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BBC: Final Test of a Shaolin Warrior Monk
- Thread starter Soapbox Killer
- Start date
What are you talking about? This isn't combat or wuxia duels.
OP
OP
He has been training with that pole for years and years and somehow cannot perform this one move that could prevent him from being a full monk and only accomplishes days before his trials? C'mon...
The narrative, not the actual trials. It just seemed like the drama was ratcheted up.
Not really. Can't blame them for focusing on something he's struggled more with. It's a reporter's job.
OP
OP
They sorta hammed it up with the video but I guess it was because of how short it was. I would love to see 2 hours of a deep dive.
Also, I watched the video yesterday and enjoyed it regardless of my nitpicking. It takes immense dedication to do what these people commit their lives to.
i watched this the other day. It is amazing to see nicely shot tumbling runs and martial arts demonstrations, especially on stone.
I watched this the other day, it is very staged but I still really liked it and the moves are dope
OP
OP
Would he? I dont claim to know either way and maybe kungfu movies have skewed my view. Does be keep the monkey pole?
There's youtube videos of that. The MMA / MUATIAH guys do not farewell.
And a gun would take them both out. That's your take on this?
If the monk has that staff, the MMA fighter is getting his ass spanked like a 3 dollar hooker.
Xu Xiaodong disagrees. Kung Fu is awesome to look at but not effective against most martial arts.
In what discipline? Most MMA fighters can't even recite their own names by heart let alone scripture.
If you watch the video they make it pretty clear that they do this to show piety, not to train for combat.
How did this turn into a "kung fu versus MMA" discussion? Did those posters even watch the video?
A lot of MMA folks need you to know they would trounce traditional martial artists lol
"Those old Chinese folks practicing tai chi in the park wouldn't last a minute agaisnt an MMA fighter."
FWIW, every single amateur boxer and mma person I met in China (I used to work out at a boxing gym) hated the guts out of all those people, and especially shaolin, and if you show that video to them they will 100% make it about that immediately.
In fact, some of them already posted rants about this video.
Though obviously, this is all anecdotal.
I love the Chinese propaganda movies where they put Kung Fu against all the world's fighting styles and they triumph over the world using quick half extended pokes with the tips of their fingers extended fingers. I've seen at least 3 films about this. I can remember the name of one, though: Ip Man 2.
Ip Man 1 is indeed a propaganda film where Kung Fu takes on Japanese martial arts, but I'm talking more narrowly than that. It's literally "We have fighters from all around the world vs. Kung Fu in a tournament" as the premise and I've seen 3 of them. Another one was with a big Kung Fu celebrity from the 90's, I want to say Jet Li.
And what about American action flicks about shooting up the equivalent of village? Efficacy is the least of the concern.
Except there isn't a tournament with fighters from all around the world in any of Ip Man films. There is one boxer guy in the second and Mike Tyson in the third.
Well, it's definitely a movie. Real sword fighting, for example, was nothing like it is portrayed in film. Likewise, most Kung Fu you see in films is fantasy ballet rather than a depiction of a practical fighting.
Okay that's great. That's the point. Martial arts is deeply submerged with self improvement. That doesn't necessarily mean 'how to strangle a dude really good'.
My bad, I think you are right. It's just one British Guy. I saw it once like 8 years ago and that was enough for me. Utter trash compared to Ip Man 1. I am conflating it with a film where there were all sorts of wacky fighters, like a German Spear Fighter. Didn't know Germans were known for spear fighting, but it serves the narrative.
This is hardly a exclusive to Asian martial arts films unless I was wrong and Blood Sport was a documentary.
True, but to be fair they are also depicting it as a practical fighting style in these films, which is a bit dicey. I get it, it's not really about Kung Fu vs. Karate/boxing as much as it's about Chinese cultural values vs. Japanese/Western. I think in reality, historical Ip Man vs. a heavy weight pro boxer would be bad news. Real bad news. Anything's possible, but...
Once again, it's a movie. You really think a 90min show of Donnie Yen would be worth printing?
Why sure. Any film that wants to reinforce Nationalist sentiment at the expense of telling an accurate story can fall into this pitfall. Ip Man was slick because they lied about why he left China. Said he was running away from the Japanese but he actually left to escape Communism. I don't have to tell you that there are a million 'based on true story' movies like this that shift facts in order to paint a more politically useful portrait of a person. For example, that film about Columbus that came out in the 90's. Made him look like a real peach.
Indeed, it says so in the first 30 seconds of th BBC clip, "For these students, Kung fu isn't just a martial arts, it is a spiritual practice."
I'm talking about the fighting aspect, not the propaganda. Maybe I should used Commando as my facetious example.