I'm going to double dip here because it would appear that director Tao Ming Xi is a terribly prolific and busy filmmaker. The first clip you'll see after the break is a fight montage from a kung fu film he has just premiered in Bejing. It is called Taishan Kung Fu and it is set to expand throughout the mainland provinces.
The film showcases Mt Tai's rare kung fu known as Stone Skill, and apart from scintillating martial arts scenes, it explores the culture of Mt Tai. Taishan Kung Fu is Tai Ming Xi's fourth film as a director, with Huang Guan Bao as the martial arts director. The film stars Wu Yue, Wei Yu Hai, Xu Huan Huan, Zhao Pei, Cheng Pei Pei, Wang Fei Hong. Both Tao Ming Xi and Wei Yu Hai are members of Sammo Hung Stunt Team. The film is about a highly disciplined martial arts practitioner Wu Yue, the heir of Stone Skill, "advising" Wei Yu Hai, the undisputed champion of martial arts in Mt Tai, against terrorizing the region.
The budget looks slim but I love the old school wushu feel and the fighting is more than above par.
According to the producer, the Taishan franchise is planned as a trilogy comprising 《泰山功夫》 Taishan Kungfu, 《泰山石敢当》 Shi Gan Dang of Taishan and 《泰山夺宝》 Raiding Treasures in Taishan. The second film Shi Gan Dang of Taishan would begin production in spring 2010, and Sammo Hung is being roped in to direct.
Second, when I was coming back home this past weekend I caught a doc on the plane called The Real Shaolin. Great doc, if you get the chance to watch it I highly recommend it. It tells the stories of four aspiring martial artists and their quest to live a life devoted to Shaolin. I tell you that to tell you this. In it one of the young men practices the martial art/sport of Sanda (Chinese: 散打; pinyin: sǎndǎ; literally "free fighting"). Brutal and hard stuff. Lots of punches and kicks with takedowns; MMA kind of stuff. So I'm there thinking to myself, self, someone should make a Sanda movie. And lo and behold Tao Ming Xi has made one of those as well titled Valiant. Again, this looks like minimal budget stuff and comes across like The Sanda Kid more than a straight up fight movie but check it out after the break.
Taishan Kung Fu fight montage
Valiant trailer