Jackie Chan has offered to teach Prince Charles Kung fu
All through history and ancient times the Kings and Leaders of man knew how to fight and were warriors. Just training in Martial Arts gives the confidence and a strong state of mind a leader needs. Who can respect a dork or clumsy leader even if he or she is gifted with diplomacy or brains.
Martial Artists talk the talk and walk the walk. This would be great in a King as he could ware his sword with confidence and actually know how to use it.
OK Charles here is your chance. Or at least the kids should take up the offer.
‘Rush Hour’ star Jackie Chan has offered to teach Prince Charles Kung fu in a video message. The message, recorded in China where Chan is making a film, shows the martial arts legend promising that he will drop everything if the Prince of Wales accepts his offer.
Charles got the unusual invitation at an awards ceremony in London, which was organised to recognise the achievements of “unsung heroes” among the UK’s Chinese community.
“I send all my love and kisses … especially for Prince Charles. If you want to learn some kung fu, give me a call, I will come right away,” a magazine quoted Chan as saying in the message.
The video also shows Chan apologising for not making the offer to Charles personally.
The Prince’s attendance at the Pearl Awards at the Royal Festival Hall capped off a China-themed day, which began with a visit to London’s Chinatown with the Duchess of Cornwall.
I personally think all Royals should take it up just to put the paparazzi in thei place.
The One Armed Swordsman
The Shaw Brothers studio in Hong Kong was responsible for producing some of the greatest Wushu (martial arts) films of all time. In the 1970s kung fu flicks flooded American drive-in theaters and grindhouses, and some of the most memorable films came courtesy of Shaw Brothers. But the style and genre of film most Americans associate with Shaw Brothers was relatively new to the studio, part of a new generation Wushu films that was ushered in during the 1960s with titles like the seminal classic One-Armed Swordsman.
Before the 1960s most martial arts films were more theatrical, drawing influence from the legendary Peking Opera. The action sequences were somewhat unsophisticated, and Hong Kong audiences had grown tired of what was being offered. What was proving to be popular were the gritty Japanese samurai films, which had started to influence Hong Kong filmmaking in the 1960s. Believing that the aesthetic of the samurai films could be merged with the conventions of martial arts films, Shaw Brothers set out to reinvent Hong Kong Cinema.
One of Shaw Brothers’ first forays into what would become the new wave of kung fu flick was King Hu’s tremendously influential 1966 film Come Drink with Me. The following year saw the release of Chang Cheh’s One-Armed Swordsman, which is widely considered by many historians to be the film most responsible for setting the tone and style of the modern martial arts film.
The action begins when evil assassins come to kill the headmaster of a powerful and prestigious school of kung fu. Faithful servant Fang Cheng (Feng Ku) defends the life of his master, and is killed in the process, but not before pleading with his master to look after his son, Fang Gang. Years later, Fang Gang has grown up–played by Jimmy Wang Yu, a former professional swimmer who made the transition to acting in the early 1960s–and is a brooding young man with a chip on his shoulder. Raised amongst the other students, all of whom come from wealthy and affluent families, Gang can’t change the fact that he is little more than a working class charity case, who owes his position in life the sacrifice his father made. This sense of alienation separates Fang from the other students, including Qi Pei Er (Yin Tze Pan), the daughter of the school’s master, who is spoiled young woman who lusts after Gang, even though she is simultaneously repulsed by his status as a commoner. During a confrontation between Gang and some other students, including Qi Pei, things get ugly, and she chops Gang’s arm off. Taking the severing of his arm as a cue that he needs to get as far away from the world of martial arts as he can, Gang flees into the countryside, where he is discovered by Hsiao (Chiao Chiao), a beautiful woman who nurses him back to health. Gang wants nothing to do with the world he has left behind, but when the gang of assassins that killed his father years earlier returns to wreak more havoc, our hero is forced to retrain himself and learn to fight with his other arm.
One-Armed Swordsman was a huge hit in Hong Kong as well as the rest of Asia, launching an entire series of films about one-armed fighters–man of the starring Jimmy Wang Yu–as well as a whole subgenre of martial arts flicks about disabled asskickers. But on a much larger scale, the gritty aesthetic and graphic violence that was lifted from Japenese samurai films was so well received that it became part of the new standard of filmmaking at Shaw Brothers.
Not only was director Chang Cheh influenced by Japanese films, he was also a big fan of James Dean and Marlon Brando and the new generation of brooding anti-hero they portrayed in films like Rebel Without a Cause and The Wild One, respectively. Cheh clearly infuses some of the Dean and Brando characteristics in Fang Gang, as Jimmy Wang Yu–not exactly the greatest of Hong Kong actors–does his best to play a tortured working class hero at odds with the upper crust of society. And while Wang Yu is not the greatest actor, he was successful in realizing Fang Gang as an alienated (not to mentioned broken) member of the working class, which is what led to the film and the character’s enduring popularity.
It is important to realize that One-Armed Swordsman does not look or feel like many of the martial arts films of the 1970s and 80s. This is the film that set standard and laid the ground work for what was to come. This is to martial arts films what The Searchers and Ride the High Country were to morally ambiguous westerns like The Wild Bunch and High Plains Drifter that came along in later years. Some people may be put off by the film’s slower pace, but that is not enough a reason to not watch this film. One-Armed Swordsman is visually beautiful, with a tone and style that is so dynamic you can see within it the decades of other films that followed in its wake, drawing deep from its well of influence.
Kung Fu is NOT for girls
A senior student at a high school in China’s southern province Guangdong has written a martial arts novel for her teacher to prove kung fu books are not just for boys. The New Express reported on Tuesday.Qi Mo, who studies in Guangzhou city gave her former teacher the special graduation gift which comprises 600,000 Chinese characters and took three years to make.
The student was quoted as saying the reason why she wanted to write a kung fu novel was in response to a former teacher saying it was not an area for girls.
A writer of fiction since she was a child, Qi Mo wrote several science fiction novels while in primary school.
Her talents were recognized by a local primary school in Guangzhou and she was sent to receive writing training courses.
Qi Mo never stops writing and her readership expands from her parents to her schoolmates.
When she was in middle school, one of her teachers said it was almost impossible for girls to write kung fu stories, not only because there were already many masters in the area, such as Louis Cha, or Jin Yong.
Qi Mo decided to take on the so-called mission impossible and create a different kind of martial arts story.
Hers covers love, friendship and the difference between good and evil. She was quoted as saying she wants the work to reflect the personalities of her generation.
Li Guowei, an experienced writer and editor, reviewed Qi Mo’s work and said the plot covered an ordinary boy who lacks ambition but feels he needs to protect those close to him.
The work teaches us nobody is born a hero and thus anybody can be one, Li added.
Kung Fu goes to the Pandas
Kung Fu Panda features Jack Black as Po the Panda, a lowly waiter in a noodle restaurant, who is a kung fu fanatic but whose shape doesn’t exactly lend itself to kung fu fighting. In fact, Po’s defining characteristic appears to be that he is the laziest of all the animals in ancient China. That’s a problem because powerful enemies are at the gates, and all hopes have been pinned on a prophesy naming Po as the “Chosen One” to save the day. A group of martial arts masters are going to need a black belt in patience if they are going to turn this slacker panda into a kung fu fighter before it’s too late.
U.S. Attorney’s national security and anti-terrorism unit gets 2nd degree black belt
If things get rough on the campaign trail for Erie County Clerk Kathleen C. Hochul, she won’t have to look far for help.
Last Saturday, Hochul’s husband, Bill, who heads the U.S. Attorney’s national security and anti-terrorism unit here, earned a second-degree black belt in the kempo form of karate.
Already an instructor in that martial art, Bill Hochul was awarded his black belt at a kempo karate tournament held during the Springville Dairy Days.
As Kathleen Hochul was shaking hands at the Dairy Days parade, Bill Hochul was sparring hand-to-hand.
Bill Hochul earned the second-degree black belt last Saturday, but we’re told his final ranking in the competition is being treated as a state secret.
Lion Dancing Competitions
Kung fu masters Steven Burton and Dave Eccles, from Blackburn, competed against teams from across the country to claim the title at the British Lion Dancing Championships.
Most lion dancers are martial arts experts. Steven, 35, of Eckersley Close, and Dave, 27, of Wasdale Avenue, are fourth degree black sashes in kung fu and run the Northern Dragon Martial Arts Academy, Dale Street, Accrington.
Lion dancing is an ancient Chinese tradition, believed to ward off evil and bring good luck. Performers don colourful costumes to act as the legs of the lion as it leaps and dances in time to the beating of drums.
Steven said: “I have been training in kung fu for 25 years and the lion dance is a dramatic interpretation of the moves we learn.
“About four years ago we got sponsorship and were able to buy our own lion costume.
“Since then we have performed at Chinese New Year, business openings and we have been asked to open the Arts in the Park festival.”
The pair were also joined by Steven’s wife Helen and Dave’s partner Jessica Wilkinson, of Blackburn, and Stuart Agars, of Harrogate, who played the cymbals, drum and gong at the annual competition, in Birmingham.
Steven said: “The first year we did a lot of acrobatic stuff, lots of stunts and leaping around onto tables and chairs, bounding around. Then people started to copy our tricks so we are always having to come up with new stuff.”
Steven has also competed in international martial arts competitions abroad and won a gold medal at a tai chi event in China in 2004.
“I have spent a lot of time in China and have seen how the lion dance can bring people together,” he explained. “It’s important to continue traditions, even if they are not directly our own.”
He who says badly dubbed class B movies suck, Can jump in a cobra filled pit
I love the old Badly dubbed Class B movies so I have decided to list several that are in Public domain. This means you can download them and do what ever you want with them cause there is no copyright. You will need a torrent program to get these movies though.
Killer of Snakes Fox of Shaolin
Enjoy
Shanghai Express, latest Kung Fu movie
Most ‘Kung Fu’ movies are amusing, but that is primarily because of the bad dubbing from Cantonese into English on the soundtrack. Shanghai Express is different; it is designed as a comedy, and has a cast of increasingly unlikely characters that turn up. Pretty much this movie is The Keystone Cops meets Bruce Lee! It is a delightful and irreverent romp into the world of swords, sticks, and just about anything else that can be used as a weapon. There is high action, and plenty of it, combined with some very low ‘toilet’ humour. Although Cynthia Rothrock is mentioned on the front cover, she plays a relatively small role, the key to this movie is Sammo Hung, and how he managed to keep a straight face while making Shanghai Express is beyond me.
Normally in a movie review I would give a plot synopsis, and generally it works out to ‘good v evil’. There are no good guys in this hilarious movie, they are all bad. Greedy barons of industry, ladies of the night, inept cops, and some sword wielding long haired samurai, a better combination I can not think of! Sammo Hung is the loveable rogue, he hits town with his ‘stable’ of classy hookers, and sets up shop. Of course everything goes downhill from this point.
In one particularly fine scene we have a cheating husband who is travelling by train with his really oppressive wife, and in order to meet his mistress must take a walk on the roof of the moving train to get to her, while taking this seemingly easy stroll he meets one of the gangsters going in the opposite direction. As if there was nothing strange in walking on the top of a moving train they exchange hellos. Funnier still is the fact that Mr Cheater has no problem navigating this unlikely pathway, while Mr Gangster is enjoying the roof top adventure about as much as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs!
Enter the second dragon
Sean Luong, a fifth-grade student at Penn Wynne Elementary School, turned 11 in March. He is a first-degree black belt in Kung Fu, an ancient Chinese martial art. Kung Fu roughly translates from Chinese as “accomplishment through perseverance.” Kung Fu is mostly an open-handed martial art, but the system often includes weapons.
Sean’s parents – T.C. Luong and Jennie Tseng – enrolled Sean in a Chinese after-school program in Havertown for exercise because a doctor thought he might have asthma. Since beginning Kung Fu, Sean no longer has asthma symptoms. He also plays basketball, soccer, and tennis.
Sean was six when his Chinese School instructor, Mark Wilson, impressed with his accelerated progress, suggested Sean study under Mark’s Kung Fu teacher, Dr. Steve Sun.
Dr. Steve L. Sun, a 10th degree black belt said, “Sean is a very special student. In the 26-year history of the Siu Lum Studio, Sean is the first to obtain a first-degree black belt at 10-years-of-age.”
Dr. Sun continued, “When I was 10 years old, I started my Kung Fu training. Sean Luong has already been awarded his first-degree black belt at 10. Sean has the potential to be a second Bruce Lee.”
When asked what he thought of Dr. Sun’s comment, Sean replied, “Well, it makes me excited that I can be as good as Bruce Lee.”
Sean’s proud father, an IT manager for a local foundry, has no martial arts training. He said, “When Sean was very young, he would get upset when he missed Kung Fu class. We had to arrange our schedules around his classes.”
Sean’s sister Jacqueline, who just turned nine, has not martial arts training either. Sean said she doesn’t like kung fu.
When asked how much time and effort it takes to improve at Kung Fu, Sean replied, “Well, it takes a lot of effort. You have to try hard, at least half an hour a day if you can.”
TC and Sean both agree that Kung Fu improved Sean’s concentration and study habits. Sean said, “Yes, it helps me focus my moves and helps me focus in class.”
When asked if he thought Kung Fu training would help other children overcome bad study habits, Sean replied, “It depends; some can’t change it, and some can.” Sean has also been studying the violin for the last year.
When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Sean replied, “Maybe a martial arts teacher.” When asked about Kung Fu, he said, “It helps my allergies and breathing, and I like it.”
Sean studies Kung Fu on Tuesday and Friday nights. He practices every night.
Sean’s most exciting moment was when he won first place in his first international tournament in Washington, D.C. in August of 2006.
To read the rest of the article check out News of Deleware
Whats a Kungfu Gecko
At 45 Middle Road stands a six-storey building where renovations are on-going at ground level.
Passers-by can’t possibly know that this will be the headquarters of Egg Story Creative Productions, the animation studio behind what will be Singapore’s most expensive 3D animation feature, the much hyped Kungfu Gecko, slated for release in 2009.
At US$30 million ($50 million), the budget for Kungfu Gecko is leaps and bounds ahead of any local feature film, live action included.
While raising that exorbitant amount is one of the challenges that Egg Story’s founder Nickson Fong, 37, faces, he’s already embarked on another one — the opening of his animation school Egg Story Digital Arts Academy.
The building will soon be transformed into Singapore’s first animation studio-cum-school bearing the name of Singapore’s most famous animator, who has worked on box-office hits like The Matrix and Shrek.
