All About The Kung Fu Kid Flick: Martial Art Differences
6:44 PM // 0 comments // sb blogger // Category: Self-defence //By Dustin Fennell
The Karate Kid has made a comeback thanks to the latest flick starring Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith. The film, which is a new take of the 1980's original starring Ralph Macchio as Daniel and Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi, diverges from the original in many ways. Although it sticks to the general plot of the original, one very important difference between the films is the style of martial art portrayed.
While in the original movie Mr. Miyagi teaches Macchio's character Daniel Larusso about the art of Karate, the new film actually takes protagonist Dre Parker through the process of learning Kung Fu. This means that the new flick should more appropriately be re-named "The Kung Fu Kid".
Kung Fu and Karate are two very different styles of the collective martial arts. While lay people may not know the difference, the differences are easily distinguishable and are such that they needed to be addressed by the dialogue itself. An exasperated Dre Parker explains to his mother, "It's not Karate, it's Kung Fu!"
Modern Karate finds its roots in Japan, where it evolved to a rigid style of fighting that is powerful and exact, distinguishable by its short, quick movements. In the original version, Mr. Miyagi's backstory integrated perfectly with karate's history and gave way to his philosophy behind the self defense art.
Kung Fu on the other hand has its roots in China. Movements in Kung Fu are very fluid, swift and resemble a choreographed dance. It is speculated that the martial art in the remake was changed both as a refreshing twist of the 1980's classic and as an accommodation for Jackie Chan, who plays the wise martial art master Mr. Han and has been successfully portraying Kung Fu to American audiences for years.
In both versions, the martial art masters mentor their naive students through a process called muscle recognition, where a repetitive action is learned and "memorized" by the muscles involved and allows them to react more quickly.
In the original, the method was introduced through the iconic "wax on, wax off" scene. The purpose is unknown to the audience until the later confrontation.
Mr. Han, in comparison, does something similar: He makes Dre take his jacket off, pick it up, hang it up and put it on again. This also aims to teach him basic blocking, but for kung fu. Other than this lesson, the rest of Mr. Han's teachings are very distinguishable from Mr. Miyagi's.
In sum, both masters teach their students that martial arts are not a means of violence, but a way to find one's own center of balance. Still that's as far as their teachings have in common. Because of the sheer nature of kung fu, Mr. Han has to incorporate other methods to fully teach his craft and says little more about the philosophical aspects of kung fu. The result is a very Yoda and Skywalker interaction between Dre and Mr. Han, which the script addresses directly though Dre's own commentary.
While in the original movie Mr. Miyagi teaches Macchio's character Daniel Larusso about the art of Karate, the new film actually takes protagonist Dre Parker through the process of learning Kung Fu. This means that the new flick should more appropriately be re-named "The Kung Fu Kid".
Kung Fu and Karate are two very different styles of the collective martial arts. While lay people may not know the difference, the differences are easily distinguishable and are such that they needed to be addressed by the dialogue itself. An exasperated Dre Parker explains to his mother, "It's not Karate, it's Kung Fu!"
Modern Karate finds its roots in Japan, where it evolved to a rigid style of fighting that is powerful and exact, distinguishable by its short, quick movements. In the original version, Mr. Miyagi's backstory integrated perfectly with karate's history and gave way to his philosophy behind the self defense art.
Kung Fu on the other hand has its roots in China. Movements in Kung Fu are very fluid, swift and resemble a choreographed dance. It is speculated that the martial art in the remake was changed both as a refreshing twist of the 1980's classic and as an accommodation for Jackie Chan, who plays the wise martial art master Mr. Han and has been successfully portraying Kung Fu to American audiences for years.
In both versions, the martial art masters mentor their naive students through a process called muscle recognition, where a repetitive action is learned and "memorized" by the muscles involved and allows them to react more quickly.
In the original, the method was introduced through the iconic "wax on, wax off" scene. The purpose is unknown to the audience until the later confrontation.
Mr. Han, in comparison, does something similar: He makes Dre take his jacket off, pick it up, hang it up and put it on again. This also aims to teach him basic blocking, but for kung fu. Other than this lesson, the rest of Mr. Han's teachings are very distinguishable from Mr. Miyagi's.
In sum, both masters teach their students that martial arts are not a means of violence, but a way to find one's own center of balance. Still that's as far as their teachings have in common. Because of the sheer nature of kung fu, Mr. Han has to incorporate other methods to fully teach his craft and says little more about the philosophical aspects of kung fu. The result is a very Yoda and Skywalker interaction between Dre and Mr. Han, which the script addresses directly though Dre's own commentary.
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