Embodiment Storytelling
Upcoming EVENT, Videos, and HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!
Dear Friends of ReelwUrld,
Jan here! It’s been a long time and I must wish a Happy Lunar New Year's Eve to all (新年快乐)! I hope you've been well, especially those of you here in LA that have dealt with the fires (let me know if I can be helpful in any way). While we’ve been quiet on the updates via this newsletter, ReelwUrld has been getting more deeply personal to me as a system for embodiment storytelling. I’ll define this as the method of bringing a person into the shoes of a character and story with a goal of personal transformation as part of a community experience. That’s what we’ve been focused on through our first show, Justice For Hire. The rest of this newsletter will unpack that in a personal way. I'll get right to it. In this email you'll find:
A personal announcement
An event invite
A high performance interview
An example of how I apply my breathwork practices to ReelwUrld’s media work at scale
Firstly, My year has shifted to a much welcomed mix of media and martial arts work. I've been asked to return to the US Tai Chi Push Hands Team and lead our country to the Tai Chi World Cup in Taiwan this October. I was hesitant at first, since I have been focusing more on expanding production and live events around my company ReelwUrld's first show Justice For Hire. However, I came to realize this honor is very aligned with my action filmmaking work, and I've accepted the position. You're the first to know, and I'll release the announcement video in a few days. Follow me on any platform @janstaichi if you're interested in this part of my life that fuels all of my work.
My next update aligns with the first: I'll be hosting a joint Tai Chi World Cup Style Push Hands Seminar with the head coach of Spain's Tuishou Team, Naxo De La Encina on March 1 & 2 in Los Angeles. I'd love for you to join us to experience how applicable this practice is to all aspects of living.
Here's the RSVP link: https://partiful.com/e/UUnEpq8EG8EPT2PikuPH
And the first poster:
I was interviewed by high performance coach and former gaming and marketing executive Kathryn Ficarra on the first episode of her podcast with the subject of Tai Chi for Leadership and how it has enhanced my media work.
You can watch the full video here:
Also, here's a 1min clip for you: https://youtube.com/shorts/XPUEl0eutm8?si=2RkR5hFdAvSFnn-1
Finally, to pull this email together, here's how I'm applying Tai Chi to guide my audience to make films with me:
My team and I have been on a monthly action scene event schedule for our crowdsourced show, Justice For Hire (example video).
We partner with an event or venue and gather their audience to be in a scene with us as part of our show.
I use Tai Chi exercises to align the breathing of the entire group (my "one breath, one goal, one victory" philosophy that has led to gold medals across teams and sports I've worked with).
Then we move at Tai Chi speed through very basic stunt exercises that they later perform in the scenes. The output has been consistently great, shareable content made with fans, growing our audience, and we're endearing ourselves to our niche.
The way I see it, if I want to tell a story about being a superhero and have other people play heroes with me, we all need to be able to live that experience in some way, and Tai Chi allows us to do that.
In the age of AI, live experiences that can’t be generated become more valuable.
This content/event formula is adaptable to any team and any goal. Reach out if I can be helpful in doing so for your projects.
Always feel free to send me thoughts, questions or ideas. I love hearing from you, and I'm always happy to make a video to address various techniques or concepts (such as how I broke down a film business email using Tai Chi pattern recognition on TikTok).
Sending lots of love to you and yours for a prosperous year, and thanks for building community with me.
With Heart,
Jan L.