Karate for Life (1977)

Karate expert Mas Oyama (Sonny Chiba) leaves behind his job as yakuza bodyguard to join Japan’s top judo expert as they participate in a wrestling circuit in Okinawa. But when asked to lose in fixed matches, Mas refuses to cooperate and ends up at war with the criminals in charge.

Karate for Life is Sonny Chiba’s third and final entry in his series of films depicting the mostly fictional exploits of his real-life mentor and Kyokushin karate founder Masutatsu Oyama. Where Karate Bear Fighter basically rehashed the entire plot of Karate Bullfighter, Karate for Life strikes off in a new direction while adding to the flashy super-heroics of Sonny Chiba as he wipes the floor with one screen opponent after another. The movie opens very strong as Chiba takes on 101 karate opponents and eventually concludes with an unapologetic theft of the infamous mirror scene in Bruce Lee’s Enter the Dragon.

It’s 1952 and Mas Oyama is working as a yakuza bouncer and bodyguard. But that doesn’t stop him from continuing to challenge karate masters whenever he gets the chance. As the story opens, he walks into a dojo and takes on Yonajima and one hundred of his karate students in one mammoth brawl. Being short on cash, Mas takes an opportunity to travel to Okinawa to earn big money by competing in wrestling matches with American pro-wrestling opponents. He joins a fast-talking Japanese wrestler and a top judo expert on the mat. The only problem is that no one told him the matches are all for show and the Japanese fighters are supposed to lose. After winning a match, Mas makes a quick exit from an angry crowd. He takes to the streets and hooks up with a gang of juvenile thieves and befriends the troubled sister of one of the youths. A second attempt at pro wrestling again ends with Chiba left standing and this time the criminals in charge of the circuit want blood. They kill Mas’ wrestling friend and kidnap the girl he was helping. Joined by the judo fighter, Mas walks into the criminals’ headquarters looking for payback.

Most of Karate for Life is entertaining in one way or another, but the opening scene where Chiba takes on an entire dojo full of fighters is absolutely incredible and nothing else in the movie comes close to comparing with it. His main opponent is the dojo master, played by Masashi Ishihashi who is the lead fighting villain in most of Chiba’s ’70s movies. After a classic exchange of auditory bravado, Ishihashi informs his unwelcome guest that he’ll have to take on all of his students if he wants to challenge the school. Chiba coolly agrees and begins beating one opponent after another. When things look grim for the students, they throw oil on the dojo floor and pad their own feet with sand. Chiba simply makes a human floor mat out of a handful of opponents and keeps on fighting until he eventually takes on Ishihashi. Stylish jerky and tilted camera work and speed editing give the scene a genuine “cool” factor, where when used in action movies today, those techniques just look overblown and clichéd. It helps when you can clearly see that Chiba can really deliver some awesome moves amid the editing. While Chinese director Chang Cheh once experimented with Japanese action film techniques, it’s rarely seen in classic kung fu movies. It’s a shame for these were cutting-edge techniques that modern action filmmakers are still discovering and stumbling through in weak attempts to replicate in lesser films.

Story-wise, Karate for Life should be a disaster. It’s basically Enter the Dragon meets pro-wrestling. Instead of a remote and secret island we have Okinawa. Instead of a competition between the world’s top fighters, we have Japan’s top judo fighter and karate fighter versus American pro wrestlers, played by real-life fighters of the day like Eddy Sullivan and Rip Tyler. And instead of the evil “Mr. Han” we have a combination of a eye-eyed, revenge-seeking nemesis (Masashi Ishihashi) and a generic mob boss with a knife. The comparison is complete with the house of mirrors scene at the end that too closely resembles the end of Enter the Dragon. Even Bruce Lee’s famous flying kick from that scene makes its way in during the opening of Karate for Life. Yet artistically, Kazuhiko Yamaguchi’s direction exceeds Robert Clouse’s abilities and this, coupled with Chiba’s rugged action scenes, keeps the story afloat.

The wrestling action is almost surreal. Sonny Chiba is in a ring with who were once popular pro-wrestlers who look like cavemen. They dish out crazy moves like the “Airplane Spin Toss” and the “Atomic Drop” while Chiba’s character is clearly out of his element. He eventually resorts to what he knows best, which is direct kicking and punching and that’s not on the program. This whole premise is basically Chiba’s version of Mas Oyama’s real-life matches with foreign opponents. It’s bizarre, but definitely fun to watch. The only detractor is the implausibility of Mas going into a “fixed” fight and not being told it’s fixed, especially considering the consequences his team suffers for not sticking to the script.

Karate for Life is a wild and raucous martial arts classic with Chiba in top form. The karate action is fierce and plentiful, the lines are memorable and the opening scene is not to be missed. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining modern martial arts movie from Japan.