Rating: 
Summary: Amazing & wonderful DVD to be kept at home
Review: It is worth watching it to see how shaolin monks demonstrate their skills---internal power (qi-kung) and their practice. With strong will and life long practice, human-being can reach to the highest skill in martial art....
Rating:
Summary: take the time to watch this
Review: Just sit in a relaxed frame of mind ( now a days?) and watch.
Imagine the potential.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Amazing!
Review: My gosh! Man these guys are good! This show is so good! This show captures these Shaolin monks at their best in a theatrical performance! For those of you who don't really know what this movie is about, it is a high quality video of a performance of Shaolin: Wheel of Life, a show put on in the West End of London in 2000 I believe. The producers of the show actually went to a Shaolin Temple in China and recruited 25 Shaolin monks to perform in this show, with the permission of the abby. They then proceded to put on this spectacular show full of martial arts at its best, great theatrical drama, and stunts that people would deem impossible. Absolutely amazing this is. I can't recommend it enough.
Rating: 
Summary: Run of the Mill Wushu
Review: Simply put. You will love this DVD even if your not a fan of Martial Arts. The weapon forms are amazing and so are the their displays of strength and dexterity. This is a DVD everyone should have in their collection.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: Simply put. You will love this DVD even if your not a fan of Martial Arts. The weapon forms are amazing and so are the their displays of strength and dexterity. This is a DVD everyone should have in their collection.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing feats of mind & body.
Review: The strength and discipline alone of the adults and children in this program are mind boggling. The music and pageantry only add to the amazing feats performed. Steel and concrete are broken on these monk's bodies, along with youths balancing their bodies on the sides of narrow poles standing only on their tip. Seeing this show in person would be the only thing better.
Rating:
Summary: Run of the Mill Wushu
Review: Unlike the other reviewers, I had trouble finishing the show. This is not to say the monks aren't good--they are. But here are my complaints: 1) The forms they did on stage seem to be more modern wushu than traditional martial arts. Yes, the monks are amazingly fast, strong, and agile. But the different forms all seem to have the same rhythm (or lack thereof, as the main concern seems to be speed, speed, speed). For example, according to Shaolin tradition, the tiger and snake forms are supposed to train different aspects of one's martial skill, but in this show the two forms are performed almost exactly the same way. 2) Many of the forms seem to be more focused on acrobatics than practical fighting. Some of the moves leave the performer so vulnerable that I get worried just by watching. The forms really do not do justice to their amazing physical abilities. Given the monks' strong basics, it is possible that they actually practice better forms at home, but put on the bells and whistles forms for theatrical performance. 3) Since the forms are more for show than for actual martial arts training, it is not surprising that the fight scenes are not particularly innovative. More importantly, there is no close relationship between the forms they perform and the fight scenes. 4) As for the acting (facial expressions, body language, etc.), maybe it worked for the theater audience watching from a distance. But some of the closeup shots really made me cringe.
Rating:
Summary: Simply outstanding
Review: We've become so accustomed to martial arts being a sport here
in the United States that even a casual review of the Monks
DVD will reveal significant differences. In China, it is a way
of life. From youth through adulthood, one is immersed in the
training, breaths and lives the art. Neuromuscular control,
mental discipline, and absorbing the philosophy of martial arts
is paramount. Only under this lifelong training and environment
does one achieve perfection. The Shaolin epitomizes this per-
fection in every sense. If one is at all interested in the differences in style and
training between the Western world versus that of the China,
the first several minutes will leave you in awe. You'll be
left spellbound at the mastery of the art, the variations-on-
a-theme of the Chinese martial arts. You'll be left stunned.
When you've watched it all, you'll replay it for those moves
too fleeting to catch the first time around. The only thing better is to watch them in person. You will
float out of the performance....transcended.
Rating:
Summary: Simply outstanding
Review: We've become so accustomed to martial arts being a sport here
in the United States that even a casual review of the Monks
DVD will reveal significant differences. In China, it is a way
of life. From youth through adulthood, one is immersed in the
training, breaths and lives the art. Neuromuscular control,
mental discipline, and absorbing the philosophy of martial arts
is paramount. Only under this lifelong training and environment
does one achieve perfection. The Shaolin epitomizes this per-
fection in every sense. If one is at all interested in the differences in style and
training between the Western world versus that of the China,
the first several minutes will leave you in awe. You'll be
left spellbound at the mastery of the art, the variations-on-
a-theme of the Chinese martial arts. You'll be left stunned.
When you've watched it all, you'll replay it for those moves
too fleeting to catch the first time around. The only thing better is to watch them in person. You will
float out of the performance....transcended.
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