These books have helped me understand and practice. I don't view TCC as requiring faith in a doctrine. It seems to me to be discoverable in the same sense as anything in Physics or Mathematics. For that reason I've included books with intellectual underpinnings in European thought in addition to translations of important Chinese texts.

1. T'ai Chi Ch'uan Ta Wen: Questions and Answers on T'ai Chi Ch'uan

   Chen Wei-Ming (Author), Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo (Translator), Robert W. Smith (Translator) Publisher: North Atlantic Books (January 26, 1993) ISBN-10: 0938190679 ISBN-13: 978-0938190677

   An overview of Tai Chi from the notes taken by Chen Wei-ming of Yang Cheng-fu's answers to questions. This is essential reading.

2. The Essence of T'ai Chi Ch'uan - The Literary Tradition

   Martin Inn, Robert Amacker, Susan Foe Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo (Translator), Calligraphy by Benjamin Pang Jeng Lo (Illustrator) Publisher: IRI Press (2008) ISBN-10: 0615227775 ISBN-13: 978-0615227771

   In the Ta Wen (above) the question "How do we know we're doing it right?" is asked and answered with the advice "If it's consistent with the Classics, you're doing it right." These are the Classics that are specifically directed at the T'ai Chi practice. There are others that are more general and abstract that are also important. Lee N. Scheele has provided an excellent set of the Classics on line. Go to his website to see his work.

3. T'ai Chi Ch'uan: A Simplified Method of Calisthenics for Health & Self Defense

   Cheng Man-Ch'ing (Author) Publisher: Blue Snake Books ISBN-10: 0913028851 ISBN-13: 978-0913028858

   This is identical (regardless of the copyright date) to the reference for the form that we used at the Tai Chi Association and at Shr Jung in the late 1960's and early 1970s.

4. Master Cheng's New Method of Taichi Ch'uan Self-Cultivation [Paperback]

   Cheng Man-Ch'ing (Author), Mark Hennessy Publisher: Blue Snake Books ISBN-10: 1883319927 ISBN-13: 978-1883319922

   This is the most complete description of Cheng Man-Ching's form I have been able to find. The foot placement diagrams are worth the price of the book. Professor's emphasis, clearly stated in this book, on moving only if the waist moves is generally lost in the current trend toward "spiraling" and pretty (in the form competition sense) practice of the Form.

5. Dao De Jing: A Philosophical Translation

   by Laozi (Author), Roger T. Ames (Author), David L. Hall (Author) Publisher: Ballantine Books (January 1, 2003) ISBN-10: 0345444159 ISBN-13: 978-0345444158

   There seem to be hundreds of translations of the Tao Te Ching. Having more than one can give you a better perspective. The version on the Gutenberg Project site isn't bad. Recently I found a version translated by Sanderson Beck that I like. You can find it here. This is the most important of the more general classics mentioned above. The Confucian "Doctrine of the Mean" is another.

6. The Art of Warfare

   Sun Tzu (Author), Roger T. Ames Publisher: Ballantine Books ISBN-10: 034536239X ISBN-13: 978-0345362391

   Here is the Taoist approach to warfare; If it's unavoidable, it should end quickly and with a minimum of destruction. There is a good version on the Gutenberg Project. This classic can be read as a T'ai Chi manual.

7. Body Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique (Paperback)

   Michael J. Gelb (Author) Publisher: Holt Paperbacks ISBN-10: 0805042067 ISBN-13: 978-0805042061

   F. M. Alexander is a lay person who applied the scientific method perfectly and arrived at a significant understanding of the principles and the method of using of the body found in Tai Chi. It's just as important that he found a means around the difficulty most people have learning this material. Michael Gelb does a good job presenting Alexander's technique.

8. How You Stand, How You Move, How You Live: Learning the Alexander Technique to Explore Your Mind-Body Connection and Achieve Self-Mastery

   Missy Vineyard Da Capo Press ISBN-10: 1600940064 ISBN-13: 978-1600940064

   This book is the best presentation of the ideas of wu wei er wu bu wei (without doing yet without failing to do) and hsing yi (mind form) I've ever encountered. Alexander teachers call wu wei "inhibiting" or "not doing" or taking an approach that isn't "end-gaining." and call wu bu wei and hsing yi "directing." The nearly perfect overlap between these ideas and the corresponding principles in T'ai Chi, despite the independence of their origins, supports the assertion that these ideas are discoverable rather than an arbitrary, fantasy doctrine. As a discipline, Alexander has the advantages, in the modern world, of leading to improvements in daily well being early in the learning process, of having a clear certification process and of having had respectable scientific verification. The method is young relative to T'ai Chi and has only just begun to fragment as people try to "improve" it.

9. Mindfulness in Plain English: Revised and Expanded Edition

   Bhante Henepola Gunaratana Wisdom Publications ISBN-10: 0861713214 ISBN-13: 978-0861713219

   Mostly a very good presentation of Vipasana Meditation. The method overlaps and extends both Tai Chi and Alexander Technique teachings on the use or, I'll call it posture, of the mind.

10. The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance (Paperback)

    W. Timothy Gallwey (author) Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks ISBN-10 0679778314 ISBN-13 978-0679778318

    This book offers a practical approach to Wu-Wei (Not Doing) from an entirely different pair of traditions.

11. Rolfing: Reestablishing the Natural Alignment and Structural Integration of the Human Body for Vitality and Well-Being (Paperback)

    Ida P. Rolf Ph.D.(Author) Publisher: Healing Arts Press; Revised edition (October 1, 1989) ISBN-10: 0892813350 ISBN-13: 978-0892813353

    Rolf does an outstanding job on the anatomy of alignment and its benefits. The methods she advocates for getting there have little to do with Tai Chi but the understanding is superb.

12. The Little Black Book of Violence: What Every Young Man Needs to Know About Fighting

    Lawrence A. Kane, Kris Wilder et al Ymaa Publication Center ISBN-10: 1594391297 ISBN-13: 978-1594391293

    Don't think that this shouldn't be read by women just because of the the title. The authors set out to dissuade anyone from fighting as long as there is a way to avoid it without loosing ones life or a life one cares for. I am in complete agreement with their advocacy of leaving intact as the best outcome. I'm reminded in their writing of the advice from Sun Tzu that to win without fighting is best as a life taken is a treasure that cannot be restored.

13. The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence (Paperback)

    Gavin de Becker (Author) Dell ISBN-10: 0440508835 ISBN-13: 978-0440508830

    Gavin De Becker emphasizes the importance of recognizing and acting on the intuition of danger. His approach is related to T'ai Chi in his insistence on paying attention to feelings (an expression of pre-conscious intelligence) rather than on how acting on the feelings will make you look to other people. It's also an example of controlling the outcome by recognizing the beginning, so it's also T'ai Chi in that sense.