Hello,

I'm new to the forum and new to the martial arts with respect to weapons forms. I'm a tai chi chuan practitioner. Recently I've decided to add a weapons form to my tai chi routines. Since I have had a few months of experience in the distant past with the Dao, I've chosen this weapon. A nice weapon but a difficult choice for two reasons:
1) I don't have a teacher nearby who can instruct me. So I learn from a DVD.
2) Since I learn from a DVD I have no background info on techniques etc. Had I chosen the jian there would have been numerous books to choose from. On Dao techniques I can find none.

I found a post on the forum about defensive techniques with a Dao(http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?showtopic=8377). I bookmarked it for reference.

Now my question:
Does anybody know a good book in which I can find information on the basic dao-technics? Not only their names but something like the above mentioned post. I can't believe I'm the only sucker in the whole wide world who's looking for this kind of info.

There is only so much you can learn from a book or video.

Especially for internal arts like Taijiquan. I suggest that you look not in books, but find a qualified master in your area.

What he said

I fully agree with the both of you. But as I wrote that's easier said then done. I intend to go to workshops if organised nearby. For the rest I have a choice between this or not doing it at all. (I would have been better of studing the jian)

Books and videos 're only good as reference points.

Where a good instructor is worth a hundred lbs of gold. but an excellent instructor is worth a thousand lbs of gold.