Once you start engaging more and more with Qi Gong and Taijiquan, you eventually will be confronted with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). It’s all about Yin & Yang, the 5 elements, meridians etc. All that might sound a bit strange in the beginning, especially as there are so many foreign Chinese words. 😉 But it’s really not that hard to understand. There are a couple of really good TCM books.
I’ve done some research and read a lot myself, and this is the result:
The best TCM books
I think these best TCM books are the Superstars of Chinese medicine books!
However, I would like to present another book, which is not as well-known. My very first Taijiquan teacher recommended it to me and I’ve read it a couple of times since:
This small book is based on a presentation that J.R. Worsley did about acupuncture in New York in 1980. This book is basically the transcript of that seminar. If you want to learn about Traditional Chinese medicine and don’t know where to start, this book will give you a quick overview. It takes less than a day to go through and it’s actually fun to read.
Another book I regularly use is an acupuncture book. I just like to find out where Baihui, Laogong etc. are exactly located! I really like my German dtv-Atlas Akupunktur, but you probably prefer an English version. The Acupuncture Handbook below is a Kindle version and really not that expensive. If you prefer a hardcover, have a look at the Pictorial Atlas:
To further deepen your knowledge, you could even get yourself a poster with acupuncture charts or one of those acupuncture models or maybe even a colouring book!!!
So if you are completely new to Traditional Chinese medicine, I would recommend you start with Talking about Acupuncture* and then choose any of the best TCM books from the beginning of this post and just continue learning!
