All Time Best

07:30 - Woke up today. Took a shower and made myself a cup of tea. Today is garbage day, so I put out a couple bags of trash and the recycling bins out on the curb. I just recently moved, so my basement is filled with cardboard boxes that need to be cut down before submitting for the recycling man. I resolve to work on that for next weeks pick-up.

08:00 - Headed to work. Picked up a couple of bagels from the donut store before heading into the office.

08:15 - Turned on computer. Opened email. I have a bit of a panic because a client is requesting a copy of a report ASAP. I spend the morning creating copies and prepping them for shipment.

12:00 - Head home for lunch. Watch part of a Firefly episode while munching down on a tuna fish sandwich.

13:30 - Back to work. Spend the afternoon reviewing a report on landfill design. I highly recommend landfill design reports as a cure for insomnia.

17:00 - Head home. I originally planned to do some work on the blog, writing about the history of Tang Soo Do, just to give my readers a little background and supporting context for this blog. Instead I think of a better idea for a blog post, and put the "history" post aside for another day.

So here is the topic of today's post.

ALL TIME BEST LIST: Martial Arts Movies

1. All Time Best: Chopsocky Flick

For the purposes of this post, the term "chopsocky" is a description of a certain genre of martial arts movies that most of us were introduced to as kids.

These were the low budget, poorly shot, poorly dubbed, but somehow endearlingly wonderful films from the 60's and 70's that we may have first seen on Saturday Afternoon Movie Matinee's on cable TV. Most of these flicks were produced by the Shaw Brother's studios, who churned out these B-level movies at a rate that challenged Roger Corman's productions. Martial Arts superstars like Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris, first cut their teeth in these productions. (As a weird personal note, I recently found out that Master Vaughn, my head instructor, once was a runner at the Shaw Brother's studios, and he would sometimes be asked to be an extra if the storyline required the Asian hero to beat up on a bunch of hairy, white guys.)

For chopsocky afficionado's, I think there is general agreement that the Five Deadly Venom's, represents the best of that genre. They re-relesed this film on DVD just a few years back. I rented the re-released version and was not dissapointed. Yes, it's still poorly shot. On some scenes you miss half the picture because the aspect ratio is off, so sometimes you see only half the fight scenes. And the dubbing is still bad. You ever notice that the voice actors who dubbed the early chopsocky movies all seem to have the same weird accent? I found out recently that producer's, who were ever looking to save a buck, hired voice actors from New Zealand because they were cheaper than North American voice actors. That's why all my early martial art's heros all sounded like Kiwi's. So you get a really interesting line reading. For example the line:

"For someone who's a Shaolin monk, your kung fu is pretty lousy!"

sounds like:

"Fur samwan 'oos a Show-Lin munk, yer gung foo's preddy lau-zee!"

Absolutely bloody charming!

The Five Deadly Venom's doesn't have much of a storyline, more like a gimmick. The "venoms" are five martial artists who each learned a specific style from one master. Each warrior is named after each style, which is named after a particular animal. So you have the Snake (who fights with fists cocked like snake heads), Centipede (super-fast punches), Scorpion (acrobatic kicking style), Lizard (he can stick to walls) and everybody's favorite, the Toad (super strong, invunerable skin).

What elevates this film from the typical chopsocky flick for me is the scene where the Toad buys the farm. A bunch of bad guys try to lock Toad in an Iron Maiden, but because of his super strength and invunerability, he breaks out of the trap. He tries to fight and almost escapes until the "Really Bad Guy" throws a metal dart in his ear, causing so much pain that the Toad can't focus his power. The minions push him back into the Iron Maiden where he screams in unseen agony. Those screams haunted me as a kid. What a powerful scene!

2. All Time Best Fight Scene: Dude vs. Dude

This is a tough one, because you have so many great contenders.

Old school movie afficionados may mention Bruce Lee vs. Chuck Norris in Return of the Dragon. Legend has it that unlike most fight scenes, Bruce and Chuck didn't pull their punches. They were two warriors at the peak of thier abilities, and they really went at each other.

New Scool movie buffs may mention Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburn in the first Matrix movie. In my opinion it's the All Time Best, and most beautifully shot. Each frame is a fully composed work of art.

But more than that, the scene is just a perfect balance between physical coreography (ofthe actors, the camera, the stunt team and the set itself) and the narrative dealing with the philosphical awakaning of the main character. It's a fight scene with a purpose, and you don't see that kinda thing every day. My favorite element of that scene is how each actors fighting style reflects his character. Neo's moves are pensive at first, but there's that one shot where he smiles at Morpheus, just like a typical rookie martial artist, and shows pure joy that he can actually perform martial arts. Morpheus on the other hand is every bit a master instructor. He's all about patience and calm, luring his opponent into his strike zone, while pushing his student to the limits of his abilities. God, and when he does the "Ali Shuffle", I just about break out in goosebumps! Just a master piece!

2. All Time Best Fight Scene - Hey, Laaaadies!

Hands down, Michelle Yeoh and Zang Ziyi in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.

I mean there's just no question. In fact it should probably go down as best fight scene of all time.

The first fight scene, the one as they fly across the rooftops, was just an appetizer. The main course is the scene near the end of the movie, the one where they battle inside the Training Temple. Ms. Zang (as Jen Yu) is armed with the Green Sword of Destiny. Michelle Yeoh, (as Shu Lien) is armed at different times with, machete's, a spear, hook swords, a heavy maul and a long sword. It takes years to master just one of these weapons, but Yeoh handles each one expertly. It's an amazing scene, beautifully shot, each shot composed like a masterpiece! Again, each fighting style is driven by character. Shu Lien's anger at Jen's after her "little sister" spurs her generosity shows in her first attacks. Just the look at Jen's face, the shock when she realizes her mentor is not just probing out her opponent with a few parries, but actually going all out, ready bash a sword upside the arrogant youth's head, well that look is just priceless and the acting flawless. (Well not quite flawless. A Chinese friend of mine once told me that Michelle Yeoh's [Madarin/Cantonese?] accent was so laboured that he found it quite comedic.)

4. All Time Best Jacky Chan movie.

I think Jacky Chan deserves his own genere of film. Although his movies have martial arts elements in them, the real dazzle of his films are in the stunt work. It's really stunt action movie slash comedy movie in the vein of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, more than a martial arts movie. Over the years, he's ammased quite a vast list of titles, but I think his best is Legend of the Drunken Master (aka Drunken Master II). Not only is his stuntwork extra ordinary, the coreography outstanding, and the storyline pretty good for his type of film, he's put together a really good troupe of supporting actors, most notably Anita Mui as "Stepmother". Ms. Mui really made this film for me. She's quite the comedic presence, think of an Asian Lucille Ball, but... you know... funnier! Great flick!

5. All Time Best Bruce Lee Film

Funny enough the best Bruce Lee flick in my opinion is one he actually never got to finish. Bruce died before completing his last labour of love, the Game of Death. After he passed on, some producers found his partially finished movie and recut it into the more well known (and infinitely suckier) "Game of Death" in an effort to market the film off of his legendary popularity at the time of his death. But the real Game of Death, the one Bruce intended to film, had a storyline that was different that the mess that was produced later on. Years later, the Bruce Lee estate presented previously unknown footage of Bruce's last movie, which was cut as he intended, and presented in a pretty fascinating documentary called Bruce Lee: A Warrior's Journey. I invite you all to check out that documentary and see the master's original vision.

The orignial story is about a warrior who battles though five levels of a temple, each level representing a specific martial arts (karate, judo, Philipno stick fighting etc.). At each level, the warrior must adapt and overcome his opponent, in essence each level represents a new awakaing. On the last level, the warrior must fight an unknown enemy (played by Kareem Abdul Jabbar, in a wild bit of casting) who has mastered an unknown style (represented by Jeet Kun Do, Bruce's own martial arts philosophy). The film is essentially a philosophical primer on the path each martial artist must take, a path that eventually leads to the warrior facing the ultimate unknown opponent. I guess the popular opinion would list Enter the Dragon as Bruce's best film, but in my opinion the original Game of Death is his ultimate masterpiece, and it's quite fitting that it remains unfinished.

6. All Time Best Samauri Movie.

Akira Kurosawa's the Seven Samurai. Not even a contest. Just watch for yourself, you'll see.

and finally...

7. All Time Best Martial Arts Book that doesn't know it's about Martial Arts.

Stephen King's The Dark Tower series.

These books are filled with an Eastern flavoured/martial arts philosophy almost without even realizing it. The character of Roland Deschain, the last Gunslinger, is the ultimate manifestation of epic hero's like Zatoicihi, Jubei Kibagami, Wong Fei Hung, Chen Zhen and Li Mu Bai. It's sometimes difficult to notice, since the character is more influenced by cowboy cinema, and even directly influenced by Clint Eastwood's Man with No Name. Ever notice the similarities between cowboy movies and martial arts movies? (See the preceding link on the Japanese orgins of "The Man With No Name".) Compare the standoff between Jet Li and Billy Chau in Fists of Legend to any one of the standard standoff scenes between gunslingers in any cowboy movie. See the smilarities?

Both genere's deal with the hero's who are outlaws and ronin, the lone knight-errants in each countries idealized history. For Asia, they are represented by swordsmen and Shaolin Monks. In North America they are cowboys. Even the subject manner, redemption, runs through both genre's. I think these smiliarities are a comment on our universality as human beings.

There are certain martial arts/Asian elements that one can find in the Gunslinger books. For example, the concept of existance represented by many different yet linked worlds. The concept of ka as destiny, and kehf as life force is very similar to the concept of ki energy in healing arts such as Tai Chi Chuan and Ki Gong. The main concept of the Gunslinger training is to master the intuitive senses, as evidenced by the Gunsliger's Litany:

I do not aim with my hand;
he who aims with his hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I aim with my eye.

I do not shoot with my hand;
he who shoots with my hand has forgotten the face of his father.
I shoot with my mind.

I do not kill with my gun;
he who kills with his gun has forgotten the face of his father.
I kill with my heart.

How many times to we see Roland acting unerringly on instict to save the members of his ka-tet? Martial Arts training helps to develop the intuitive senses as well (although our codes and tenets are not quite so bloodthirsty). There are other subtle references to martial arts as well. The storyline to the seventh book in the series, The Wolves of the Calla, is very similar to the classic western The Magnificent Seven, which in turn is based on Kurosawa's the Seven Samauri.

There's more to discuss in my list of All Time Best, but I think I'll save further discussion for another time. I'm actually making myself tired.

Cheers,
AKW