There are 3,000 residents in Chen village. 2,500 practice Tai chi chuan. In China it is known simply as Taiji village. When you first arrive at Chen village, you are struck by how unremarkable it is. Set in the remote countryside of central Henan, it appears to offer little. Yet as the birthplace of Tai Chi Chuan and the Chen family, it is a very significant location. This is an intimate journey to discover how the present generations of the family and its patriarch Chen Xiaowang, have rescued the Chen style from obscurity and why today, hundreds of Tai chi students from all over the world make the long pilgrimage to this small village in rural China. As our journey unfolds, you will realize just how remarkable Chen village and its people really are.

Like most of rural China, Chen village suffered badly during the cultural revolution and even today, it is a poor village populated mostly by farm workers. The Chen family, standard bearers of the Chen style for four hundred years, continue to teach Tai Chi Chuan at the Tai chi school in the center of the village. The Chen style was at an all time low until fairly recently and although eighty percent of the village uphold its practice, outside China, this original style was little known. Hear the stories unfold of life living and training in the village from the foreign students and although they are not expected to farm or work in the fields, they are expected to live like a martial artist would in rural China … very hard and tough! Featuring Chen Xioawang, Chen Xiaoxing, Chen Bing, Chen Ziqiang and many more. Runtime is 80 minutes with 15 minutes of feature bonus footage of the Chen masters. Directed by Jon Braeley and assisted by Betty Yuan. Soundtrack by Vi An and other artists.

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