Favorite Martial Arts Movies

[JR 137]

Fiiiiinally got around to watching this. Really cool movie! Apart from the cheesy music and edits , I enjoyed it. Was so cool seeing all the greats in the one tournament: Royama, William Oliver, Sato, Howard Collins, Ninomiya, Martin. Love Oliver's style of fighting so much, his quickness, agility and technique are incredible.

I also loved how alot of the guys did their training mostly in their gis (unless that was purely for the movie

).

And was refreshing to see that it wasn't just two young guns charging in like bulls and just alternating left right punches like so many competitors you see today.. there was thought, strategy, patience and timing. As well as really nice to see all the kicks being thrown!

Yeah, it’s definitely not like the shita tsuki contests that seem commonplace in Kyokushin tournaments nowadays.

My teacher was around during those days. He’s not in the movie, but he was in some of the workouts of that era. He’s got some great stories about that crew.

He said it was played up a bit for the cameras. Not that they were faking going hard during the sparring sessions, but that they naturally went a bit extra hard when the cameras were in the room. And they were getting ready for that tournament, so of course they were going to go harder than normal. In other words, it wasn’t routine training. But he says the black belt test were always as intense as they were in the video.

My teacher sparred Charles Martin and William Oliver at the end of 2 dan tests - I think 2nd and 3rd dan. He said William Oliver stood in front of him and slapped him back and forth with his right foot without putting it down. Oliver knocked him down with it, my teacher got up, and Oliver stood and did the same exact thing again, only with his left foot. Oliver had a smile on his face the entire time. Then he stepped down the line to the next person, and it was Charles Martin who continued with the beating.

I’ve met Charles Martin a few times. Great guy, and he was recently honored for his 50 years as Kaicho’s student. I’ve never seen him training though, other than when I was in a mass workout.

 

[_Simon_]

Yeah, it’s definitely not like the shita tsuki contests that seem commonplace in Kyokushin tournaments nowadays.

My teacher was around during those days. He’s not in the movie, but he was in some of the workouts of that era. He’s got some great stories about that crew.

He said it was played up a bit for the cameras. Not that they were faking going hard during the sparring sessions, but that they naturally went a bit extra hard when the cameras were in the room. And they were getting ready for that tournament, so of course they were going to go harder than normal. In other words, it wasn’t routine training. But he says the black belt test were always as intense as they were in the video.

My teacher sparred Charles Martin and William Oliver at the end of 2 dan tests - I think 2nd and 3rd dan. He said William Oliver stood in front of him and slapped him back and forth with his right foot without putting it down. Oliver knocked him down with it, my teacher got up, and Oliver stood and did the same exact thing again, only with his left foot. Oliver had a smile on his face the entire time. Then he stepped down the line to the next person, and it was Charles Martin who continued with the beating.

I’ve met Charles Martin a few times. Great guy, and he was recently honored for his 50 years as Kaicho’s student. I’ve never seen him training though, other than when I was in a mass workout.

Haha shita tsuki contests... so true XD

Yeah the sparring in that black belt grading was intense... and wow that's really cool, what an experience to face them in a grading!

 

[DavyKOTWF]

Course you've probably seen The Grandmaster.
The Seven Samurai is a good classic, but English subtitles. This one was what
Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen's The Magnificent Seven was based on.
The First Season of Kung Fu of course is just beyond compare, starring David Carradine.
And probably everyone knows, Ip Man 4 is coming out, maybe later this year or early next year.
Ip Man 5 may be in the works, with _Simon_ playing a young Ip Man and ShortBridge playing William Cheung.

 

[_Simon_]

Ip Man 5 may be in the works, with _Simon_ playing a young Ip Man and ShortBridge playing William Cheung.

Ah the role I was born to play!

(Although weird that my agent contacted you instead of me, I didn't even get a text!)

 

[Deleted member 34973]

You can never go wrong with the Kung Fu Panda series

 

[DavyKOTWF]

Ah the role I was born to play!

(Although weird that my agent contacted you instead of me, I didn't even get a text!)

He decided to go with David Carradine instead of you. So sorry.

 

[DavyKOTWF]

Ah the role I was born to play!)

The director thought Simon was too talented, too good looking, too much accent, too serious, too cocky, too aggressive, too much the lady's man and too authentic...so he chose the meek and homely looking, no experience, cheaper actor. Bloody Apples! ;-)

I reckon everyone, not matter what they think of anything, will STILL go see Ip Man 4.

 

[_Simon_]

The director thought Simon was too talented, too good looking, too much accent, too serious, too cocky, too aggressive, too much the lady's man and too authentic...so he chose the meek and homely looking, no experience, cheaper actor. Bloody Apples! ;-)

I reckon everyone, not matter what they think of anything, will STILL go see Ip Man 4.

Haha, too much of everything apparently wasn't enough, what a resumé that is though..

 

[DavyKOTWF]

Sorry, I forgot too charismatic.
It IS hard to imagine Bruce playing Kwai Chain Caine.

 

[DavyKOTWF]

Here is the trailer for The Seven Samurai.