Official IWS Traditional Martial Arts Thread

[SPX]

BTW, the guy in the final fight of the Game of Death scene (Johnny Nguyen) has a really interesting resume:

Johnny left Vietnam at the age of 8, uncertain of what destination lied ahead. As a boy, he already loved Hong Kong cinema. Johnny would soon start training in martial arts and now has over 18 years of experience in Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Japanese Aikido. Johnny is now also an expert in Wushu, which he does for over 10 years. Johnny has won a gold medal from Pan America Form and Sword.

However, having many skills, hobbies and interests, Johnny is mainly known here for his martial arts skills and acting. Now he has had a big breakthrough as an actor in Cradle 2 the Grave, next to Jet Li and Mark Dacascos. Johnny is an accomplished stuntman. Johnny is getting more popular as an actor and stuntman who has now shown his skills and may be one of the next stars on screen.

Recently, Johnny was seen in XMA, Mike Chat's Extreme Martial Arts, performing with weapons, fights and acrobatics. Getting more and more lead roles, Johnny also stars opposites the new legendary action star Tony Jaa and is also asked as a stunt coordinator.

For some reason I thought he was a TKD guy.

[Ludo]

BOL at this whole page! Elephant tonfas!

I should re-watch The Protector and the Ong Bak sequels.

Ludo, you have to give me a full review when you get done.

I am done. Overall the movie was decent but some of that shit was very "left field". His infatuation with elephants is pretty bizarre. His insight for fight sequences thought is probably second to none. The fact that he did alot of this stuff as I understand it without ropes is pretty fucking amazing for a guy his size. But some of the stuff seems just too "happenstance"-y for My liking. The elephant tonfas, the whole thing with Ong Bak 3(which I won't go into just yet since you haven't seen it), too much of it seemed to be manufactured rather than creatively worked from the story itself.

[SPX]

Indeed. Well I'm glad you watched it and I appreciate your feedback. I remember thinking the trailer looked bad ass and was then disappointed with the movie. But it does have its moments, like the Game of Death scene.

Speaking of the trailer, it COMPLETELY leaves out any shit about elephants. False advertising. Instead of The Protector, it should be called Where's My Elephant?!

[SPX]

In honor of watching shit we've talked about, I'm going to go ahead and roll Ip Man 2.

[Ludo]

Yeah I'm still having trouble grasping what his deal is with the elephants. If this had been the only movie with them I'd not be phased really but now that I've seen this everything else is starting to make more, and at the same time less, sense to Me.

[SPX]

Watching Ip Man. . .

Why the fuck is the white man ALWAYS made out to be the conscienceless dickhead. . .

[SPX]

Just finished Ip Man 2. I guess I'm just going to have to disagree with you on this one Ludo, because I think I actually enjoyed it MORE than the first. While some of the fight scenes, as you mentioned, include more wire work and unrealistic kind of shit, I'm cool with that. That's what I expect from Asian cinema and that's really why I watch kung fu movies . . . to see awesome-though-admittedly-fantastical depictions of martial arts.

What's particularly awesome about movies is that they can make kung fu look awesome. All the dudes in this shit practiced a different style. I think I saw praying mantis, hung gar, pa kua, and wing chun, at least. And yet, it all looked quite deadly. It makes me really wonder if there are some kung fu dudes out there who really understand their art who are really bad ass.

Overall, I was down.

[Ludo]

Well there were other styles represented in the first movie. Such as the master Ip spars with in the first scene to kick things off, the traveling hoodlum gang leader, and the overtly up-played karate used by the japanese general. But now I suppose you see why I compared it to Fearless.

[SPX]

Nergo, sounds like you're talking about the FIRST Ip Man. . .

[Ludo]

I AM talking about the first one. You mentioned that there were other styles represented as though it wasn't as prominent in the first movie. I'm just saying that was half of the message behind the movies themselves was not only the life and times of Yip Man but the superiority of Wing Chun compared to other styles of the time.

[SPX]

Oh, gotcha. Well it's been a while since I've seen the first one. I do remember there was an obvious kung fu/karate dichotomy going on.

I liked the 2nd one, though. I thought it was a fun movie. Maybe more entertaining than the first, like I said. I was pretty pulled in from the beginning, when the dude challenged him, got his ass kicked, and became his student.

[SPX]

BTW, you ever see Dragon: The Bruce Lee story? I saw it in the theater way back in the day . . . watching it again right now.

[Ludo]

I love that movie. Jason Scott Lee killed that shit. They really did a great job retelling his life in that shit.

[SPX]

Fuck yeah!

It's awesome. Not exactly accurate as far as Bruce Lee's real-life story goes. But I find it entertaining and Jason Scott Lee does a damn good job.

[Ludo]

Well if they went 100% it wouldn't have come out as good. People would have thought he was a psycho if they saw him hooking car batteries to himself to fight the current in his back yard and shit.