Kung fu capers 2.
Silly and funny video clips from cheesy kung fu films.
Wing Chun kung fu: a beginner's guide.
In the 1981 slapstick kung fu classic The Prodigal Son keen martial arts student Leung Chang (Yuen Biao) has a burning ambition to learn the Wing Chun kung fu style. However, Wing Chun expert (and keen transvestite) Master Tai refuses to teach him despite the young man's many entreaties. When Tai's rival Master Wong (Sammo Hung) offers to teach him instead our youthful hero at once accepts his offer. Master Wong's teaching methods are, to say the least, a little eccentric.
Spooky kung fu.
A soldier (Yuen Biao), fleeing from an enemy army, falls into kung fu wonderland in the superbly silly 1983 film Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain. There he meets a host of bizarre characters as he becomes embroiled in a series of surreal supernatural escapades. This scene is from the beginning of his adventures: after this things just get weirder.
Kung fu sauce (NSFW).
The 1994 film A Chinese Torture Chamber Story is pretty difficult to categorize, featuring kung fu, comedic sex scenes and bizarre judicial punishments being meted out to wrongdoers by a torture obsessed judge. I would say that it is unique except that it has a sequel (which sadly fails to live up to the original). As an example of the oddness on offer here is a scene in which a couple of fellows wandering through a bamboo forest stumble upon a martial arts duel which soon turns into an exhibition of kung fu sauce (and pretty hot kung fu sauce at that).
Anti-ninja kung fu.
In the Shaw Brothers classic Five Element Ninjas all the members of a noble martial arts school are massacred in a sneak ninja attack with the exception of a sole survivor. This lone student, Shao Tien-hao (Tien-Chi Cheng), finds a new bunch of kung fu chums and sets out to take revenge. To achieve this they must defeat the five different branches of the nasty ninja clan who each use techniques based on the five elements. In this scene the good guys take on the earth element ninjas who creep up on people by burrowing underground like Bugs Bunny. The heroes will need an innovative strategy to overcome such sneaky subterranean shenanigans.
Iron Cranium technique.
While it is a matter of opinion as to who is the most skilled martial arts actor of all time there is surely no doubt about who is the most entertaining. That title must go to Jackie Chan. Back in the 1970s when everyone else in martial arts cinema was slavishly copying Bruce Lee, Jackie invented his own style of slapstick kung fu, of which a fine early example is Drunken Master from 1978. In this scene Jackie and his sozzled sifu have an encounter with Iron Head Rat, a master of Iron Cranium technique (which basically means lots of headbutts). The sublime comedic choreography seen here was soon to become Jackie's trademark and propel him to international stardom.
Disco kung fu.
The 1970s was the golden age of disco kung fu and the greatest exponent of that style was Dolemite, the alter ego of comedian Rudy Ray Moore. In this clip from the 1976 classic Human Tornado we get to see Dolemite taking out a bunch of gangsters with a dazzling display of disco kung fu moves, accompanied by a suitably funky 70s soundtrack.
Hopping vampire kung fu.
Martial arts cinema comes with its own array of monsters, one of the most iconic being the hopping vampire. In this clip from the awesomely daft 1986 feature Kung Fu Wonder Child a wandering maiden (played by Yukari Oshima) is accosted by a pair of cute looking little girl hopping vampires seeking to enlist her help. But looks can be deceptive and they are, in fact, luring her into a trap which sets the scene nicely for some full on hopping vampire kung fu capers.