THE PLOT THUS FAR
The definitive documentary about Martial Arts legend Grandmaster Mantak Chia. At a time in history when Yoga was practiced in basements and Martial Arts was found mainly in the movies, Taoist Internal Alchemy was not accessible to the western world. This was the time Master Mantak Chia came to America with a dream to share Taoist Wisdom. In this film you’ll discover how the Healing Tao System was established in the USA, from its early beginnings in downtown Chinatown, NYC.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“How It All Began” is a look at the rise of Grandmaster Mantak Chia and how he branched Eastern and Western sensibilities. The formulas of Chi and sexual alchemy seem to inform a lot of his work, but the documentary was concerned with that. Chia is shown in this documentary to be more of a figure of inner discipline and finding one’s calm center. While that might sound relaxing, don’t expect New Age mumbo jumbo here.
Grandmaster Chia is such a calm figure that you almost forget that his Taoist teaching were revolutionary. The Healing Tao is truly international and I do feel this documentary spends most of its 93 minutes as a full history. I would love to know more about the mechanics and the philosophy behind the actions. But, I guess that I’m asking for too much. The bonus footage kinda dipped into that material. Documentaries like this are such a hard push, as the subject matter is so particular that you must have an interest to want to pick it up. I’m suggesting that you guys need to take a chance on it.
The DVD comes with bonus footage as the sole special features. The A/V Quality is pretty strong for a standard definition documentary. The transfer lacks major punch-up. The Dolby 2.0 track stays consistent across the film. In the end, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.
RELEASE DATE: 07/08/2014