Compilation of routines of stars and masters in the 1980s
Run time 1 hour 24:30 min. (two VCD discs in one case)
THIS IS KUNG FU is a must have VCD, with rare footage taken in 1982 of the best wushu players in China, mostly starring the Beijing Wushu Team. This is a documentary, not an instructional video. Don't let the cheesy title put you off, this is probably the best wushu you will ever see, and there is lots of it.
This film was made in 1982 throughout China, filming the best of the best wushu professionals and amateurs (prize goes to the person who spots me watching one of the demos). Most of these are segments of forms, not complete, though some are almost complete forms. This is rare footage, taken at a time that you were not allowed to film competitions, so for some of these people, this is the only footage of them performing. And if all this wushu isn't enough, you get a virtual tour of all the historical wushu places in China, cheesy sound effects, and a really cheesy narrative. The narrative is in Mandarin or Cantonese, just set to left or right speaker (no, I won't supply a translation, trust me, you don't want to know what he is saying) The athletes perform in amazing conditions - brick courtyards, road borders, rock strewn dirt, cliff edges, the lucky ones get a grassy field. Show this to your friend who thinks wushu guys aren't tough.
Here are the contents of 'This is Kung Fu' to help you keep track of all the great performances.
Tourism Introduction includes short clips of
- Pan Qingfu sword
- Liu Zhiqing longxing sabre 100+ years old
- Hou Xuxian double sabre 90 + years old
Shaolin temple segment includes
- Luohan quan
- Chen Xin Wuzu quan
- Yu Shaowen chang quan
- Wang Jianjun staff
- Hao Zhihua sabre
- Zhao Changjun ditan
- 9 section whip
- Huang Huizhen nan quan
- Guangzhou team 3 man form
- 3 man weapons form
- Beijing team (Wang Jianjun, Yu Shaowen) 2 man form
Jet Li segment includes
- Li Lianjie sabre 8 years old
- Jet Li clips from Shaolin movies, training shots, at home, Beijing team clips
Taiji segment includes
- Ge Chunyan Chen style
- Yang Zhenduo Yang style
- Sun Jianyi Sun style
- Wu Yinghua Wu style 79 years old
- Chen Xiaowang Chen style
- Feng Zhiqiang push hands
- goofy foreigners learning taiji
Emei segment includes
- sword
- deng zhuang quan
- guo long 2 man form
- Xiao Yingpeng "monkey king" monkey 70 + years old
- Xiong Changgui monkey staff
- snake
Women segment includes
- Hui Xuna emei ci
- sword
- long tassle double sword
- double whip
- Beijing team 3 woman weapon form (Hao Zhihua sabre vs Lu Yan and Hui Xuna spears)
Wutai mountain segment includes
- Wu Tai quan
- shovel/axe
- Tang Laiwei spear
- Lu Yan 3 section staff
- Beijing team 2 man spear vs hand
Liang shan segment (Song Jiang's mountain lair)
- double axe
- Wu Song tuo kao
- various very traditional weapons
- double hooks
- sabre/ 9 section whip
- sledge hammer vs staff
Wu Dang mountain segment includes
- Wu Dang sword
- Li Xia long tassle sword ( I am trying not to make comments, but this form includes the Li Xia trademark 'straight kick drop immediately to empty stance on left leg', and if you haven't seen it, it alone is worth the $9)
- tong bei quan
- Li Zhizhou drunken sword
- Beijng team 3 man hand form
Animal styles segment includes
- Li Engui duck 80 + years old
- white crane
- dog
- preying mantis
- drunk vs monkey
- Xu Xiangdong eagle
- eagle vs snake
Internal Styles segment includes
- Yue Wang temple Yue Fei's mausoleum
- Liang Changxing xingi quan
- xingyi 2 man form
- Dong Haichuan's memorial
- Ge Chunyan baguazhang
- bagua sabre
- bagua 2 women form
Qigong segment includes
- Hou Shuying, wife and kids breaking rocks
Competition segment includes shots from Hangzhou 1982 national wushu competition
- Jiangsu team group form Yue Jia quan
- Zhejiang team group form Shaolin quan
- Wang Li staff 11 years
- 2 women hand form
- 2 man hand form
- Zhejiang team 2 women staff vs 3 section staff
- Jiangsu team 3 man weapons form
- Sichuan team 3 man weapons form
- Jiangsu team 3 man hand form