5 comments about Discovering Chi: Energy Exercises for the Beginner.

1. When I first watched the DVD I didn't like it too much. It was shot in a studio and it looks just like a Chi Gong class in any gym. It is not the best audiovisual product. I also have the other 3 DVDs of the series and they're shot outside and are a lot more appealling.
   
   However, Linda is a very special communicator; she gets to you. She is obviously an expert in Chi Gong but she gives you only the right amount of information as you do the exercises. I've been working with the 1st DVD for over a month and I've already noticed improvement in my flexibility (my back hasn't bothered me once) and my general mood.
   
   As you work out through the exercises you're being told that one exercise is good for your digestion, or this other one is good to help you keep focused, etc. Once you've listened to the instructions enough you can do the routine with only music.
   
   I'm looking forward to being ready to move the 2nd DVD. I've watched but it looks more difficult. Since my patience has improved from doing Linda's routine, I'm gonna wait till I'm really ready to progress.



2. My 2002 VHS Review (more reviews at the VHS version):
   I bought this & didn't touch it for several months. I did finally when I had a major migraine complete w/stomach pain, etc. By the time I was done, unbelievably, I was fine. No symptoms & I felt great other then a little tired from normal exercise. Even though all this, I still did not use it again until I was very dizzy from a flu. Again, I was cured of the dizziness, but of course not the flu. I didn't expect a total miracle. I continued to use it during my flu & I feel more energized/better each time. It was hard to at first to complete the warm-up and the 8 moves, but it's worth it. Definitely don't stop after starting the moves. Returning the Chi is VERY important or you'll feel tired still. Feel free to take small breaks in between if need to. I'm going to buy all her other ones since this has worked so well. I am always so calm & energized afterwards.
   
   Though the only menu options is English or Mandarin, the sound is done in 5.1 digital. I have continued to use it whenever I don't feel well & have added to my Qi Gong library. This one is one of the least boring & has the most information on it in terms of what organs it works on, the benefits & especially she is the greatest in teaching about every detail on how to stand, where to place your hands, etc.
   The first part is her doing the Qi Gong movements alone w/her voice over key points only (as a quicker workout & less chatty review after you've mastered the teaching detailed portion) for 26 min w/soothing background music that is used throughout the dvd.
   The warm-up is next for about 15 min, done in a studio with about 10 students male & female 20s-40s different races. It has light stretching of the neck, waist, knees & ankles, it works on the heart, lungs, nervous system, digestive, etc. The camera is on her 7/8 of the time, focusing on whatever body part she is explaining, so don't worry that you'll be lost.
   Next is her teaching the students the 8 Qi Gong movements for 37 min w/plenty of info of foot placement, what organs/body systems each movement works on, how Chinese Medicine explains why it helps, etc. They are simple movements that almost anyone can do & if you're wheel bound, you can just do the best you can. In Energy Medicine, just the intention of thought helps to heal almost as much as actually doing it. If you rarely exercise or out of shape like I used to be, take breaks. If you're in good shape, this will be easy, but you'll still feel the stretch, but never boring.
   For anyone who bores easily, this & Qi Gong Practice for Beginners is one of the more faster hand/leg movements to keep your mind wandering.
   I notice the more healing I get from a Qi Gong video, the harder it gets as I go. I feel a heavy resistance like as if I'm exhausted, but I'm not. This one as well as Dr. Yang, Jwing-Mings, & "Chi Kung: The Healing Workout" w/Jerry Alan Johnson I felt the most healing w/Gaiam's QiGong w/Francesco + Daisy Lee Garripoli right after. "Qigong-Guide to Well Being" is a dvd I tried, was very short & only has SOME of the warm up exercises here.
   
   The DVD is in English & in Chinese language choices, just make the choice at the main screen.
   On Amazon's page for Discovering Chi's 4 pack DVD set comments, Linda Modero personally wrote she contacted the production crew & they promised that all the future DVDs will have better menu choices & soon more language choices. She even will replace the DVD of anyone's that didn't have chapter choices. Email her at lindamodaro AT earthlink net



3. I am 71 and a beginner. I think the lessons are very good, but I would like to see the warmup exercises at the beginning of the tape. The DVD is rather hard to navigate....so I have to wait until the tape gets to the warm up....or fast forward and hope I stop at the right place. Rather a pain....but the exerise is very good once you get to where you want to be.
   Lyndell



4. My DVD arrived promptly and when I placed it in my DVD player the language was chinese!!!!! Not only can I not read how to get to the different sections, once I accidently do get to a section, I can't understand what is being said. Somewhere it should say in the product information that this is not in English. I can follow the actions on the video but knowing the language would be helpful.



5. The information in this DVD is excellent. A great place to start researching and practicing qigong. Linda Modaro is an excellent instructor and demonstrator. A complete set of exercises for someone at any level.
   
   However, the DVD is a direct copy of the VHS tape with the minor addition of language selection. The whole DVD is one long run just like the tape it was copied from. There is no menu to allow the viewer to select an exercise to view, no links to each exercise to allow for easy study.
   
   In my opinion, this is a ridiculous waste of technical potential. A straight copy to DVD was a criminally lazy thing to do. It could not have been that difficult to add a convenient menu to allow the viewer to easily navigate this DVD. They got only three stars from me because they made this difficult to use.
   
   If you want a very good set of qigong exercises, this is it. But expect to wade through a lot of things you don't want to see as you are learning the exercises. Expect to endure a tedious search if you wish to review how to do a specific exercise. DVDs are no longer new technology. Even in China the producers should have known better and done better.

No comments about Rica 2: Lonely Wanderer.

1 comments about Shaw Brothers: Shadow Whip Special Edition.

1. If you are not careful, you may overdose from all the whip action. The movie is only 80 minutes long, but you will definitely get your fill. The whip action is good, and the sword fighting is WAY ahead of it's time. Yueh Wah is known for being a good actor, and is also known to handle a sword pretty well. He is on fire in this movie giving one of his very best performances. The story is not bad, but not really worth going over. Cheng Pei-Pei is a young woman who finds out her uncle has a secret. Yueh Wah's character is looking to kill him because of this secret. Now we are left to wonder for a while whether or not he is guilty of the crime he is being accused of. Ku Feng also stars, and if you are a fan of Shaw Brothers movies, I am sure you know what kind of character he plays. Ku feng was wonderful even late in his career, and it is a treat to see him in his physical prime.
   
   While a lot of Shaw movies are known as being confusing and boring, 'The Shadow Whip' is neither. The action is definitely the highlight, and there is plenty of it. Pei-Pei looks great using her whip, and Tien Feng looks better than I could have ever expected. Tien Feng is the guy who plays Bruce Lee's master in The Chinese Connection and plays Jackie Chan's master in The Young Master. Yueh Wah sticks with his sword and kills a lot of people. 2 of the action scenes go on for about 10 minutes. The undercranking is a tad excessive and not used to great effect, but you will not find a lot of movies from 1971 or earlier that have better fight choreography than this.
   
   3.5/5
   
   Picture quality is just about perfect, and the mono Mandarin audio sounds very good. The 5.1 mix is not so good. Mono is definitely the way to go. And the subtitles are very well written.
   
   Special features include a behind the scenes stills gallery and 24 trailers. If you want to see a proper Shaw Brothers release, be sure to check out the movies Dragon Dynasty are releasing. Image's Shaw trailers are horrible, while Dragon Dynasty has a bunch of rare ORIGINAL Shaw trailers on all of their first 4 releases (including 'Buddha's Palm', 'Invincible Fist', 'Shaolin Mantis' and 'Blood Brothers').
   
   Image has released nearly all of their Shaw library now (they only have like 25 titles), and I enjoy their DVDs. Great picture quality, and not very many problems to speak of. It sure beats the bootlegs.

1 comments about Kyokushinkai Karate Complete!.

1. Very good display of Kata, including showing an above view, would recommend to anyone starting out.
   My only reason for dropping a star would be the sound quality, the drumming was at sometimes quite annoying

2 comments about Wing Chun: The Complete Series.

1. First let's be real, this is a television drama so the pace is very slow. Out of say 1600 minutes of film is practically only 120 minutes of fighting scaterred throughout. That said it is truly a Martial Arts Movie Collector's must-have if only to see Gordon Liu perform the rarely seen Dragon Fist portion of Hung Ga. But rest assured that's not all! The combat version of Pa Gua Chuan is on display here as well as the title's Yong Chun (Wing Chun). Sammo Hung's son Sammy does an excellent job both acing and fighting. Now, for the other drawback. The subtitles are really quite bad. First if there are more than 2 lines written the yellow type gets lost in the picture. Second the translation of the honorary titles are just flat wrong in many places where "teacher" and "master" are translated as "Mr." and even in some places "Dr." Third, while I don't speak Cantonese, this leads me to suspect that so much of what is being said is also either wrongly or badly translated. Enough so that Tai Seng should issue an apology to the producers of the series. I understand that translators have to decide whether or not to translate the words or the meaning of what is being said but even my poor understanding of Cantonese caught some flat wrong translations in dialog. Yet for the eyes this is still going to be one of my "strongly reccommended" movies.



2. Good series and filmed well. My reason for giving 3 stars instead of 5 are:
   
   Though title is Wing Chun, the series only contains about 25%, maybe even less, directly realted to Wing Chun or Martial Arts in general. The rest is like a soap opera drama. Though interesting series, if you are expecting all Martial Arts this is not for you.
   
   Also, it is too long. Just goes on and on and on. They could have condensed this series into about half the length and it would have been much better.
   
   
   Good sets and takes you back in time to 1920s China, though how historically accurate I do not know.
   
   Again, would be a great series to watch if it was much shorter in length.

1 comments about HDNet Fights: Fedor Returns.

1. This is a so so event that will really only appeal to Pride fans. Aside from a couple of names that American die hard MMA fans will recognize, it is a fairly lackluster card. Officially called Yarennoka - New Years Eve 2007, this event takes place in Japan on New Yorks Eve. An 8 fight card that is anchored by the freak show main event and only drawing power of the card. Pride always had a freakshow event, which was fine since the rest of the card was so strong with Shogun, Wand, Mirko, etc. This card however just has the Fedor fight along with an old Murilo Bustamante and a lackluster Gilbert Melendez. I also didn't like that they used the Pride ring and time keeping and scoring, but they took away the stomps, soccer kicks and downed knees. It was nice to see Fedor, but outside of that, this card doesn't offer much.

1 comments about Martial Arts Collection 9 Movie Pack.

1. ST. CLAIR DVD multi-packs are reasonably priced, and offer decent quality video/audio transfers of unrestored public domain material. Discs are single-side recorded, plastic storage cases fairly sturdy, movie liner notes appear on box's back cover and most DVDs include bonus items.
   
   Source material for the MARTIAL ARTS COLLECTION 9 Movie Pack is less than ideal. Washed-out colors, grainy transfers and dubs from well-used tape are too apparent.
   
   HIGHLIGHTS:
   
   THE CHINESE CONNECTION-- Two words: Bruce Lee. Young man seeks revenge on a Japanese gang for the death of his teacher.
   
   DRAGON PRINCESS-- Daughter returns to Japan from America to avenge the crippling of her Karate Master father (played by Sonny Chiba in a supporting role).
   
   MILITANT EAGLE-- Ancient warlord illegally taxes the people and uses violent enforcers on those who refuse to pay. Four of his victims join forces to battle their corrupt oppressor.
   
   SAMURAI REINCARNATION-- The beheaded leader of a failed 17th Century Christian revolt resurrects as a demon and leads a group of reincarnated ninjas in a fight for vengeance.
   
   SNAKE AND CRANE SECRET-- A family's honor is at stake and their sacred Kung Fu book is in danger of being taken from them by the man who killed their patriarch two decades earlier.
   
   
   NINJA ASSASSINS 10 Movie Pack (from MCE) is an ideal companion to this collection. Featuring Jackie Chan, Lee Van Cleef and Sho Kosugi, it contains ten completely different Kung Fu films.
   
   .
   Parenthetical numbers preceding titles are 1 to 10 viewer poll ratings found at a film resource website.
   
   DISC ONE--
   (6.9) The Chinese Connection (Hong Kong-1972) - Bruce Lee/Nora Miao/James Tien/Robert Baker
   (5.6) Kung Fu: The Punch of Death (Hong Kong-1973) - Fei Meng/Yasuaki Kurata/Lam Lam Lee
   (5.0) Dragon Princess (Japan-1981) - Sonny Chiba/Etsuko Shihomi/Yasuaki Kurata
   
   BONUS:
   Martial Arts Cinema
   
   
   DISC TWO--
   (6.3) Samurai Reincarnation (Japan-1981) - Sonny Chiba/Kenji Sawada/Akiko Kana
   (5.6) Snake and Crane Secret (Hong Kong-1976) - Fei Meng/Tao-liang Tan/Dean Shek/Fang Fang
   (6.4) Duel of the Iron Fist (Hong Kong-1971) - David Chiang/Ti Lung/Ku Feng/Ping Wang
   
   BONUS:
   Trivia Quiz
   
   
   DISC THREE--
   (6.2) Legend of the Eight Samurai (Japan-1983) - Sonny Chiba/Hiroko Yakushimaru/Hiroyuki Sanada
   (6.7) Militant Eagle (Hong Kong/Taiwan-1978) - Ying Bai/Fei Meng/Nancy Yen/Ping Lu
   (4.7) Dragon Lee vs. Five Brothers (Hong Kong-1978) - Dragon Lee/Chui Man Fooi/Qiu Yuen
   
   BONUS:
   The Yin and Yang of Action Cinema

5 comments about Magnificent Warriors.

1. Michelle Yeoh stars in this 1980s-style Hong Kong action flick. If you are looking for a great story, I would just rent it if I were you. But, if you like great kick-ass action and lots of stunts, I would recommend buying this movie. Trust me, I bought it myself. I thought I would be disappointed, but fortunately it wasn't bad at all. "Magnificent Warriors" includes great choreographed action, awesome stunts, and most importantly, Michelle Yeoh...man, she can whoop some ass. This movie, as well as "Yes, Madam" is what started the great Hong Kong female-fatale era.

   To keep this review short, if you like to watch 1980s Hong Kong movies with well-choreographed fighting design, get this movie right away. Warning: if you're looking for a Michelle Yeoh action movie with great story, ignore it, and get "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" instead




2. this is a great movie, a ton of action and humor. this is dubbed in english. just a fun movie.



3. Possibly no female action heroine has come closer to achieving Bruce Lee status than Michelle Yeoh. And this is inronic, since she never had any martial arts training until she began her movie career. Almost nobody trained in martial arts specifically for one movie goes on to make more, much less achieve the status of martial arts star, but Michelle Yeoh is a pioneer in that respect. This 1987 World War II adventure makes Michelle into a female Indiana Jones (complete with the whip) who, unlike Indiana Jones himself, is blessed with cute-as-a-button-ness
   The baby-faced Michelle plays Fok Ming-Ming, a Chinese pilot/mercenary. She is recruited by the Chinese to head to Northern China to locate Agent 001 (Derek Yee). She must transport the humorous Youda (Lowell Lo), the ruler of Kaal, back to Sourthen China. The Japanese army led by General Toga (Matsui Tesuya), are trying to softne up Youda to Imperealist Japan, hiding the fact that they intend to use Kaal as a site for a new poison gas factory. Ming and Agent 001 agree to help fight off the Japanese invaders, leading to many black-eyes, both Chinese and Japanese.
   
   It's nice to see a Hong Kong movie without much wire-work that still manages to impress with the choreography, and the incredible inpact of landing blows. In her interview on the DVD, Michelle describes the experience of making MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS as having been "possibly the one time when I said I would never do another action film." No surprising, considering that the original three-week shooting schedule in Taiwan extended to three months, and the filmmakers also had to endure a huge earthquake while working. Michelle remembers MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS not as a fun movie experience, but "very challenging."
   
   But what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and Michelee has made one hell of a kung fu/World War II movie that helped pave the way for her many subsequent roles. And having Tae Kwon Do legend Hwang jang-lee in with you is always a major plus, but his fight with Michelle is probebly the best one he's put out since battling Jackie Chan in DRUNKEN MASTER.
   
   There are many magnificent wariors in the Hong Kong movie industry, and MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS proved Michelle, even in her youth and rookie-ness in martial arts movies, to be one of them.



4. There's an interview (in English) with MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS star Michelle Yeoh on the 20th Century Fox dvd. Not having seen the James Bond flick `Tomorrow Never Dies,' or a Hong Kong action flick, I watched this movie unfamiliar with the star or the genre she was working in. What the heck, though - it's a war movie, so I figured there'd be something familiar to latch onto. The most welcome thing I heard on the interview was Yeoh's recognition that action is closely related to dance (Yeoh has ballet in her background,) a truth she learned when making this movie. If this is a typical example of Hong Kong action movies it seems she's not the only person in that industry who realizes there's a vital rhythm to be achieved when cutting an action sequence.
   
   MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS was made in 1987, and Yeoh's character seems modeled on Indiana Jones. She wears a leather jacket, wields a nasty bull-whip, and hops around China in a canary yellow bi-plane. Yeoh's character is a soldier of fortune who is hired to travel deep into Mongolia and pluck a local governor with valuable information from the clutches of the evil, occupying Japanese. Naturally there are bad guys around every corner, impossibly acrobatic and tenacious bad guys, who must be battled into submission. The action is non-stop, the fight choreography extremely impressive, and the plot sturdily serviceable. The Japanese want to build a poison gas factory in the region, and in the meantime they're amusing themselves by testing the lethal toxin on defenseless locals. There are a couple of thousand Japanese troops around the city, impossible odds under normal circumstances, but more or less even odds when Michelle and crew start cracking the whip. As in the western action flicks I'm familiar with, the day extras break like matchsticks when Michelle's fists (and feet) start flying. Others - the bad guys with lines of dialogues and names listed in the end credits, are a little - okay, a lot - harder to take down. They're as tough as shoe leather and resilient as graphite, able to withstand a flurry of physical punishment that would leave a bull water buffalo whimpering for mercy.
   
   Bottom line - MAGNIFICENT WARRIORS is a fun action flick, heavy emphasis on the action, that takes for granted our female heroine will save her comrades without missing a beat or stopping to pat herself on the back. The core story may not be terribly complex, but it doesn't let you down, either. Strong recommendation for this one.



5. Now the movie startrs out showing michelle as a bodyguard for a warlord who is going to sell weapons. We find out right away it is going to be a slapstick movie so watch michelle yeoh slash her whip at anyone who comes close to her. If the story would have been a bit better, I easily would have gave this a 5. But when her father is in trouble and then we find out it was just a way to test michelle, I didn't care one bit. Stupid reason to put in some jawdropping martial arts is just fine with me. SO the ma's are good, but the stunts are on a whole nother level. Michelle will do some unbelievable maneuvers with her whip, and all of a sudden we realized that she wrapped somebody up and another hong kong stunt man dies. I mean how are they allowed to do this crazy stuff!!!!! I actually got a little scared for the stunt men when watchign this, but hey, it's all about the finished product, and there are certainly no dissapointments in this movie.
   
   So we find out that michelle has come to town to meet up with a couple of other secret agent to rescue lord Yoda. yeah, seriously. Now there is a commander who is playing Yoda like a puppet, but when you got guys like HWANG JANG LEE and LO MENG coverign your back, I would't be too scared of anyone finding out either. It took liek over an hour before Silevrfox fights, but when he does, man oh man. This is the newest movie(87 I think) I have ever seen Hwang in and his legs LOOK BETTER THAN EVER. In fact i actually saw a couple of REALLY scared looks on Michelle when she ahd to fight with with. You can see him actually slowign down at some points because nto only michelle, but NOBODY could ever keep up with his kicks. I figured he would only have like a couple minutes of fight time, but I got WAY more than I bargained for. Unfortuantely Lo Meng doesn't really fight.
   
   So I HIGHLY recommend this hong kong action/kung fu movie. And remember in the aviator when howard hughes wanted to go where there is clouds to shoot so he can show how fast the planes are going? Well, in hong kong cinema, you just speed up the filming:)
   
   Now the dvd release itself EASILY gets a 5/5. IT HAS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH ACTION DIRECTOR STEVE TUNG WAI AND MICHELLE, AND THEY ACTUALLY TALK ABOUT THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5 comments about Treasure Hunt (Special Edition).

1. From the perspective of someone who has a much higher appreciation of CYF's action film history than CYF's romantic-comedy/drama history, this film is a winner. People are right when they accuse it of "genre hopping." One minute a bloody gunfight will lead into some corny cop jokes. Then some supernatural acts will lead into a love story which is then followed by quirky Asian comedy. Some might chafe at the thought of such a stew, but it does work.

   So, if you already have A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, Hard Boiled, City On Fire, Full Contact, City War, etc. and are looking to branch out into CYF's less-action more-light fare, this would be a great first stop. Also, check out CYF in Once A Thief, another film light on the bloodshed, but still interesting enough to own.




2. This movie isn't a perfect blend of action, comedy, drama and romance, but it still works despite it's slightly too uneven mix. (Thus, I actually give this four and a half stars, but the rating bar doesn't allow halves.)
   Chow Yun Fat is a gorgeously charismatic scene stealer whether being a killer, comedian or gushing romantic.



3. The versatile Chow Yun Fat once again shows that he's capable of delivering action, comedy and romance in one character. I was pleasantly suprpised at the extent to which this movie is entertaining. It is now a part of my collection.



4. The story is about a man which this new task is go to Shaolin to protect "Treasure" , he is also not known that what is the treasure that he need to protect.But after manythings happened he finally found that the thing that he really need to go to protect is his love , a girl whom has natural power,she is so kind and nice(led by Wu Chien Lien)since he had found for his real love in all of his life,that he didn't known before that his love is really in China in Shoulin,Wu Chien Lien's performance in this movie is so pure and natural,she can made the audience to believe in her, nice and kind could make the man can left the life that he were in US.to live with her in China,the romantic through this movie is so nice and really made me feel deeply romance in my heart.



5. The movie starts out pretty weird. There are a lot of things that are thrown at you pretty quickly. But, if you have ever seen a Jeffrey Lau movie before this mon't come as a surprise. Chow Yun-Fat is on a mission for the CIA and is told to stay at a Shaolin Temple. Being a huge kung fu fan I was more than happy to see Gordon Liu as one of the senior monks. So Chow doesn't really fit in but meets a girl who just happens to show up to Shaolin. Chien-lien Wu and Chow have amazing chemistry in this movie and with literally NO action other than a pole fight and a couple of quick shootouts, they had to fill a lot of screen time and they did very well.
   
   So Chow and the girl fall in love and we learn that the girl has supernatural powers.
   
   Phillip Kwok('5 Deadly Venoms', 'Hard-boiled' is the action choreographer and really doesn't get to do much in that department but does have a great role as a taxi driver you will love to hate. He is such a smartass that you can't help but like him. Out of nowhere he shows up at Shaolin and Gordon Liu says that the head abbot said for him not to come back. WHAT!?!?!?!!? Like I said, Jeffrey Lau directs this movie and it is all the better for it. Phillip Kwok doesn't appreciate Gordon talking down to him and challenges him to a fight. So this of course was the highlight of the movie for me but the relationshipo between Chien-lien Wu and Chow was almost as good. I would of liked more action and the finale wasn't spectacular what so ever but the movie still had a very good ending.
   
   The Mei Eh version of this movie is pretty good picture quality and the subttiles are pretty good.

2 comments about Shaolin Legend.

1. This is the true Shaolin Kung-Fu Spectacular! It's a much better DVD than Wheel of Life. No cheesy acting, or goofball mimics. Everything is real! The stunts, and the weapons. Great Booklet to go with it.



2. The production quality is very good, and the African beat music is also very good (even if it doesn't match the sloppy gymnastics by Chinese performers), but the circus tricks are poorly done, the acrobatics are sloppy, and their supposed kung fu is attrocious.