Martial Arts Arc

I think we have all had that time in our lives when we discover the greatness of Martial Arts films. You can’t help but geek out when you see an artist like Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan or Tony Jaa. At the very least they would make for great frak parties.

Ong-Bak the Thai Warrior is pretty darn awesome.

I think Kill Bill’s giant homage to kung fu and samurai films would work well. Just Part I, really, since Part II is a Western homage.

A friend of mine had a good premise for Ong Bak III. Screw the story. Make it a montage of Tony Jaa kicking ass. Don’t even try for cohesion. Tony kicking ass in a mall, in space, in an office, in a fantasy setting, whatever. 90 minutes of ass kicking in HD.

I would watch that.

I think its in Ong Bak II when he kicks arse up 3 levels - i think that was done all in one take - very awesome…

I put this in the Greatest 10 Min. of Film thread a while ago. It’s The Protector.

//youtu.be/yXIGP6_fNZk

I’m not kidding: Shaolin Soccer is pure, hilarious genius.

I just gotta say; the story beats in the new Karate Kid movie follows faithfully to the original. i.e. the clash of values between traditional arts vs modern sport-oriented dojos.

In the original, Miyagi stressed the cultivation of a person’s character that traditional arts provided. Miyagi’s karate was a family tradition going back to Okinawa (i.e. the real karate.)

NB Not many people realise that Okinawa was an independent kingdom that was absorbed in into the Japanese empire. Also, that karate (or naha-te, or tomari-te, or tang-soo; depending on which village it was from) was brought about by cultural exchange between the Okinawan islands and China.

For example, in the karate that I trained in, Goju-kai, the founder actually went back to China to learn White Crane kungfu.

From wiki :

In 1609 the Shimazu clan, which controlled the region that is now Kagoshima Prefecture, invaded the Ry?ky? Kingdom. The Ry?ky? Kingdom was obliged to agree to form a tributary relationship with the Satsuma and the Tokugawa shogunate, while maintaining its previous tributary relationship with China; Ryukyuan sovereignty was maintained since complete annexation would have created a conflict with China. The Satsuma clan earned considerable profits from trades with China during a period in which foreign trade was heavily restricted by the shogunate.
A Ryukyuan embassy in Edo.

Though Satsuma maintained strong influence over the islands, the Ry?ky? Kingdom maintained a considerable degree of domestic political freedom for over two hundred years. Four years after the 1868 Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government, through military incursions, officially annexed the kingdom and renamed it Ryukyu han. At the time, the Qing Dynasty of China asserted sovereignty over the islands of the Ry?ky? Kingdom, since the Ry?ky? Kingdom was also a tributary nation of China. Ryukyu han became Okinawa Prefecture of Japan in 1879, even though all other hans had become prefectures of Japan in 1872. In 1912, Okinawans first obtained the right to vote to send representatives to the national Diet which had been established in 1890.

In the remake, I see the clash of values between modern sport-oriented Wushu and traditional Wushu.

Wushu itself is a modern term (it literally means “martial arts”). I credit the China gov’t for streamlining the hundreds of kinds of kungfu into one organisation. In particular, you’ve the got basic 5 animal forms in Shaolin kungfu.

NB The word “kungfu” simply means skill; and also the time taken to master the said skill.

In Chinese cinema, it’s a common theme to pit Shaolin (Buddhist) kungfu vs Wudang (Taoist) kungfu. In the movie itself, you see Jackie & Will Smith Jr travelling up Wudang mountain to learn move about the philosophy of Tao & tai chi.

In the movie, Jackie also inculcates traditional values of filial piety, personal integrity, etc by making the boy train on the wooden pole.

The movie itself was a good oppotunity to present the Beijing metropolis as it is - full of it’s own rich traditions unique to Beijing, whilst also being modern & up to date with all the gadgets & whatnot.

There’s also a subtext that Beijing citizens embrace a healthy lifestyle by taking up in sports. (Hey, it’s a Chinese movie about China, whaddaya want from them?) The people there are also presented as pretty regular folk (Beijing’ers place a high premium on good manners - Shanghai is more like the New York of China).

I like that the tournament in the end, there’s a tip of the hat to some jujitsu/MMA moves. It shows that the franchise itself is not stuck in the 80’s and that it really is a modern reboot of the story.

I’m a big fan of the old skool kung fu movies… Shaw brothers are like the best Asian movies you’ll ever see… 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Killer Constable just to name a few…
I like some of the new skool martial arts flick, Tony Jaa is cool, but can I recommend my favorite new star of the martial arts genre… Oh and it’s a girl…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ-wJY4op98&feature=player_detailpage

The flying knee to the face…ouch

Love the old skool Saturday morning Kung Fu flicks by the Shaw Brothers. There’s a guy at work that has shelves of them. Five fingers of Death, Five Deadly Venoms, Crippled Avengers, and anything with Gordon Liu.

I recognized the music. Was thinking Evangelion, but it’s from Bleach. ^^

talking about kungfu movies, I’m watching Caprica episode #113 for the first time!

Wow! Nobody told me that Mama Cylon had some sick jedi moves!! Holy crap!

Also, … [spoiler]that ghost-Zoe : I’m pretty sure she’s a head character ala Head Six & Head Baltar i.e. Head Zoe is definitely a messenger sent to herald the arrival of the colonial Cylon race.[/spoiler]