Tai Chi Chuan

Rating:
Summary: Forms are well done, but boy, is this hokey!
Review: First, a word of warning. The DVD release date and the production date are not the same. The footage actually dates from 1981, and let me tell you, it hasn't aged well. Fans of really hokey martial arts films from the 70s would probably really appreciate the kitsch aspect, but I personally found it tiresome after about 5 minutes.

The strong point of the DVD is the actual presentation of the Tai forms by M. Liang. It's a clear presentation of how the forms should look, although it still (obviously) doesn't replace a live instructor who can give you a 3-D view and tell you what you need to do differently. I was also disappointed to see the forms called by different names than I had previously heard used, but that's probably b/c I only ever had 1 instructor and I got used to her vocab.

However, the truly unbearable part of this DVD is the voice-over that describes the various details of the forms (hand positions, foot placement, etc.) which is shown just before the presentation of the forms themselves. It's a bit of a pity, since Tai Chi relies heavily on the details and it really is necessary to watch this several times. Also the music throughout seems to have come from a bad porn film.

This isn't what I was expecting, and I wouldn't buy it again.