Rob Larsen

Archive for the 'kung fu' Category

Possibly My Favorite Onion Article of All Time

Whenever I'm paid $200,000 to demonstrate my martial arts abilities and give a short speech to a gathering of young people, I always speak about the same thing: the epidemic of violence we see in our society today. Why do so many kids think using their fists is the answer to all of life's problems? Where do they get these ideas? That's why I'm using my status as the world's most famous martial arts movie star to teach children an important lesson.

Never, ever take a fist to another person unless you're profiting handsomely from it.

I was a child once, and I know what it's like to want to settle your differences with a fight. There were many times I dreamed about giving a swift roundhouse kick to the bullies who tormented me. And I could have, too. I was trained. Ready. But when I entered the Peking Opera School to learn kung fu, my master Yu Jim Yuen told me that the true warrior must never strike first. He must sit and wait—at least until he has secured a three-picture deal with Warner Bros. and has fully developed his persona as a highly marketable, family-friendly Bruce Lee.

It's funny, of course, but what I love about it is how well it references Jackie's career.

Check out the full article:

Violence Must Only Be Used To Make Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars | The Onion – America's Finest News Source

Promo Reel for Tony Jaa in Ong Bak II. The World is a Wonderful Place.

Jaa's stunt and fight work in the original Ong Bak is about as good as it gets outside of Hong Kong. While I was somewhat disappointed with his follow-up, Tom yum goong, the blend of different martial arts on view in this promo reel are enough to get me excited as all get out for this film.

Thanks to Tak Toyoshima for the heads up. He got it via: Twitch

8 Great Screen Fighters – Hong Kong's Greatest Martial Arts Movie Stars

One caveat- with the exception of Jackie, these aren't really in any order.

As a side note, I've actually met two of these folks, Jackie and Donnie Yen. Very cool.

Other than that, on with the fun…
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How I spent part of my Sunday…

Watching some lion dance and martial arts demonstrations in Boston's Chinatown. Here's a lion dance team from the Shaolin Hung Gar Martial Arts Academy performing:

Lion Dance

As a note, I really miss working downtown and being able to go to places like China Pearl, Eldo Cake House and East Ocean City at will.

10 (more) Great Hong Kong Martial Arts Movie Fights That I Found on YouTube

Back by popular demand, here's an extension of my original Hong Kong martial arts movie post. As with the last this isn't a "top ten" or "top twenty." There's no way all the fights I'd want to include would be on Youtube (for example there's a Kwan Tak Hing fight that I'd love to include that's nowhere to be found) and coming up with such a list would take me a lot longer than the few hours each one of these posts take. This just a continued exploration of the incredible content out there on Youtube with a little commentary by me.

And with that, more kung fu goodness:
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