Video Tai Chi

The best Tai Chi movies of all time

Circa 1960s, there was an abundance of Tai Chi themed movies or what we refer as video Tai Chi. At the turn of the decade though, other martial art videos started to share the limelight until video Tai Chi was unseated from its long held box office seat. But still, video Tai Chi was one of the principal successes of the majority of Hong Kong film producers, with films like “Once upon a Time in China”, “Iron Monkey” and “Tai Chi Master” under their belt.

The best would probably be the Once upon a time in China series. The evidence of the film’s success is that it managed to spawn a number of sequels that reached a fifth installment, all of them a huge success in their own right. This also catapulted Jet Li’s career. What really set this film apart from others of the genre was the movie’s attention to detail. Historical facts, figures, items, and authentic Chinese heritage were injected smoothly into the film resulting in a very balanced atmosphere in believable china. These films are definitely a must see, a timeless symbol of how great Hong Kong masterpieces are.

Jet Li also starred in other unforgettable movies, one such is Tai Chi Master, known as Twin Dragons in the US. Tai Chi Master is Jet Li’s only definite Tai Chi movie and his finest Shaolin piece. Many different technique and styles in fighting are choreographed into spectacular fighting scenes.

Drunken Tai Chi was one of those films that captured the movie limelight. In the story, Chin Da (played by Donnie Yen) was a typical youth fighter who learned the value of friendship the hard way. After punishing a bully, the father hired an assassin to kill Chin Da but Chin was able to learn the Tai Chi style and used it to defeat the hired killer. The movie has somewhat bland story but the actual fighting scenes more than covered the shortcomings of the movie. All in all a very nice fast paced movie.

No one who saw could ever forget Jackie Chan’s Drunken Master. Actually, no one has ever heard of this ancient Chinese art until Jackie Chan depiction of Zui Quan in the movie. Now, the art was now perhaps the most famous Shaolin style art. When one think of Jackie, one with also think of the Drunken Fist style.

There are dozens of video Tai Chi available. And oh, if you think Kung Fu is different from Tai Chi, Tai Chi is one of the styles of Kung Fu. These arts has roots in ancient china, both arts rely heavily on Tao, and both has similar disciplines and principles.