Masters of Heaven and Earth

Product Description ------------------- Explore the most mysterious martial art of all ... Tai Chi Chuan. The Supreme Ultimate. The Heaven and Earth. Come with us to meet the best Tai Chi masters in China and gain a deeper understanding of Yang style, Chen style and Wudang ain Tai Chi Chuan. With the backdrop of the Forbidden City, Chen Village and the peaks of Wudang, this is not the Tai chi you see everyday in your local park! This is real Tai Chi Chuan. While the world pummeled each other with fists and iron, China discovered a new way to fight. Not with strength but with softness. Not with speed but with slowness. Culled from the ancient texts of The Tao or Book of Changes, this internal fighting art became a way to live one s life in accordance with the principles of nature. We start this exploration with a small park at the Forbidden City in Beijing. But this is no ordinary scene. Yang style Tai chi has been taught in this same location by the same family of Tai chi masters for over one hundred years. Today we meet the 5th generation descendent, Master Cui Zhongsan one of the worlds top Yang style masters. Visit the small remote Chen village, the birthplace of Tai Chi and learn the history of Tai Chi with the Chen family. It was here that Yang style was born through Chen student Yang Luchan. Travel to Tai Chi Chuan s spiritual home, Wudang ain and learn how Taoism and Yin and Yang formed the foundation of this internal martial art. This is Tai Chi in its authentic natural setting at the origin. You will learn about the history of Tai Chi Chuan and how the three main styles developed. Understand the internal principles of Chi or life-force from master Zhong Yun Long, Wudang s most important and knowledgeable Tai Chi master who now lives in seclusion. His students have taken over his teaching and provide us with some beautiful scenes of martial arts including baguazhang and Wudangquan. Witness breathtaking demonstrations by Chen Xiaowang at the Yellow river and master Yuan and master Chen at Wudang ain. Masters of Heaven and Earth is packed with interviews and demonstration featuring Master Cui Zhongsan (Beijing), Chen Xiaowang and Chen Xiaoxing (Chen Village) and Priest Zhong Yun Long and Master Yuan (Wudang ain. Review ------ The photography and filming is beautiful, as expected from filmmaker Jon Braeley who is a wonderful documentarian, and I love his subject matter many of his movies that explore Consciousness and the Mind/Body connection from disciplines around the world. The opening of the movie features a master teacher a 9th generation Tai Chi Master who shares his linage and the styles tweaked by his ancestors. The art is passed along from generation to generation inside one China village from master to student, and taught by members of the Chen family. The movie really starts to move and become interesting when we see him teach his students, and demonstrate the details that differentiate a student and master small details, but powerful when demonstrated with the master s Chi. The opening is gorgeous, with Chen Xiaowang practicing by the Yellow river , one of my favorite parts of the movie as we watch him practice the movements and forms. The ending of the movie is the best, with a mystical feeling from Wudang ains and incredible Tai Chi masters doing practice in a cave with monkeys and the invisible Spirits watching. Tai Chi is more than moving meditation, or self defense, or a martial art. Tai Chi is a practice of The Tao, a way of life, an art, and this movie gives a glimpse into the world of the masters, of what they strive to attain. There is a sadness as we can see what they (and some foreigners) are giving up to learn the art, although they never give a sense they feel any sadness or regret. If you love the connection with Mind/Body/Spirit, or you are learning Tai Chi, you ll love this movie. As a new student of Tai Chi and Qigong, I m looking for ways to help me understand the complex styles and Spiritual teaching behind Tai Chi. The question, how does Tai Chi integrate the link between body/mind and the subtle with hard and soft movements as in Chen style. I could have spent the afternoon practicing, but watching Masters of Heaven and Earth on a cold January day isn t a bad way to go either, so I settled back and rented this movie online and watched it in a couple of sittings. --Talking Purposes Magazine P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); About the Actor --------------- Featuring: Master Cui Zhongsan (Yang style). Chen Xiaowang (Chen style). Chen Xiaoxing (Chen style). Priest Zhong Yun Long (Wudang). Master Yuan (Wudang). Master Chen Xiangwen (Wudang). And many more... About the Director ------------------ Director Jon Braeley of Empty Mind Films, has over twenty years experience travelling in China and Japan filming and documenting the martial arts. A winner of International Film Festivals and recipient of numerous awards, he has established his reputation as a major filmmaker of the Asian genre. He is determined to bring to your screen, today's top masters of the martial arts. He neither sensationalizes or exaggerates but focuses on the traditional ways of practice and daily life of the masters. In this respect, Jon Braeley is regarded by many of the founders, teachers and instructors of the martial arts, as someone they can trust. His reputation has been earned over many years of hard work to depict a subject that has been at the center of his life. See more ( javascript:void(0) )

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