By Tanya Batson-Savage, Freelance Writer

IN A nation that takes its action movie watching seriously, the 'kickers', movies featuring martial arts, take pride of place.

The Jamaican psyche, especially from the 1980s, is marked through and through with words like 'cat's claw-style', 'Silver Fox', 'Ninja', 'Shaolin Monk' and 'snake fist' and a plethora of other words which we only vaguely understand but completely marvel at.

Indeed, the power of the martial arts movie seemed to be leaving martial artists behind. Hollywood discovered the wondrous, energy-pumping action to be found in marital arts and the cinema style used in creating them and has been applying them to movies which do not bear the title martial arts.

Indeed the greatest of these faux martial arts films is probably The Matrix. If one watches the plot lines closer, it is obvious that The Matrix uses the typical martial arts story line with its four easy steps:

1) Hero (Neo) is discovered by master (Morpheus)

2) Master trains hero in the way of chosen fight style

3) Master gets kidnapped by superior fighters

4) Student must avenge or rescue master.

REVIVAL IN 'MATRIX'

The Matrix style was also evocative of martial arts movies. The most obvious is the fighting that also greatly depended on wire work. Another was the use of slow motion so that one can see the deadly nature of the blows. Indeed, though we all marvelled at Neo's ability to dodge bullets, martial arts stars have been doing so for years. Some have actually caught bullets in their teeth.

In today's action movie, with the help of wire work, CGI and stunt doubles, everybody has become a martial arts expert, without having to go through the 'wax on, wax off' training.

Gone are the days when the stars of such flicks had to have been trained in the artform. However, a few great martial artists remain, who can deliver the deadly choreography with more innate style and grace.

Hero directed by Zhang Yimou is the latest in martial arts movies that have displayed this art of war. Hero, a movie which had been shelved, exemplifies how far the martial arts movie has come. According to Boxoffivemojo.com, Hero has grossed almost US$36 million up to last Tuesday.

WATERMARK MOVIE

While this means it is performing well for an end of summer movie, this box office take only puts it at number 25 on the chart for the highest grossing martial arts/ action flicks. What makes Hero a watermark movie for martial arts is that it is being shown in Western theatres in Mandarin with subtitles, which puts it one step further than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Both Hero and Crouching Tiger display a growing confidence in the perception of how martial arts are viewed. They show that martial arts movies are about a lot more than the ability to deliver a flying kick or a deadly blow via a steel tipped ponytail.

Additionally, by showing it in Mandarin, Hero escapes any possibilities of the being marred by the bad dubbing which were a staple of early martial arts flicks being viewed in the West. Additionally, the movie shows a marked departure from a focus on the fighting element over to the artistic element. It is, therefore, interesting that the movie makes a connection between calligraphy and fighting. In doing so it celebrates two of the essentially human traits ­ language and art.

Indeed, though the movie had the second highest gross for a foreign language film (US$18 million) it was a weak follow-up to the highest opener The Passion of the Christ, which earned US$83 million for its weekend debut.

Even so, the passion of Jet Li is paying off. One of the highest grossing martial arts actors, Jet Li easily helps to marry the artistic and martial arts aspect of the movie.

Though Hero is clearly not a copy of Crouching Tiger one of the major similarities that the movies share, is that they bring an added element of art and emotional depth to the martial arts movie. While these elements are not new to Chinese films, they are different from the usually simplistic takes that most of the movies that have populated western screens have shown.

Far more so than Crouching Tiger, Hero presents many of the elements that one would expect in a typical martial arts movie. The most important of these is vengeance. Though the movie contains that all important 'I'll kill you and avenge my master' line, that we have learned to love and expect in martial arts movies, it is done in a very different way.

MARTIAL ARTS NOSTALGIA

Hero presents stories within stories and one has to sift through them to get through to its heart. On the way one passes some very beautiful moves and swordplay which evoke the passing of a brush on canvas.

Though we can easily embrace the art within this movie, one can long for the simple deadly grace of flicks like Legend of the Drunken Master. Indeed, it is quite possible that despite its popularity at the cinema, Hero may not resonate as well with hardcore martial arts movie fans, especially not Jamaican ones.

One thing the movie may appeal to, however, is that well-seated belief that martial artists can actually do anything. Fitz-George Rattray, chief instructor of the Jamaica Self-Defence Academy, St. Andrew, notes that the unreal expectations of casual viewers are nothing new, and may well have been intentional. "Generally, non-martial artists have an unrealistic view," he said. He noted, however, that as far back as when shaolin priests were practising shaolin kickboxing, what the public saw, and what they practised were two different things. Rattray points out that when they gave public displays, the monks' actions were "more dancy and prancy".

Indeed, as Hero exemplifies technology has made it possible to add even greater style and art to martial arts. While it makes the science behind fighting no clearer it makes the art even more fantastic.

The martial arts can seem so fantastic in large part because non-practitioners know so little about them. Many Jamaicans know very little of the differences between kung fu and karate.

INDIAN ORIGIN

Rattray explains that kung fu originated in India, though it was popularised as we know it in China. He tells the tale of how one Chinese Buddhist monk begged to be taught by an Indian Buddhist monk, and after finally learning the art, taking it back to his temple. Rattray noted that though the Chinese monks originally learnt martial arts for protection, they soon learned that it improved their spirituality.

Karate, on the other hand, originated in Okinawa. Translating literally as open hand, karate was created to help the swordless Okinawas battle the Japanese. Not being allowed to fight with swords, they learnt to use everyday implements, which were eventually stylised into weapons. The artform gradually made its way to Japan.

Due to the popularity of karate, kung fu and tae-kwon-do, many associate the martial arts with east Asia, especially China and Japan. However, various martial arts have sprung up from all over the world, some of course influenced by those of Asian origin. According to Rattray, the earliest evidence of martial arts were actually found in Africa. The African connection has been evidence in contemporary martial arts through Capoeira.

Regardless of the artform, not that most viewers can tell the difference, the hero is an essential element of what attracts. Though he admits to not knowing the key to Jamaica's fascination with martial arts flicks, Rattray is willing to hazard a guess. "I think we look for heroes, and we like flashy things," he says. The martial arts hero, with all the flash and style, is a combination of these two elements.

Indeed, which hero can be more gripping that one found in a martial arts flick. Bruce Lee, to Jackie Chan and through to Jet Li and Chow Yung Fatt, the heroes presented have been heroes ripped from fantasy, but ones who seem real. Heroes who, guided by the need to avenge a wrong, will overcome all obstacles, even their own bodies. When you add to that the cool sounds (think Bruce Lee), fascinating moves, and simple though effective visual effects, what more could one ask for.

Taken from the Sunday Gleaner, September 12, 2004

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