No comments about Tang Soo Do Forms, Volume 1 - by Chun Sik Kim.

1 comments about Tai Chi Sword - the 32 Form DVD.

1. Very well done. This is a great help in learning and remembering the form while you are studying with a teacher. The main problem is finding a teacher who teaches this form the same way. The detailed instructions and multi-angle video shots do a great job of documenting the form but are no substitute for a good teacher.

1 comments about Tai Chi for Diabetes.

1. This was an impressive DVD showing rear and side views, starting with warm up, two persons showing front and rear views simultaneously, clearly and slowly taking one through this style of Tai Chi forms and adding gentle warm up exercises with group and solo efforts. This was so good I plan on getting more in the series.

No comments about Hook N Shoot "2007 Women's Grand Prix" (Revolution Series).

5 comments about Fists of Fury (AKA The Big Boss).

1. Fists of Fury is the film that revealed the world an extraordinary, brilliant and lovable Chinese American known as Bruce Lee. The film tells the tale of a simple Chinese farm boy who arrives at an ice packing plant outside of Bangkok, Thailand to work for his uncle. Of course, the local thugs are giving everyone a hard time. However, unlike most of his films, Bruce is initially reserved about using his vicious Jeet Kune Do moves against the bad guys, and his less skilled friend does the majority of the fighting in the first half of the movie. But when Bruce is pushed to the edge.....you had better watch out.
   
   My only disappointment is that the majority of Lee's opponents are chinese kung fu fighters and he never faces anyone using Thailand's own martial art, Muy Thai kickboxing. Thai and Chinese racial relations have never been the warmest so the film production was beset with problems. However, anyone wanting to examine the film career of the amazing Bruce Lee is sure to check out the Fists of Fury.



2. Bruce Lee (The Chinese Connection, Game Of Death) plays Cheng, who goes to work at a Ice Packing plant and winds up finding out that there is drugs within the ice itself. Soon, after he becomes the foreman, his relatives go disappearing and he finds out the factory's owners are behind it. So, Lee takes on the vicious Bangkok drug ring vowing to his Mom that he would never use his pyhsical powers again but in this time of crisis, Lee breaks the oath in order to put an end to this once and for all. Classic, classic..and a masterpiece of it's time, Fists Of Fury doesnt start off with Lee in kung fu action, he's laid back until it's time and when ever in this movie he is kicked or flying around....escpecially the last couple of fights within the ice factory and the end fight where Lee waltzs up to the factory's head honcho eating some sort of bread, Lee leaves a sting of a prescene that echoes to this day. All hail Lee, for he is The Legend.



3. "Fist of Fury" is a good movie. This is Bruce Lee (starring as Cheng Chao-an) first debut as a fully fledged martial arts star. This is not his best film but it helped to propel him into the super-hero and legend status that he is today and will ever be. He also popularized martial arts worldwide.
   
   The movie is a bit slow at the beginning when Bruce Lee moves from his town to run away from fights and other problems and goes to a small town to live with his cousins. He promises his mother that he will never fight, which is a hard promise to keep in the environment he is living. For example, on his way to his new home, he witnesses a young lady and a kid being harassed and bullied but does not take an active part in the ensuing fight.
   
   Cheng gets a job at a local ice factory. Cheng finds out that the factory is just a front for making drugs. His friends start disappearing mysteriously without trace. The pace of the film picks up when Cheng and his colleagues start investigations into the disappearance of their friends. Fighting erupts and Cheng demonstrates his exceptional martial arts skills.
   
   Among my most memorable scenes includes when Bruce Lee fights the gangsters in the ice factory after someone cuts him and he joins the fight. When he starts to participate in the fight, the end is brief as the gangsters cannot match his outstanding performance. Also the grand finale is when Bruce Lee takes the fight to the Big Boss. The viewer is treated to some remarkable and breathtaking display of martial arts fighting in an open courtyard. Cheng has to fight some fierce dogs and ruthless gangsters and finally the Big Boss himself.
   
   This is a good movie that is well worth watching.



4. This product was brand new and the picture and sound quality was clear and easy to understand and I look forward to do more business in the future with you and once again, thanks for a job well done and keep up the good work.



5. With charisma to burn Bruce Lee set the Martial Arts film on its ear and forever changed them for the better.
   As a young man working at an ice factory that is a front for drug dealing Lee adds his considerable mastery of martial arts and a very good acting ability and lifts this slight story well above average. With graceful moves and almost poetic fight scenes, this let the world know that Bruce Lee was here and here to stay. I have often thought that if he and Sam Peckinpah would have worked together they might have made a true masterpiece. Low budget to be sure,but it's Lee who fills the screen and demands you to over look the small budget and see the grace of his movement. Not his best, but darn close!

5 comments about The Cat - Gogen Yamaguchi, 10th Dan.

1. I have been searching for a dvd with all of the Goju Ryu kata on it so that I could learn and practice them and this dvd not only has them all on it but many of them are done by Gogen Yamaguchi himself. I couldn't be more excited about this dvd. It is amazing.



2. The DVD contains everything that the editorial review promises but in really poor quality. The DVD disc is a DVD-R that the manufacturer reproduced very cheaply and although the cover says that it is digitally remastered, the quality of the DVD is really quite appalling, being very amateurish and in some parts, simply not watchable. Although the content will make me watch it again, I'm really disappointed that I've had to pay so much for something of such poor quality.



3. Gogen Yamaguchi video contains only shadows moving in the dark!
   No resolution, no contrast...looking at the same video on internet is much much better! I bought a DVD!!!!!!!!
   Completely dissatisfied!!



4. A truly awesome dvd. It is an incredible honor to be able to watch Yamaguchi perform. I highly recommend this rare historical video.



5. I am a Goju practiotner x 2o years. I believe this video does offer historic footage of Gogen Yamaguchi and you can see him personally perform many of the katas on the Goju Kai curriculum. It is inspiring to see him enter the waterfall too. At the end is footage from the funeral where Sanchin is performed by the group. Also 3 karateka perform Seipai, Suparinpei and Kururunfa simultaneously. The cameraman focuses mostly on the Seipai kata performer. Lastly, Goshi Yamaguchi performs Hakatsuru Kata (I believe this may also be known as the Master's Kata Genkaku). Do not confuse with Shotokan's Gankaku. Unfortunately the quality here is very poor. The narration by Mr Alexander is informative. The content is fantastic. The quality should be a little better. A probably must have for one in the Japanese Goju lineage. There is a paradoxical lack of any published footage from Gogen Yamaguchi after this 1960's reel from one of his training camps. Osu!

5 comments about Real Bout High School - Enter the Samurai Girl (Vol. 1).

1. SAVE YUR MONEY!!! from the description i thought it sounded like a good story and anime to watch but geez what a waste of money. i have the whole series collection and i had to force myself to keep watching after the first episode in order to give it a fair chance. i kept hoping it would get better but it didnt! i watched 2 and a half episodes and shut it off. the anime isnt that good, the dialogue is horrible, the story is silly but in a dumb/stupid way not in a cute funny way. it comes off as very kiddish and NOt entertaining but i can't even pass it off to my little cousins to watch it because it depicts the female characters in such a how do u say derogatory manner? they show the high school girls wearing the skimpiest hoochiest clothes for no reason... oh what a dissapointment!



2. Although I think that the story behind it is a good idea, I also think they could have done it better. At times (which is almost everytime they show Ryoko) the whole "I'm a samurai" thing can be overdone, and, most times, irritatingly annoying. The series has great potential but they just barely missed pulling it off.



3. Ok, so I bought the box set because I loved the manga, and I guess because of how great the original manga was, I set my expectations too high. The series really started with a bang, and the animation for the fight scenes were way too cool; however, as the series continued some of the episodes had really slack animation. I mean it wasn't horrible, but it wasn't the greatest. Naturally I watched the whole thing and the animation almost returned to its previous glory toward the end. I tried to keep in mind how old the series was, and maybe I watch too much Anime.
   
   There is however another interesting point I must bring up, and that's the time setting that the show takes. It seems to be after, and yet at the same time, that the manga took place, which may be kind of confusing for anyone who read the manga. I really can't give any examples without spoiling either the manga or the anime so I won't. Just take my word for it. And then there's the awkward and abrupt ending. I was kind of disappointed.
   
   Finally I'll say this; all in all, the show is good enough not to be bad, but not great enough to keep you on the edge of your seat. Three stars are what I'll give it. I've seen much worse shows, and at the same time I've seen much better. If you ask me you should spent your forty dollars on the first four issues of the manga being published by TokyoPop. I promise the manga won't disappoint you, as for this box set, I give no guarantees.



4. Visually, the series is beautiful; furthermore, the show features excellent vocal performances (The ever-versatile Satsuki Yukino reinvents herself again to play the main character's romantic rival, Azumi...Sempai)and is strong in the department of character development. I was already a fan of the manga (And I feel the manga features stronger storytelling than the anime.), but I feel I learned additional information about the characters by watching the program. The series is also entertaining on a more subtle level, as it relentlessly mocks (Or homages) conventions such as the "Magical Girl" genre of anime and manga, fighting games, samurai cinema, and other fighting series; Nagumo and Gates, the two rival characters new to the series, are extremely reminiscent of characters from such series as "Fist of the North Star"; the trio of villains our heroes encounter in the midpoint of the series, alternately, remind me of "Yu Yu Hakusho" characters. There's even a girl dressed like certain characters from Tenchi Muyo, as well as villains at the end which seem somewhere between Raxzehphon and Evangelion entities. These references are pretty entertaining, since the show isn't built around them, but rather character development and striking visuals.
   
   At first, I didn't "get" the fact many of the character designs created for the anime were supposed to resemble designs from other anime series, and wrote them off as unoriginal. But my attributions of unoriginality nagged at me, because the rest of the visuals in the series were so well-crafted. So the "uninspired" designs are really very funny once one realizes they're *supposed* to be that way. ^_^
   
   The slight redesigns of the manga characers appeal to me, though I will warn they've been slightly cutified. The Demon Beasts Ryoko has to fight unfortunately lack interesting designs, one of the series' visual shortfallings; Studio Gonzo does remarkable work in many departments, but I sometimes find that, as a trend, their creature designs are a bit run-of-the-mill.
   
   Furthermore, although developing the characters well, in terms of plot development, however, the series inadequately explains background on the conflict between the characters Nagumo and Gates, as well as the connections amongst Nagumo, Hitomi and Reiha which would help viewers enjoy the program better.
   
   However, I felt Nagumo's "true conflict" which is revealed in the final episode, while somewhat anticlimatic (In not involving a slugfest) was very interesting because it added a philosophical bent to the series; it reminds me of the (Oft-maligned) resolution of another show from the fighting girl genre, Ikki Tousen, in that it centers on defeating fate.
   
   In terms of DVD content, the extras are neat. There are the art galleries almost standard to anime DVDs, but in addition, a number of segments which introduce you to the Japanese voice actresses who portray Ryoko and Miyuki. I enjoyed these segments because they added a human touch to my viewing of the series.
   
   All-in-all, I'd recommend reading the manga first, not because it's necessary to understand the series, but because it's a better story. But if you read and enjoyed the manga, the series is well-worth watching, given you can get a good deal on it.



5. It's a really good yet short anime series. It kept me entertained with the humor Daisaku provided. Joshua Seth was good as Daisaku's part and David Lucas kept Shizuma's character, like in the japanese version. It may be 13 episodes long but I still like it.

4 comments about Pride FC - Beasts From the East.

1. The fights may not be in this order on the DVD. Fairly short card and missing some of the bigger names, although Akira Shoji rarely has a bad fight, the same for for Daijiro Matsui

   Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs Mark Coleman
   Don Frye vs Gilbert Yvel
   Semmy Schilt vs Akira Shoji
   Ricardo Arona vs Guy Mezger
   Murilo Rua vs Daijiro Matsui
   Assuerio Silva vs Yoshihisa Yamamoto
   Gary Goodridge vs Yoshiaki Yatsu




2. Here's the short breakdown:
   Yatsu vs. Goodridge: match could have gone longer but Yatsu was no match.
   Silva vs. Yamamoto: match is a dud. Yamamoto was done before being KO'd
   Rua vs. Matsui: one of the better yet more brutal match in the card, Matsui did all he could but still lost at the end.
   Arona vs. Mezger: best match in the card, both men gave it all.
   Schilt vs. Shoji: Goliath (Schilt) slayed David (Shoji), that's all I can say.
   Frye vs. Yvel: Good match, could be better if Yvel stopped acted like a whiner and breaking the rules and Frye was healthy the whole time.
   Coleman vs. Nogueira: tough match and Nogueira was better than Coleman on that day.
   Overall, it's a good show and the opening scene was very emotional (held shortly after 9/11), but the flaw was that the first two match were too short.



3. after reading some of the other reviews on the video i was shocked by the ignorance of the reviewers. aLTOUGH THIS is not the most exciting event that i've seen i can't think of a single boring fight. yes some of the fights were mismatches; but they were still exciting. THAT SAid i view the last four fights as being worth the price of the whole event. The mezger vs. arona fight was definately good and the victory was given to the wrong fighter. the frye vs. yvel was likewise exciting with yvel trying to knock frye's head off his shoulders and frye constantly trying to bring him down. The last fight: coleman vs. nog is probably the best fight on the dvd,altough relatively one sided it did foreshadow the years to come.



4. This tape is historic in that it shows the torch being passed from Mark Coleman to Antonio Minotauro Nogueira for the title of world's toughest man. True to form, Nogueira excels with submission holds working on his back. That didn't work for him against Fedor Emelianenko years later, when Fedor became the world's toughest man.
   
   It's a shame that there really is no world championship, that the UFC champ never fights the Pride champ. It's like in boxing when the WBC, WBA and IBF just never get together to decide the true champ. But I think the fans in the know realize that Pride FC is the American League, and the UFC is only the National League.
   
   The Mezger-Arona fight is a good one, though both fighters are gassed long before the end. If Mezger didn't run out of gas and basically forfeit the entire third round, he would have won the decision. As it was, he nearly won it anyway, and I thought he should have. But in retrospect I wasn't nearly as sure of that as the announcers were. You don't completely give up the third round of a three round fight and expect to get the decision. Mezger was a more dangerous and dominant fighter, but when there's nothing left in the tank, what are you gonna do?
   
   Semmy Schilt vs. Akira Shoji was a mismatch. Schilt was originally supposed to fight someone more his size, and so was Shoji, but injuries to the other two competitors led to these two being paired against each other. Schilt is a good striker with those knees and fists, and he is a giant compared to the roly poly Shoji. This is not the way matchmakers work.
   
   Don Frye returned to MMA years after his successes as world champ of the UFC. His opponent here is Yvel. Or is that Evil? Yvel messed up Frye's eyes with his thumbs, and the referee was on it and eventually disqualified Yvel, who also had his hands and arms grasping the ropes illegally to try to avoid the takedown. Yvel is a great standup fighter but Frye is better on the ground, so Yvel did what he could to fight his fight.
   
   In the pre-fight interview, Yvel predicted that Frye would be a coward and try to take the fight to the ground rather than stand with the self-proclaimed best standup fighter in the world. Assuming that Yvel is correct and is the best standup fighter in the world, I don't think that "coward" is the right word to use for someone who would try to take him down. I think "moron" would be the word for someone who didn't try to take him down.
   
   Goodridge, A. Silva, and Ninja show their stuff. It's a pretty good fight card. My favorite moment comes during one of the interviews when our friend Bas stuffs the microphone into Don Frye's nose on purpose. That's funny.

1 comments about Turbo Jam Ab Jam.

1. I love Chalene! Her Ab Jam uses your abs in an unique way. It isn't just standard crunches. I thought my abs were pretty strong, but there are some exercises on the tape I still can't finish all the way through. I was pretty sore for a couple of days after using this routine for the first time. I was sore in places my other ab routines don't hit. I would recommend this to anyone.

No comments about Philippine Fighting Arts by Julius Melegrito Vol. 3: Knife Tactics and Applications.