Funny Bones: Martial Arts Films That Are Guaranteed to Make You Laugh
July 20, 2018 Marco Bergmann Martial Arts, Popular Culture
The world of martial arts isn’t just about being serious! Martial arts films have also been known to be quite humorous. Today, we will be looking at some solid examples of martial arts films that are guaranteed to make you laugh.
Since there is much gravitas that usually accompanies martial arts and how it is featured, it is wholly refreshing to have comedic elements intertwined with it in these following films:
This is one of the top tier martial arts comedy films that truly found worldwide success in the box office. Directed, produced, written, and starring the phenomenal Stephen Chow.
It follows the tale of a street urchin who is trying to join a gang by the name of Deadly Axe Gang. The misadventures that follow have moments of pure hilarity. It also really helps that there are some heartwarming parts to the tale.
What we like about this particular film I the fact that it carries traditional Chinese music so the audiences are treated to not just a fun and funny time. They are also treated to the rich culture that Chinese music has to share.
Kung Pao! Enter the Fist
Released in 2002, this wholly American film pokes a bit of fun regarding the Hong Kong made martial arts film of the 70s and 80s. It has the badly dubbed dialogue, the absurd jumps to enter fighting scenes, the odd panning of the cameras, everything.
The story follows the adventures of The Chosen One and his exploits in trying to defeat the main villain, save his love interest, and pretty much save humanity from an unexpected threat. If we’re being vague, that’s only because we don’t want to spoil anything for you.
What we like about this particular film is the fact that it took a whole new jab (at the time) at the genre of martial arts films and how they were—quite frankly—rather ridiculously made in its earlier incarnations.
Shaolin Soccer is actually one of the first comedic marital arts films that Stephen Chow had created, directed, and starred in. This film was released back in 2001 and you could say that this is the one that started the hilarity.
This film follows a Shaolin monk and his brothers in arms as they utilize their martial art skills in order to rejuvenate interest in their art. Of course, they do this by applying it to the most unlikely thing ever: soccer.
What we like about this particular film is the fact that it uses a topic that reaches a wide audience (soccer) and ties in elements of a shared goal.
The films we mentioned above surely gave our funny bones a work out when we watched it again for research! While we advise that you take the “realism” with a grain of salt, some of the martial arts moves that were featured in the films were still grounded in actual fighting styles.
Which funny martial arts film would add to this list if you could?
If you happen to be a fan, what critical life lesson did you learn from Avatar the Last Air Bender?
Silver Screen Darlings: Martial Artists That Enjoyed Success in Hollywood
March 13, 2018 Marco Bergmann Martial Arts, Popular Culture
We have mentioned before about the fact that martial arts and their practitioners are heavily featured in our popular culture. Today, we wanted to take a look at those who have enjoyed significant success in Hollywood.
This martial artist is notorious for doing his own dangerous stunts. It’s gotten so bad that it is rumored that no sane insurance company will want to offer him a policy. He practices Chinese martial arts, Hapkido, and even Taekwondo. In some of his films, he showcases Judo and even Jeet Kune Do.
He’s had massive successes in his Asia but it was his crossover to Hollywood that made him a legitimate international sensation. His movies include Rush Hour, Shanghai Noon, and even a remake of The Karate Kid
Anyone who enjoyed movies will have either seen or heard of The One. A wholly unique take on how amazing Jet Li is as an actor and a fighter as he played both main characters. Jet Li practices Chinese Martial Arts, Baguazhang, and Wushu.
These were evident in his films Romeo Must Die, Kiss of the Dragon, Unleashed, Cradle 2 the Grave, and in The Expendibles franchise. One of the reasons why Jet Li was so endearing was the fact that he was not taking the ‘unassuming’ character route that Jackie Chan did with his persona.
Of course, if we were making an article about well-known Hollywood martial artists, Bruce Lee would have to be in it. Arguably one of the more famous people to have graced the world, Bruce Lee opened up the gateway for other martial artists to be commercial successes in their own right.
While Bruce Lee started as an extra and an eventual minor character, he captivated the world with his charisma and his utilization of Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun, and Chinese martial arts. His films include Fist of Fear: Touch of Death, Enter the Dragon, and The Game of Death. It is highly unfortunate that he passed on while still in the prime of his life.
We can actually say that it is thanks to these individuals that the spark of interest keeps getting ignited for the newer generations. These particular martial artists are special because their actions are forever secured in the films that they have created. If there was ever a person who wanted to explore the world of someone who could practice martial arts, they will have a lot of options to pursue.
February 26, 2018 Marco Bergmann Martial Arts, Popular Culture
Martial Arts have long had a hand in building childhoods in more ways than one. For anyone who is a fan of video games, they will be the first to tell you about the fact that there are so many video games out there that heavily feature martial arts. It only makes sense, doesn’t it; given the fact that martial arts can be used for fighting if required by the practitioner.
With that in mind, we posed the question for those in our writing team that played video games. Which video games did they believe heavily featured martial arts? After all, they can’t all be ranked the same since some will be able to give martial arts justice more than others. That said, we would like to share our Top 5 games:
#5: Dead or Alive
While there has been massive controversy about this particular game series because of the gratuitous exposure of the female fighters in various states of undress or poses, one should not discount this. Dead or Alive is one of the pioneer versus games that was on the very first Playstation.
This game series focused heavily on hand to hand combat. While there were some the veered into the realm of impossibility, there were others that still had martial arts at its core.
#4: Dynasty Warriors
While this game is of the hack and slash genre, it still heavily features martial arts. Martial arts does transcend past hand to hand combat. There are martial arts that are weapon based. There would be kenjutsu which is heavily focused on sparring. There would also be Aikido which has been known to use the staff.
This particular game follows the selected warrior as they utilize their weapon against massive armies.
#3: The King of Fighters
Another one of the older genres of fighting games! King of Fighters introduced some pretty popular video game characters like Mai Shiranui. We placed this game into the list because we believe that this game helped to cast a wide net for the concept of martial arts. While the fighting styles in the game might be fictitious, they had real world styles at their core.
#2: Tekken
This continues to be one of the more popular games that have reached worldwide fame. Tekken while a hand to hand fighting game, boasts the fact that the move set of their characters are primarily based on real world fighting styles.
Karate, Kenpo, Aikido, Capoeira, and so many more are all carried by their characters.
#1: Street Fighter
Of course, our number one pick is the one that started it all. The Street Fighter series introduced the world to the idea of fighting games. The main characters of Ken and Ryu both use a style that is very reminiscent of karate. The character of Sagat was centered on Muay Thai which also represented the country he was from.
Mind you, the picks we have are chosen because of our own set of preferences. So you are more than welcome to build your own top 5 list of martial arts video games. In any case, one of the reasons why martial arts remains alive and well in the consciousness of newer generations is the fact that video games like the ones we listed above exist.
What video games would you add to this list if you could?
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