. Many internal martial arts books can suffer from being quite dry, this manual avoids this trap, partly because of its short length and partly because of the punchy and inspirational introduction.

The content progresses through the foundations of standing, moving and stepping. There is just about enough information to understand what you should be doing and feeling which is necessary with this relatively abstract training method. The text then looks at the expressive outlets such as jian wu, push hands and scattering hands. Naturally the partner work is less instructive. The illustrations are abundant and imply action. I’m not sure what the technique is called that turns photographs into line drawings but I’m getting strong ‘A-ha - Take on Me’ music video vibes. I’m now listening to the Reel Big Fish cover of that song, what a cover! Using this photo to pencil drawing method works really well as I was able to make something of an assessment of the author’s ability through his posture and energy.

The book concludes by talking about the essential aspects of applicability and adaptability. Books on Yiquan are limited so there is certainly room for more. As it says in the introduction; ‘just grab it, read and go train.’

Review by Tim Tynan – Head Instructor W.X.T.B.A. (Review is of the original manuscript)

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