Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" held the undisputed title for best martial-arts movie of all time for nearly 20 years. But two recent releases have knocked the classic off of my No. 1 spot. The first of these is "Fist of Legend," a Jet Li remake of the Bruce Lee classic "Chinese Connection."
The background.
With "First of Legend," Li completes his cycle starring as just about every famous true-life martial folk hero in Chinese history. Others he has played are Ming revolutionary and Hung Gar Kung Fu founder Hung Hei Kwoon ("New Hero of Shaolin"), Ming revolutionary Fong Sai Yuk ("Fong Sai Yuk I" and "Fong Sai Yuk II"), fabled Taoist master and (possibly) the inventor of Taijiquan Zhang San Feng ("Tai Chi Master"), and, of course, turn-of-the-century hero, fighter and doctor Wong Fei Hung (the "Once Upon a Time in China" series).
I misspoke myself, however. In FOL, Li doesn't play the legendary Huo Yuen Jia (1869-1909), but his student, Chen Zhen. (Li is set to correct that oversight by playing Huo in a "Fist of Legend" prequel, however.)
Who was Huo Yuen Jia? He was a turn-of-the(-20th)-century martial artist who gained fame by defeating a variety of foreign fighters in challenge matches; this earned him the love of the Chinese people, who at the time, felt isolated, powerless and wronged by the many Western imperialist powers that were at the time, trying to carve up China into their own private fiefdoms. Huo was born into a family of martial artists, but was forbidden to learn his family art because he was so sickly a child. Accounts differ, but somehow, Huo managed to finagle instruction from somewhere and became a master of several styles, including the famed "Mi Zhong Chuan" - the lost-track fist. The style is known for it's fast, intricate and sophisticated footwork, which allows a practitioner to attack and evade strikes so swiftly and efficiently that he can often position himself behind his opponent without the opponent figuring out what's going on. The style specializes in confusing opponents through its sheer unpredictability.
A product of his times, Huo eventually founded the famed "Jing Wu Guan" - the "Pure Martial School," where students could train not just with him, but with any master who wanted to teach what he knew. Well-known masters of all styles were invited to visit, learn and share what knowledge they had. And many did - wing chun's famous Yip Man, for instance, spent time in Jing Wu. Huo advocated widespread martial arts training for all Chinese as a way to make the country healthier, stronger, and better able to resist an invasion. Branches of the school still exist today in Shanghai and Hong Kong.
