{"id":361507,"date":"2026-08-01T09:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T09:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alternative-medicine\/the-story-of-a-chinese-master-in-america\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T09:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T09:37:11","slug":"the-story-of-a-chinese-master-in-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=361507","title":{"rendered":"The Story of a Chinese Master in America"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

After I finished writing my own Tai Chi book<\/a>*, I wanted to read another novel. I found a couple of fictional Taijiquan books on Amazon and in this blogpost by Violet Li<\/a>. Then I started reading Taichi: The Story of a Chinese Master in America<\/a>*.<\/p>\n

\"Book<\/a><\/figure>\n

The book was written by Marc Meyer<\/a>, who is a Tai Chi instructor in Florida. I love that the book is written by an actual Tai Chi practitioner!<\/p>\n

What the book is about<\/h2>\n

The story follows a Tai Chi master and his family in 1960s New York City. The book is about a teenager, who grows up in his uncle\u2019s school and slowly gets pulled into the world of Taijiquan himself. The setup reminded me a little bit of Cheng Man-ching, who brought Taijiquan to the US around that time. It was an easy read, a light book for a couple of days.<\/p>\n

What I found interesting is that the book doesn\u2019t shy away from the martial side of Taijiquan. There\u2019s talk of vital points, self-defense, and weapons training, alongside the calmer, meditative parts. It\u2019s not the usual \u201cTai chi is for old people\u201d, but there are actual fighting scenes.<\/p>\n

A heads-up for women readers<\/h2>\n

However, there were a couple of parts in the book that I struggled with. I want to be really honest about that.<\/p>\n

The book is written from the perspective of a teenage boy, and I found it hard to relate to that coming-of-age story. I\u2019m empathetic, and I have a teenage son myself. But that perspective is not my own experience of Tai Chi. Obviously it\u2019s good to read books from different perspectives, I just did not enjoy it that much.<\/p>\n

In addition, there were several scenes that made me uncomfortable. At one point the narrator tries to kiss a drunk girl who is asleep. I understand that the male perspective of the 1960s was different from now, and the book is set in that era. Still, I found that uncomfortable.<\/p>\n

I want to be clear: this is my personal taste, not a verdict on the book. Other readers might not mind it at all, or might not even notice. But if you\u2019re a woman thinking about picking this up, I wanted you to know what to expect.<\/p>\n

What I liked about it<\/h2>\n

As I said, the book is written by an actual Tai Chi teacher. And I enjoyed some of the learning moments. Some of the phrasing in the book stuck with me, especially two lines I\u2019d never heard before.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cUncle used to intone that it took two lifetimes to learn Taichi.\u201d<\/em>
\u2014 Taichi: The Story of a Chinese Master in America<\/a>*<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I love this one. It sums up something every long-term practitioner knows: you never really arrive. There is not enough time in this life to learn everything.<\/p>\n

The other one made me laugh out loud.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cToilet Stance,\u201d was a term thought up by a humorous master\u2026 It referred to people who practiced the Wuji stance incorrectly by splaying their feet outward instead of keeping them parallel to each other, making them look as if they were squatting over a toilet seat.<\/em>
\u2014 Taichi: The Story of a Chinese Master in America<\/a>*<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I never heard the term \u201ctoilet stance\u201d before, that was fun to read.<\/p>\n

So even though the book is fictional, I enjoyed reading those little nuggets of Tai Chi wisdom.<\/p>\n

Closing<\/h2>\n

Well, would I recommend Taichi: The Story of a Chinese Master in America<\/a>*? If you\u2019re looking for a light, easy read with a Tai Chi setting, yes, give it a try. Just go in knowing it\u2019s told through a teenage boy\u2019s eyes, with all that comes with that.<\/p>\n

\"book<\/a><\/figure>\n

If you want to read more Tai Chi novels, check out my own novel Push Hands<\/a>*. And I come back next Friday, when I publish a new blogpost. I plan to review more novels in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Happy Qi!
Angelika<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After I finished writing my own Tai Chi book*, I wanted to read another novel. I found a couple of fictional Taijiquan books on Amazon and in this blogpost by Violet Li. Then I started reading Taichi: The Story of a Chinese Master in America*. The book was written by Marc Meyer, who is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":361508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11764],"tags":[2708,2268,1124,3968,43044,3972,17766],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-361507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative-medicine","tag-america","tag-book","tag-chinese","tag-master","tag-novel","tag-story","tag-taijiquan"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Story of a Chinese Master in America - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=361507\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Story of a Chinese Master in America - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After I finished writing my own Tai Chi book*, I wanted to read another novel. 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