The Shaolin Workout: 28 Days to Transforming Your Body and Soul the Warrior's Way

by Yan Ming

Book Overview

In his loft in New york City's Greenwich Village, Sifu Shi Yan Ming trains men and women of all ages, body types and backgrounds in the fundamentals of kung fu. A 34th generation Shaolin Warrior monk... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594864004
• ISBN13: 9781594864001
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: Rodale Books
• Length: 293 Pages
• Weight: 1.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 8.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

excellent book

A great workout book that can be learned in 28 days and will actually transform you. After just a few days I could feel myself standing taller and walking with better posture. I bought 2 more books for gifts, and I would recommend it to everyone. I am 70 now and still an active windsurfer, so staying flexible and healthy is especially important to me. Joe

Energetic and Charismatic Rut-Buster

The pictures are lively, and Sifu's boundless love of life is infectious. I bought the book to get a fresh approach to my normal karate routine. Some of the stretches are pretty familiar, but there are enough nuances to spice things up. Some of the daily meditations are a little over the top ("you are beautiful!"), but the enthusiasm is catchy.

Much Appreciated

Amituofo, For years I've self studied Yoga and Chan Quan (Kung Fu) from various books and dvd's, so I'm not the authority on either subject. To have a Sifu such as Shi Yan Ming is but a dream to someone like me. Where I'm from you're lucky if you can even find a gym to exercise in. I can't thank Shi Yan Ming and everyone else who worked on this book enough. Receiving even the smallest amount of training on Kung Fu and Chan Buddism for me is a gift of a life time. However, I don't consider the knowledge gained from this book to be small. If you seriously put this book into action and master all the sessions, its my opinion that you will not only transform your body and soul, but gain speed, power, and focus that you lacked before. I haven't made it all the way through, but the moves that look easy are hard and the moves that look hard are very hard. And I'm no slouch. I would say to anyone who is thinking of buying this book to not only read it and try a few stretches, but put it into action and master it before judging it. Shi Yan Ming is in his early fortys and has studied Shaolin Kung Fu every day since he was five. If you take advice about Kung Fu from knowone else, take it from Shi Yan Ming. Not only is he a Master of Shaolin Kung Fu, but a Master of himself... Amituofo, John Talley

A most worthwhile purchase!

Of course it cannot serve as a total substitute for experiencing the real thing, but this book still manages to share a tremendous amount of knowledge in a very accessible format. It contains gorgeous, often stunning, photography as well as helpful and concise instructions. I particularly like the conclusion of each section with a passage of philosophical thoughts. The book does a great job with balancing the presentation of techniques for improving oneself both physically and mentally. Even if you ultimately do not adhere to the exact 28 day regimen as suggested by the subtitle of this book, you will most certainly find many valuable lessons to incorporate into your daily life.

Amazing - next best thing to having direct experience

This is an excellent book for several reasons - the most important of which, for me, is the fact that it clearly illustrates how physical motion, life philosophy and spiritual growth are intextricably intertwined. Of course, you cannot become a KungFu master in 28 days but, if you train the "Warrior's Way" and really push yourself, your Body and Soul will, undoubtably be transformed - that is what the book claims to do. The limitation is ourselves, not a book or master. A Sifu can only show the way, the individual has to walk the path, and master themselves. There is ample reason to read this book even if you do not train physically because the life philosophy applies to all. It is remarkable how concepts like make your body flexible and your mind will become flexible are illustrated in a manner which individuals can follow in practice. This book talks about action meditation and, rather than get involved in the intricacies of trying to verbalize a transcendent philosophy, simply gives an opportunity to internalize it in the traditional way - through Action Meditation. The illustrations are beautiful and clearly express philosophy in action - whether it be open your mind/open your body OR 'extend your physical' and 'extend your mental'. Also, Chan philosophy says anything can be meditation - 'sitting meditation' is just one aspect. It is the attitude which is meditative. Finally, I noticed some people criticizing the book (or the author) - this does not make sense because they surely could not have already tried this program (its not been 28 days since the release). Good luck.