I'd actually been considering making an image like this with me in it (without sword), even before the film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was released.  This photo of Aihan, my tai chi instructor (first image) reminded me of the film somewhat, so I just modified her photo instead.  I created the final result (third image) by removing Aihan from the first photo (replacing her with pieces of background, thus creating the second image), and then replacing her higher up in the picture, with a slight shadow to make the effect more convincing.

     Actually, the same technique I used to remove Aihan from the first image was used in the real "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" movie.  The harnesses that suspended the actors were removed from each frame that used them (according to the film's creators, the most difficult part to fix was any clothing that was hidden or pulled on by the harnesses, since it needed to look like loose fabric).