Kung Fu Fridays: Way of the Dragon

It was only a matter of time before Bruce Lee was featured.

For many, Bruce Lee is Martial Arts. He is one of the most identifiable stars film has ever produced. His legacy endures to this day, forty two years after his death in 1973. His list of films is nothing short of legendary. At some point in your life you will see Enter the Dragon; it is one of “those” movies. (I mean that as the highest compliment. “Those” movies consist of things like Shawshank Redemption or Forrest Gump) But, Enter the Dragon is not the film up for discussion here.

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Kung Fu Fridays: The Street Fighter

That right there boys and girls, is Sonny Chiba.

One of the baddest men to walk the planet. A military brat who almost made the Japanese Olympic team, Chiba achieved worldwide success through the film The Street Fighter. No, the film has nothing to do with the game, or the film based on the game, or the game based on the film based on the game. (though the film is available in its entirety in the game The Darkness on any TV found in that game world) What The Street Fighter is is a really well done martial arts flick, a staple in many top ten lists, and an incredibly violent movie whose cult following was helped no doubt by Quentin Tarantino’s decision to not only cast Chiba as Hatori Hanzo in Kill Bill but this as well…

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Kung Fu Fridays: The Mystery of Chess Boxing

The Ghost Face Killer is a man out for revenge.

Released in 1979, and also know as Ninja Checkmate, The Mystery of Chess Boxing is one of the most storied Kung Fu films to ever make its way stateside. It was released on 42nd St in NYC. During the late 70’s 42nd St was a mecca for Grindhouse films. The story goes that The Mystery of Chess Boxing was so popular that it played in various theaters for over two years! For a Kung Fu film, not with a high budget and not starring Bruce Lee, to have a run that long is saying something. Perhaps it was the fights, deliberate and beautiful, perhaps it was the abysmal voice over, it really is terrible for the most part, or perhaps it was the blend of traditional and comedy stylings that was all the rage during this time period. Or maybe the reason it stayed around so long, and the one I hold to, is because of the Ghost Face Killer.

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Kung Fu Fridays: 8 Diagram Pole Fighter/Invincible Pole Fighter

If you’ve ever wondered why the bo staff is the coolest weapon a martial artist can use…

Based on the generals of the Yang family, a Cantonese legend, 8 Diagram Pole Fighter was released in 1983 by the legendary Shaw Brothers  and starred the absolutely incredible Godon Liu. (most readers will recognize him as Pei-Mei from Kill Bill vol.2 and Johnny Mo from Kill Bill vol.1) The film, known as Invincible Pole Fighter outside of Hong Kong, was hit with tragedy as Liu’s costar, Alexander Fu Sheng, was killed in a car accident before filming wrapped. 

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Kung Fu Fridays: Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow

Jackie Chan is the kung fu version of Groucho Marx

Directed by Woo-Ping Yeun and hitting theaters in 1978, Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow made a star of Jackie Chan and introduced the world to two things that would become staples of Kung Fu cinema; one, the notion of the kung fu movie as comedy and two, animal style kung fu being one of the greatest things in the history of makind. While Chan had been in a few films before this, the attempt to make him into the new Bruce Lee failed miserably.

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Kung Fu Fridays: Feature Presentation

Weekly Kung Fu recommendations start here

Summer for me, as a child of the 80’s/90’s growing up in suburban New Jersey, was a time spent equally split between outside activities, bike riding or skateboarding or playing baseball or just getting up to general mischief, and inside activities, video games or tv shows or movies or comics.

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