Martial arts discussion thread

[SamLoi888]

Kung-Fu Kid just doesn't have the same ring to it.

[Oldschool78]

A lot of the old Kungfu movies in the 70s had billings with Karate on them. Was just the fad at the time i guess.

[Bartrim]

They are marketing it as a remake of a popular movie from the 80's. If they didn't then it wouldn't of attracted anywhere near the attention it got. I'm guessing they felt Joe Public really wouldn't be bothered by that fact.

[GoktimusPrime]

You mean there are movies out there that do not accurately reflect conventional wisdom. I thought Hollywood was an honest industry. This changes everything

I know! At least we can trust that the Internet will never lie to us! *hugs computer*

Kung-Fu Kid just doesn't have the same ring to it.

So call it something else. Or - here's an idea - make the characters use Karate!!

A lot of the old Kungfu movies in the 70s had billings with Karate on them. Was just the fad at the time i guess.

It was a different time because until Bruce Lee came along, most Western audiences were rather ignorant of Chinese martial arts. This was partially due to entrenched racism in the Chinese community with many teachers who refused to teach Kung Fu to non-Chinese students. Bruce Lee was the first to begin teaching Chinese martial arts to blacks, whites... anyone who wanted to learn. IMO that was Lee's greatest legacy. Unfortunately there are still a small number of Kung Fu teachers who continue to refuse to teach non-Asians (sigh). Karate was already quite well known by because of one word: Elvis.

They are marketing it as a remake of a popular movie from the 80's. If they didn't then it wouldn't of attracted anywhere near the attention it got. I'm guessing they felt Joe Public really wouldn't be bothered by that fact.

Karate is definitely more widely known amongst Western audiences than Kung Fu - in Australia the most commonly practised martial art style is Gokanryu Karate. I get that... so with that rationale, why not make the movie based on Karate?

My guess is that this movie will elicit one of the following reactions from audiences in regards to the martial arts:
+ Perpetuating ignorance in allowing people to believe that Karate and Kung Fu are "the same thing."
+ Confounding people with some knowledge of Karate who are wondering why the moves look like stylised Kung Fu.
+ Confounding people with some knowledge of Kung Fu who are wondering why the characters are using stylised Kung Fu in a movie entitled "The Karate Kid."

I'm not comfortable with the excuse of "Most people won't know the difference, so let's run with it." That'd be like if a Transformer movie had an entirely GOBOT cast with the same excuse. Cos it'd probably work - Joe Average probably wouldn't honestly know the difference between Bumblebee and Scooter (at least, not prior to 2007). You can just imagine the fan reaction to that!

Suddenly Drift doesn't seem so bad...

[Bartrim]

I saw a doco ages ago that said something about even though he is fluent in several styles of fighting Kung Fu is his first (or favoured) discipline... I think, it was ages ago.

But seriously Gok let it slide man. I could bitch and moan about the errors in "The Perfect Storm" until your ears bleed but it's a movie so I let it slide.

[5FDP]

But seriously Gok let it slide man. I could bitch and moan about the errors in "The Perfect Storm" until your ears bleed but it's a movie so I let it slide.

Pfft... next you'll try to convince everyone that E.T. wasn't based on a true story

[Bartrim]

Pfft... next you'll try to convince everyone that E.T. wasn't based on a true story

What it isn't true?

[Bartrim]

Pfft... next you'll try to convince everyone that E.T. wasn't based on a true story

I knew eventually I would find proof that ET was based on a true story. It's a biopic of Lady Gaga

[GoktimusPrime]

But seriously Gok let it slide man. I could bitch and moan about the errors in "The Perfect Storm" until your ears bleed but it's a movie so I let it slide.

I already suspend a LOT of disbelief in terms of the so-called "martial arts" that they use in movies - because most of the time, the "martial arts" in martial arts movies are anything but. Most of the more realistic martial arts are often seen in non-martial arts movies like The Last of the Mohicans and even The Lord of the Rings (ignoring stuff like magic and super-human moves like Legolas jumping all over Oliphants ). So I never watch a 'martial arts' movie expecting to see any remotely realistic martial arts. But I accept that it's part of the genre -- the objective is entertainment, and acrobatic and gymnastic over-stylised moves are more interesting to watch to the Joe-average movie goer I guess.

But even with that... one would expect a movie called "Karate Kid" to feature Karate. I haven't seen The Perfect Storm -- but I assume there's a storm in it somewhere right? Imagine if the movie didn't feature a storm and instead focused on some other meteorological phenomenon like... spooky overcast skies or clear fine weather.

It's the misleading nature of the title that bothers me. Again, the Michael Bay TF films may not be cinematic masterpieces, but at least they feature Transformers in them (Autobots, Decepticons - warring etc.). Some people might not like the way the films portray the Transformers, but at least they're there! Imagine if they made movies called "Transformers" and all they featured were My Little Pony... imagine the fan rage!

[GoktimusPrime]

Demonac directed me to this great video -- from Penn & Teller's B.S. episode on Martial Arts. It pretty much sums up a lot of the garbage that's floating around martial arts today. Enjoy.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_3BSk2TbK4
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aB3y10i_T9E
Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggroj7w9J5k

Parental Advisory: Videos contain coarse language, adult themes and violence.