Advantages: Jet li's first movie, rare, good story, history lesson
Disadvantages: None

...I love this movie, since its not only a movie about Jet Li's character, it also explains and talks about some of the History the Shaolin temple and some of their principles and how far its influence has gone across the world. The story in this movie, is Jet Li is the son of a martial art clan who specialised in kicking styles, but his family was completely wiped off the world, and he barely escapes the warlord who had captured him. He was lucky enough to have been discovered by the daughter of a shaolin monk, who took him in and healed him back to life. During his stay he watched how a sect of the monks were allowed to learn Kung Fu, and soon began to follow their training programme which is exactly how they trained in life. Soon after he joins the temple as a monk, slowly forgetting his thrist for revenge, but due to the kidnap of his... Read review

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Advantages: Incorparates so many different techniques.
Disadvantages: None

...Ok, for people who don't know, I study and practice Shaolin Chuan Fa kung fu. I wrote this when I was doing my assistant instructor assessment over a year ago. I hope you find it informative... =] xx ---> Shaolin Kung Fu <--- In about 539 AD in the Wei dynasty, an Indian man named Bodhi Dharma (Ta Mo in Chinese), who was greatly skilled in the art of Indian kung fu and well practised in yoga, set out to China from his monastery in Southern India to spread the Zen Buddhist faith. He journeyed hundreds of miles towards Northern China, crossing the Himalayan Mountains and the Yangtze River, and headed North to Loyang, the capital of the Henan Province. Once there he found the Shaolin Temple, which had been founded 40 years earlier and was famous for scholarly translations of Indian Buddhist scripture into Chinese, he tried... Read review

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Advantages: Self-defence, Health, Fitness & Mind Relaxation
Disadvantages: None

...as well as specific principles. If these principles are understood, it is possible to not only perform Kungfu with insight, but allows the achievement of better results with less time and effort. The Schools of Kungfu All of the schools in Kungfu can be divided into two main branches: The Shaolin Branch and the Wu Tang Branch. The Shaolin Branch is sometimes regarded as the ‘Hard School’ or the ‘External School’. This is due to when it is demonstrated, one can see its force visibly, and can literally hear the vibrations of the air caused by the force. In Wu Tang Kungfu the force is internal, being hardly visible outside. When a Kungfu set is performed by a Master, the movements are slow, soft and gentle. The origin of Shaolin --------------------- ‘Shaolin’ is named after the Shaolin Temple in Honan Province of China... Read review

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Advantages: Fitness, self protection ability, Confidence, Suppleness.
Disadvantages: Pain from sparring (depending on training method), time taken to learn.

...are rather styled from Wushu. Chan trained at the Shaolin temple, where (supposedly) Kung Fu originated... THE TEMPLE AND WING CHUN! ------------------------- The Shaolin temple is really the heart of Kung Fu. After numerous raids by marauders, the monks grew desperate, and in their wisdom sought a system of combat in which to defend themselves, but which also had a highly spiritual (Buddhist) base. And so Kung Fu was born! By perfecting the art of war, one gains a sense of total inner peace, or so the theory goes. This is not least because there is little fear for the subject. There are many forms taught in the temple, which I may talk about in a future opinion. Now, Wing Chun itself was invented by a woman, which is rare enough in terms of the Shaolin. She created a style which suited her smaller frame, yet greater speed, with less... Read review

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Advantages: Jet Li's fighting capablity and humour
Disadvantages: Jet Li's acting isn't as great as his fighting style

...combination for any movie. Jet li acted as a young Jackie Chan....funny yet so very skilled in martial arts as well as acting. But if I was to pick out one flaw....it is the imbalance of Jet Li's martial arts skill and acting( and you can guess which one was somewhat improvable!) Nonetheless this movie is a classic in its own right (plus I love this particular genre which came out of Hong Kong movies.....ie the 'action/comedy' genre. In fact this movie was such a hit in china that the Government re-opened many shaolin temples purely for public viewing! Another thing which made this movie a classic is that Jet Li's clichéd use of wire work was mostly omitted from this movie (purely due to the Wushu fighting style. ENJOYABILITY? (Excellent, of course!) Brilliant movie for any Hong Kong martial arts lover...people who enjoyed the iron monkey... Read review

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Advantages: GOOD CHARACTERS
Disadvantages: NOT AN EASY GAME TO PLAY!

...seconds CHAMBER19: use the power meter CHAMBER20: beat warehouse 1 honus area CHAMBER21: perform a tech roll CHAMBER22: beat warehouse 2 bonus area CHAMBER23: beat chinatown square bonus area CHAMBER24: beat china sewers level CHAMBER25: perform a 10 hit combo CHAMBER26: beat airport hangar level CHAMBER27: complete 1 level without losing a life CHAMBER28: perform fatality 3 CHAMBER29: complete 6 levels in a row without continuing CHAMBER30: complete 8 levels in a row without continuing CHAMBER31: beat forgotten temple level CHAMBER32: beat shaolin temple CHAMBER33: complete 10 levels in a row without continuing CHAMBER34: perform fatality 4 CHAMBER35: eliminate an enemy without losing any energy CHAMBER36: beat Mong Zhu (INNER SANCTUM, MUST HAVE ALL OTHER CHAMBERS OPEN) HAVE FUN OPENING THEM I DID!!!(P.S good luck!!!)... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic mix of martial arts, light humor, and history
Disadvantages: Not up to date, subtitles

...This is one of the original stories, focusing on the Monks that started it all. But what's it about? The story follows a young boy (Jet Li) that falls upon the great Temple, and becomes interested in becoming a Monk. This then leads to many mishaps, that bring large consiquences....... Although re-creating history, it has a nice mix of light humor too. Originally done in Chinese - so unless you can understand it, there are readable subtitles, and it is done it pretty good colour. Although the music may get a little annoying! If you like Jet Li, this is when he first started out, and is very young but his talent still shows immensly. I find I could watch it again and again just for the amazing matial arts action - it's the kind very rare for action and martial arts movies today. Although the video is hard to get your hands on, I... Read review

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Advantages: A true story with Jet Lee at his very best
Disadvantages: Avoid the dubbed version like the plague

...will simply astound you. This is not actors simply relying upon special effects and wires. The grace and speed is astounding, with the choreography being almost one of ballet. The reason being, is that these are Shaolin trained actors, and it shows. Jet Lee has been astutely chosen by Tsui Hark for Lee was China’s Wu Shu Champion (Having performed before Richard Nixon), and for his work on Shaolin Temple. Yuen Biao is another well selected actor, taught in the same Chinese Opera School as Jackie Chan, and an exceptional acrobat to his credit. Tsui Hark has made an endless classic here. Demonstrating a significant point: That plot, characterisation, and attention to detail make great movies. This is one of those great movies…... Read review

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Advantages: An endless classic
Disadvantages: Buy sub-titled, the dubbing is awful

...A Time In China will simply astound you. This is not actors simply relying upon special effects and wires. The grace and speed is astounding, with the choreography being almost one of ballet. The reason being, is that these are Shaolin trained actors, and it shows. Jet Lee has been astutely chosen by Tsui Hark for Lee was China’s Wu Shu Champion (Having performed before Richard Nixon), and for his work on Shaolin Temple. Yuen Biao is another well selected actor, taught in the same Chinese Opera School as Jackie Chan, and an exceptional acrobat to his credit. Tsui Hark has made an endless classic here. Demonstrating a significant point: That plot, characterisation, and attention to detail make great movies. This is one of those great movies…... Read review

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Advantages: Great style to learn, designed to defeat other styles, economy of movement, links well with other styles
Disadvantages: Not much really. Just don't hit yourself when chain punching

...First off, I don't quite know why Wing Chun (sometimes spelt Wing Tsun) Kung Fu is listed under Karate, since they are totally separate arts, but there we go. Wing Chun originated from China, where warrior monks at the temple of Shaolin perfected their martial arts. The Wing Chun system was designed by several Grandmasters as an efficient system to combat forms such as Karate. It is in effect a compacted form of Shaolin Kung Fu, and focuses mainly on economy of movement. Martial arts can be taught in several ways, but basic principles are always most important. They are however, boring. Karate may appeal more to people who like 'showing off' their martial arts skills, and who want to learn something they will enjoy from the start. Wing Chun Kung Fu is by no means harder to learn, but teachers often teach using more traditional methods... Read review

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