I'm only really writing this review as an answer to the one presently listed at the mo. I do really feel that people have got it in for Erle and his books, and this comes across in some reviews of his work. I don't agree with everything he's written, but I do know what works. I've had this book for a number of years now, and it does exactly what it says in the title: show you the 12 circular dim-mak forms of the Old Yang style taiji - no more, and certainly no less. It's not a pretty book to look at, but there's certainly no BS in there. I've had experience of several grappling styles, as well as karate, kung-fu, tae-kwon-do, boxing and kickboxing, as well as taiji and several forms of bagwa and hsing-I over the past twenty-five years, and I'll simply say this: as good as I was at boxing and judo, (and I wasn't too bad at all of them), I never fully "understood" grappling or striking until I put these forms into practice - it din't come immediately, but after practicng these short forms foe just a little while, I "knew" how to throw/strike/and grapple, it was just a case of putting the hard work in of learning the forms and chi-gung at my bodies own pace.
Yes, this stuff does work, and it'll probably enhance your other activities. If you don't want this stuff to work, it never fully will- but learn them and see for yourself. All you need for self-defence is in this little book, it just takes a bit of time and practice, that's all.