Ren Zai Jiong tu Tai Jiong

Claire Hooton's introduction to t'ai chi is easy to follow, well-thought through, and professionally produced–the perfect asset for any beginning student interested in using t'ai chi to improve his or her physical and spiritual well-being. While silver-haired Hooton is obviously a terrific example for older women viewers, the lessons she offers are accessible and valuable for everyone. She begins with a short interview-style lecture on the benefits of t'ai chi, an exercise that builds health, increases longevity, and "wakes up our sense of being a part of nature." Soon, viewers are taught the basic principles of posture, breathing, weight distribution, and the dynamic relaxation that gives the form its power. Finally, viewers are led through the first third of the Yang-style short form (the final 40 moves are on the next tape, The Method: T'ai Chi, Intermediate Level). Each movement in the form is a worthwhile exercise in its own right, and Hooton describes them simply and methodically. Sometimes her metaphors for the positions ("the bird's head throws the teabag out the window") seem a bit silly, but they're no less evocative than some of the traditional Chinese names ("Single Whip," "Repulse Monkeys"), and actually work well to make the moves easy to understand and remember. And, even more importantly, each movement is shown from the front first, and then repeated by two demonstrators from behind, making it very easy to follow along correctly. The detailed descriptions are a boon to beginners, and high-production values are a definite plus (especially the colored panels projected on the floor to clarify foot movements). But most helpful are Hooton's tips on visualizing the body to effortlessly tap the power of t'ai chi's gentle, dance-like movements.

Beautifilly filmed in widescreen black & white, Bakumatsu zankoku monogatari is known by sundry English titles. The subtitled 35 mm print I saw called it The Executioners but the current subtitled DVD Brutal Story at the End of the Tokugawa Shogunate comes closer to an accurate translation of the Japanese title. It's also known as Cruel Story of the Shogunate's Downfall or simply as A Cruel Story.
This is a tale of Shinsen-gumi, the anti-royalist samurai organization of Kyoto about whom many films have been made, & many histories & novels written, many manga & anime drawn. They rose in power just before the Meiji Restoration as the Tokugawa period was coming to a close, & their goal was to preserve the Tokugawa government at any cost.

The protagonist Chujiro, who possesses many attractive qualities, is a victim of unkind circumstances: his mother abandoned him as a child, so he had no choice but to live outside society. Even so, he grows up determined to reunite with her. Worried that she might be living in misery, he saves his money to help, only to find that she has married into wealth and social position and has no intention of seeing her outcast yakuza son…

This DVD is a good t'ai chi introduction. The two instructors demonstrate the form against a clear, uncluttered background and then repeat the various postures and motions slowly, with commentary, so that you can easily follow them while watching. It's presented in a friendly, common-sense way.

Chine, 19ème siècle, une guerre sans fin ravage le royaume. Sur le champs de bataille, un guerrier d’exception fait preuve d’une force sans limite. Mais ce don surhumain finira aussi par le tuer. Pour survivre, il devra se rendre là où tout a commencé et percer le secret d’une pratique ancestrale…

Un film de kung-fu dont l'action se déroule à Pékin et qui oppose deux éminents spécialistes de cette discipline…

The plot opens with the conventional formula. The hero (Tsuruta) comes out of prison, having served time through taking the blame for a fellow gang member's crime. However, his former gang boss seems to have gone to seed - another conventional development - with people now killing each other and dealing in drugs. The hero then teams up with a lone operator (Tamba) who specialises in shaking down gangsters. Together they trace an opium refinery in Kakone and face the evil gangsters in a gun-battle on the slopes of a steep mountain, providing the kind of rural setting for his urban yakuza that was Ishii's trademark.