Title: Climbing The Mountain: The Essence of Qi Gong & Martial Arts
Author: Jonathan Snowiss
Publisher: Xlibris Corporaion
Publish Date: July 15, 2010
Format: Digital, Paperback, Hardcover
Pages: 184
Cover Price: $8.99
There are many areas on martial arts with complex concepts and facets. Climbing the Mountain is a book about such a subject, qigong and internal training. Those two very much intertwined things are a subject of discussion, mainly within traditional Chinese martial arts (TCMA) circles. There’s little material related to such practices, at least that I’m aware of, outside said circles. The closest things I know of are the books on Aikido and Aikijujutsu like Hidden in Plain Sight and Transparent Power. This book is by our own Jonathan Snowiss, who, like me, is a TCMA practitioner. Jonathan is a disciple of Master Si Tu Jie, an inheritor of Shaolin Wei Tuo Chan Jin Gang Hu Fa Men, an internal style from the southern Shaolin tradition. He’s also trained more commonly known internal styles such as Tai Chi Chuan, Bagua Zhang and Xing Yi Quan.
Some initial terminology
So, what are qigong (气功, chi kung) and internal training? First, qigong literally means training of the qi. Qi literally means breath but most of us use it to mean internal energy. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of qigong exercises and systems. There’s hard qigong, soft qigong, martial qigong and medicinal qigong. All include some method of breathing. Some are static, others require movement. Then there’s the term internal training, which is a broader term. Internal training generally relates to martial arts training, a necessary complement to external training. External training means everyday physical exercise (weights, sparring, forms, etc.) while internal relates to qigong, meditation and less physically exerting practices.
Content
Onto the subject of this article, let’s talk about Climbing the Mountain. This book can be divided into three parts. The first part describes the philosophy of the author. He uses the term wugong (武功) which can be translated as martial training, but in this context it has a more complex meaning. Jonathan uses the aforementioned term to describe a holistic, more complete set of practices, including martial arts, qigong (for martial arts and for health), spirituality and moral philosophy. This encompasses the first four chapters of the book.
Part two of Climbing the Mountain introduces us to qigong theory and the basics of traditional Chinese medicine. This was by far my favorite part of the book. Jonathan explains a complex subject with a very clear language and some useful diagrams. Given that traditional Chinese medicine and qigong share a common theoretical body, understanding the first is quite useful to the second.
The following chapters serve as a practical introduction to Johnathan’s wugong. First, one particular set of qigong called Wei Tuo Tu Na. With clear indications and some useful photos to dispel any doubts, the reader can follow and practice this exercise. The next chapter deals with meditation, both standing and sitting. Qigong and meditation are often combined in practice. One needs to be able to concentrate to train properly and as the Chinese say, “the mind guides the qi”. The final chapter ties up the notion of wugong with that of gongfu (功夫, kung fu). Contrary to popular belief, gongfu does not mean or even refer to martial arts, even though the term has become synonymous, mainly in the west, with TCMA. Gongfu refers to a level of skill attained through effort and dedication. This can be anything from playing an instrument to cooking and martial arts.
Pros
Climbing the Mountain eloquently details the philosophy, introduces the reader to traditional Chinese medicine concepts, and is a great beginner’s guide to qigong and meditation with a very easy to follow set of exercises. Given that the author studied in China, all Chinese terms are in the standard romanization. This might not be a big thing to most but it makes pronunciation easier to understand. Finally, a nice detail, most sections have short phrases from the Dao De Jing in their original Chinese, then romanized and translated.
Cons
All chapters are divided into sections but some sections could be chapters themselves. That’s just a personal appreciation about the structure. I was not expecting such a deep dive into the philosophical aspects of wugong but a more in-depth exploration of the practical aspects. That is not a con in and of itself but it might not be to everybody’s liking. Finally, an expansion of the section on traditional Chinese medicine would be nice. It feels like it could delve a bit more into some concepts and how they relate to qigong.
Conclusion
To be fair, I came into Climbing the Mountain expecting something more on the philosophical side. That would’ve been fine but it’s not my preferred reading when it comes to martial arts. I was pleasantly surprised when I found the sections of the book detailing traditional Chinese medicine and qigong exercises. It feels like a good introduction to Wei Tuo qigong, especially its philosophical and foundational concepts. Still, the philosophical part feels a bit long compared to the other two. Climbing the Mountain deserves a second and expanded edition, Jonathan clearly knows a lot about the subjects and tried to give us readers as clear an understanding as possible so as to begin the journey towards achieving gong fu.
All that said, I’ve decided to give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. It’s an easy to read and insightful book.
Have you read this book? Let me know what you thought about it in the comments section below!
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Thanks for the review.??
My pleasure!