This is pretty cool. Ren Guangyi, a top student of Chen Xiaowang, has made a short movie written and produced by two of his students, Stephan Berwick and Jose Fegueroa. Co-starring is rock star Lou Reed, who developed a friendship with Master Ren several years ago and even had Ren perform Chen tai chi at Reed's concerts.

I was fortunate enough to learn from Master Ren through Jim and Angela Criscimagna, who hosted him for several workshops in the Rockford, Illinois area. The photo at left shows the group that studied the Chen Broadsword with him (Guangyi is in the center).

This is from an Internet post by Rachel Matheson: Final Weapon is a 15-minute action drama about holding, passing, and protecting an ancient form of martial art that when employed, renders the user invincible for 20 minutes, after which he/she dies. The film takes viewers through the painful odyssey of an aging warrior making a fatal choice about using this weapon for his last battle.

Lou Reed appears in the film as 'The Holder' of the secret 'Final Weapon' and also contributed all of the music. Famed Taijiquan master, Ren Guangyi is also in the film, portraying 'Holder 1' (Lou Reed and writer/director Stephan Berwick are both longtime students of Guangyi.) Reed has also contributed all of the music in the film as well.

Final Weapon will be screened on Tuesday, April 10th at 8:15pm at Anthology Film Archives in New York City as part of the NewFilmmakers Series. 

Lou Reed will be at the screening, along with Berwick, Guangyi and a few other members of the cast. 

Tickets are available at the door only.

If I lived in New York, this would be a fun event to attend. Here is the trailer for the film: