FILM (6) The Fighting Spirit (1)

MARTIAL ARTS

it is worth learning and practising some martial arts or self-defence otherwise you might get into a situation where you will be --



-- you'll see.

The Chinese Way

The Way of the Dragon

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068935/ score:7.3
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/return_of_the_dragon/ tm: 100%

Although this is not Bruce Lee's most highly acclaimed film by critics, his antagonist here was Chuck Norris. And it is quite rare to see 2 legends combating each other. Their fight is quite realistic. I've heard that Chuckie even asked Bruce to have a real fight instead of moves prearranged only for the camera. The story ends with Chuck becoming seriously injured. Interestingly this 2 masters are of the same age. Bruce Lee (1940-1972) was a student to Yip Man (Wing Chun) and is the founder of the Jeet Kune do style (the Way of the Intercepting Fist - Bruce's intention was however to call his way the "style of no style", that is getting rid of the formalised approach). Later on he paid special attention to the importance of nutrition, too. Carlos Ray Norris (1940-) started with Karate, and now posses 8th dan in Taekwondo, and 5th dan in Judo, among others. He is the founder of the Chun Kok do (Universal Way).

Before going further you may want to see the Tops of the highly regarded Black Belt Magazine, back in 1993. Click HERE. Nowadays, it comes in online version, too. Check it out!

Ip Man 1-2

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1220719/ score:8.1
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ip_man/ tm: 84%

Ip Man (Yip Man) was born in China, but later went to Hong Kong. He comes from a wealthy family and became a police officer. He was a well respected Wing Chun instructor, mostly known for having Bruce Lee as his disciple. The Yip Man Wing Chun Branch is named Ving Tsun in tribute to Yip Man. The Wing Chun Kung-Fu Association states that there is no difference between Wing Chun and Ving Tsun. However, one of my friends, himself a national champion in Wing Chun, told me that according to his experience Ving Tsun rather focuses on fight, and Wing Chun on techniques and philosophy. The films Ip Man 1-2 loosely covers his life story. Yip Man was regularly using opium and died from throat cancer. In fact, I know a Kempo master, who smokes 2 packets of cigarettes a day and is still a badass warrior. There is now loads of movies covering the story of Yip Man, but only this 2 have Donnie Yen as Yip Man. Donnie Yen is also martial artist who achieved black belt in both Taekwondo and Judo. He is a wholehearted supporter of MMA. He trained 9 months in Wing Chun before the movies, and after Yip Man he reportedly remained in the character.





Fearless

Although I prefer the way of the empty hand (karate-do) I have to include Jet Li on the list just because of the surprising fact that he was born in the same year, 1963, as Donnie Yen. (just like Chuck Norris & Bruce Lee - 1940 - see above). Their best fight scene together is in the blockbuster movie "Hero" (2004). --
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299977 score: 7.9
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hero/  tm: 95%

-- Jet Li is also a martial artist and a very successful one, indeed. He won 15 gold medals in Chinese Wushu championships and mastered a bunch of the Northern Shaolin styles of Wushu. Here, the Chinese word Wushu translates literally martial arts (while Kung Fu means any skill acquired through learning or practice). The Wushu includes training methods inspired by Chinese philosophies, religions and legends, and physical exercises based on animal mimicry. Jet Li has ended his martial arts star career with the following much likeable words: "I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another 5 or 10 years. Huo Yuanjia (the character he played in the movie ' Fearless') is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star."  Huo Yuanjia was a Chinese hero who defeated foreign fighters in highly publicised matches, thus restoring the pride to China at a time, when the country's sovereignity was being eroded by colonisation and foreign manipulations. Similarly, when being asked to be the personal bodyguard of US president Nixon, Jet Li refused, saying: "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen."

In the movie "Fearless" --

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0446059 score: 7.7

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fearless/ tm:73 %

-- 

the best fight scene is the final one, and is available by clicking HERE.  In another video you can watch it with Rob D's memorable song.

Jet Li is a Buddhist, and he says that everything he has ever wanted to tell can be found in 3 of his films: the message of Hero is that the suffering of one person can never be as significant as the suffering of a nation; the Unleashed shows that violence is never a solution; and finally the Fearless tells that the biggest enemy of a person is himself. Jet Li thinks, that the greatest weapon is a smile and the biggest power is love.

My personal favourite is the fight scene 1 vs. 10 in Ip Man. The final fight in Ip Man 2 would win, but I think the scene is a bit too long. In fact these fights have the same ending: Ip Man wins with quick punches in the face.

However, be it Yip Man, Donnie Yen, Jet Li, Bruce Lee or even Chuck Norris, none of them would have a chance against

Cheers!