Those of you who have followed me the past couple of years may be aware of my pro-wrestling escapades. Primarily, the unnamed wrestling event with an old friend that unfortunately let his life spiral out of control. The match that I trained 7 months for, the main event, was written off the show because this individual was drunk, high, and late to his own show, which I organized for him. What many people aren’t aware of is my more extensive background in martial arts. My main skillset is boxing and Muay Thai, but I’ve also dabbled in BJJ, Krav Maga, Tae Kwon Do, and Hapkido. My martial arts journey started in the Army, as we were trained essentially in BJJ. Shortly after I got out, I went to the Gracie Academy where I was exposed to Muay Thai and boxing. I realized quickly that I just enjoyed Muay Thai and boxing more than the grappling in BJJ, and eventually decided to narrow my focus. Eventually, at a different MMA gym due to moving, I became the “sparring” guy for the professional fighters before their fights. That means I was fairly competent. I was about ready to start having boxing matches of my own. Then life happened, and I couldn’t afford to keep training. Later, I dabbled in Krav Maga, the Israeli Martial Art, because it was free, as the gym was run by someone in my parish. In retrospect, I’m glad that I didn’t send my money to Israel (I’m not sure if any of your dues do actually go there, just a thought). Eventually, I was lured into another dojo out of curiosity for the Hapkido, but ended up mostly just doing Muay Thai again. Spending years on boxing, I never gave myself the opportunity to belt in a traditional martial art such as Karate. To make a long story short, the nearest gym to my residence in Texas happens to be a Karate gym. Since I’m no longer doing the wrestling thing, and I’ve always wanted to pursue a traditional martial art, I decided to join it. This then sparked an interest in martial arts films. So I figured I’d watch a Bruce Lee movie. Well, I decided to start with Fists of Fury because it was free on Peacock or Amazon.
I remember Bruce Lee primarily due to my childhood, as a neighborhood friend of mine was obsessed with him. That’s probably why he came to mind during my latest foray into martial arts. Bruce Lee was an interesting fellow – a legit street fighter and Hong Kong gang member. He eventually moved to the United States where he taught his own form of martial arts, which he called Jeet Kune Do. Jeet Kune Do was a blend of Kung Fu, and other more contemporary fighting forms, such as boxing. One of his most famous students was none other than the indestructible force, Chuck Norris. During this time, he also had a short but insanely successful film career that arguably popularized martial arts in America. Sadly, Bruce died a mysterious death at the age of 32. The official cause of death was brain swelling due to an allergic reaction to headache medication.
On to the film: Fists of Fury. The storyline is by no means complicated. The Grand Master of a Chinese martial arts school died a mysterious death. Bruce Lee’s character, Chen, was the teacher's best student. Shortly after his death, fighters from a competing Japanese dojo showed up in an effort to intimidate and insult the school, even presenting them with a picture that said “Sick Men of Asia”. An apparent Japanese jab at the Chinese. Chen’s colleagues prevented him from acting immediately, but eventually he would sneak away to the other dojo. At the other dojo, he essentially humiliates the school by single handedly defeating all of their students and master at the same time. The Japanese were highly influential in Hong Kong, and thus Chen’s dojo was facing political pressure thanks to his behavior. Chen eventually discovers that it was the Japanese delegation themselves that had poisoned his beloved teacher, and he goes on a detective and revenge spree towards those responsible.
I had no idea what to expect other than cool fighting scenes. The movie definitely delivered on that throughout the film. The lip syncs were absolutely hilarious to me, as it was basically white voices coming out of Chinese people, except for an instance with an Indian, and suddenly the accent was accurate. Perhaps I’m easily amused, but I would keep watching these foreign Asian films just to laugh at the lip syncs. I’d much prefer that to English subtitles. What I most liked about the film, however, were the elements of Chinese Nationalism. As a Nationalist, I appreciate Nationalism for all real Countries that weren’t created by Soviets. After WW2, Hong Kong was a British Colony after having been briefly occupied by Japan. The tensions between the Japanese and Chinese under these circumstances were cool to see from a historical perspective.
As far as the storyline and moral theme goes, there isn’t much to like from an Orthodox Christian perspective. The film is basically glorifying Chen’s retribution for the sake of his murdered teacher, as he goes on to kill many from the Japanese camp and delegation. There doesn’t even seem to be any sort of inner conflict about it with Chen. Even the others from the Chinese dojo weren’t as much concerned with the killings, except for their fear of being shut down by the governing authorities due to Japanese pressure. There was also unfortunately some nudity towards the end, as the bad guys were delighting in her show. This seemed entirely random and unnecessary, but at least it was the bad guys that were watching, perhaps in an effort to make the Japanese seem crude and degenerative.
I’ll be continuing to train in Karate - the Japanese stuff, sorry, Bruce! While I’m enthusiastic about martial arts as much as I ever was, perhaps my enthusiasm for Bruce Lee films has been tempered. Chinese Nationalism is pretty cool, but that can’t be the only guiding principle of your morality. I hope that his other films have more to them than homicidal revenge. For its terrible morality, and not enough else to make up for it, I have to give Fists of Fury 2 out of 5 stars.
