15-6-09 : OCEAN DEEP

Thoughts inspired by Chen Tai Chi training with Hou Sifu

I've been passionate about martial arts and martial arts movies for as long as I can remember. The two aren't, as you might imagine, necessarily inclusive. I've met dozens of kung fu movie fans who have never trained in martial arts in their lives. Similarly, there are many die hard kung fu practitioners who turn their noses up at 'chop socky' movies. And so it goes...

Kung fu is unique in that its only world famous practitioners are those who perform their art on camera. No-one thinks of Sylvester Stallone as a famous boxer; he's an actor who plays a boxer in a string of films. With martial arts, the lines of blurred. Ask a layman to name a kung fu man, and they will undoubtedly say Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan or Jet Li. There's an assumption that, because they make martial arts movies, there guys must be martial arts masters. No-one expects Tom Cruise to really fly a 'plane, but they do believe that anyone who stars in a kung fu movie is a real kung fu master.

I get asked about this a lot, particularly as I'm one of the relatively few people with equal experience of kung fu and kung fu movies: does (insert name of Asian action star) really know kung fu? To be precise, there are actually three kinds of martial arts move star:

a) those who learned real kung fu, and then applied their skills to a film career (Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, Wu Jing, Tony Jaa...)

b) those who developed their skills as an actor, then learned what martial arts they needed to know specifically for film work (Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, Keanu Reeves...)

c) those who, though cast in martials movies, never bothered to train their skills to meet the challenge (who shall remain nameless...)

I once got into huge trouble with my former wife's boss over this issue. Apparently, 'Matrix' producer Joel Silver had told the press that Keanu Reeves could defeat Jet Li in a kung fu showdown. The South China Morning Post called and said 'Mr.Logan, as you are a martial artist and a martial arts filmmaker, how do you feel about this?'. I observed that Jet Li was a bona fide wu shu champion, and Keanu was a fine actor who had been trained to play a martial arts expert in a movie, and there was a world of difference between the two...

The Rosa Klebb of Warner Bros was not amused. Had I no respect for my wife's position as a WB publicist? I responded that I did, but asked the woman if, seriously, she thought Reeves could beat Li in a real fight? That's beside the point, she sputtered. If people don't believe it, maybe they won't come and see 'Matrix Reloaded'! (As it turned out, they did, in great numbers, and probably left the theatres thinking it exactly the kind of film one would expect from a producer who believed Keanu could beat Jet...)

But I digress... I've trained in many different martial arts styles over the years; my main style now is Hung Kuen or Hung Gar. I've also enjoyed a growing appreciation for Chen Tai Chi, especially as its taught by Sifu Ocean Hou, whom I actually met through Alive Not Dead.

Ocean, who lives in Shenzhen, has been kind enough to come across the border to train clan Logan, and with each visit he deepens my appreciation of this extraordinary art.

As you may know, their are several different branches of Tai Chi, each with its own special attributes, and with the usal internecine strife between the different sects. I don't know enough about Tai Chi to have a vote, but I do know that Ocean is the real deal. His forms is fluid and powerful, and he can apply the techniques with minimum effort and maximum result. If you're interested to contact Ocean directly, his email is youshengclub@hotmail.com, or, if you'd like to join us next time he comes to Hong Kong, feel free to contact me care of this site.

And, finally, let me list the five finest demonstrations of Tai Chi in a cinematic context:

1) Tai Chi Master AKA Twin Warriors : Jet Li plays the legendary founder of Yang Style Tai Chi in this action packed bio pic (nb the Chen style claims another antecedent). Donnie Yen was offered the main villain role and turned it down! Its terrific anyway, and out now (harrumph) on Dragon Dynasty DVD.

2) Drunken Tai Chi : In his debut, a young Donnie Yen shows the art instilled in him since childhood (his mother is master Bow Sim-Mark). Some of the comedy is goofy as Mickey's pal, but martial maestro Yuen Woo-ping puts his protege through his paces. Check out the duel between Donnie and Don Wong Tao (formerly the star of, yes!, Slaughter in San Francisco) which, for me, is better than the finale.

3) Tai Chi Boxer AKA Tai Chi 2 : Wu Jing makes his starring debut as a young Tai Chi master (and subsequently reprised the role in an excellent TV series). I remember meeting him in Hong Kong on his press tour for this film! Doesn't have the production values of Tai Chi Master, but director Yuen Woo-ping still delivers the goods, actionwise.

4) Kung Fu Cult Master: Sammo Hung plays an ancient Tai Chi master who teaches Jet what he needs to win the final battle. The film as a whole is a cheesecake mix, but this scene is gold. (Its also known as 'Kung Fu Colt Master' on some DVD sleeves.

5) Champions : My former teacher Li Fai shows her stuff in this recent martial arts actioner from Tsui Siu-ming. The drama is jingoistic, but the kung fu fighting is some of the most solid of recent vintage.