Recently binged watched this a while ago, I wanted to share because its a decent series if youre into the old Shaolin historical films. Sammo Hung is featured and does a good job playing a Shaolin master (with hair), the series is in Wuxia style, and depicts the story "....in the Ming dynasty during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. General Qi Jiguang enlists the help of Shaolin Monastery's warrior monks to defend China from the wokou (Japanese pirates) and other invaders."
its a story of tragedy and triumph, spread thru 34 episodes.
some cool things to note:
- filmed on site at Shaolin in 2007,
- features real Shaolin taolu in the training scenes throughout the series (Luohan Quan specifically)
- centers around Yuekong, a real historical warrior monk of the 16th century (MING) who helped lead Shaolin Warrior Monks in battles and were victorious until reportedly they were set up in a trap and slain, some of this is depicted as historically accurate as possible in the series, yet Yuekong survives, as do the majority of the "Shaolin Warriors"
- uses historcial accounts of actual battles, and aligns the events with political structure of the Ming Dynasty at the time, making it a nice historical series, even with all the tv drama and added theatrical anecdotes
Had to share for those who haven't seen it and love the genre, this is my personal favorite time period when it comes to any type of martial art/kung fu film/tv show. all Shaolin stuff is cool to watch, of course, even Shaolin Soccer was decent lol to a Shaolin loyalist, these WuXia joints rooted in Ming Dynasty, or even Song or Tang dynasty, but the Ming/Qing films are always about fighting for that Ming honor or restoring it, so the Warrior Monks and the integrity of the Temple in general, is always presented in the best way to suit it most potent expressions (in history) of Chan and Wu synonymous.
Amituofo
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