REVIEW: ‘Peculiar Boxing Tricks and the Master’ (1978)

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Following the release of the hugely popular Drunken Master, starring Jackie Chan, there was seemingly no end to the exploitation of its stars. After appearing in Lau Kar-leung’s magnificent Shaw Brothers classic Heroes of the East, Simon Yuen (father of Yuen Wo-ping) headlined this oddly-titled and cheap Taiwanese production with fellow SB alum Kong Do in what amounts to an extended cameo. It does little to help Peculiar Boxing Tricks and the Master, which is as unappealing to watch as its title is to sound out.

In a highly derivative genre story, unremarkable kung fu star Ting Wa-chung plays a Jackie Chan knockoff as Shao Lei, who trains with his comic relief buddy (Hui Bat-liu) under a kung fu master in a number of oddball techniques to take on the master’s nemesis Siu Pau (Kong Do). Shao Lei spends most of his time engaged in cock fighting when he’s not working at Tung’s (Simon Yuen) bean curd shop. Then along comes a kung fu master with especially fake-looking eyebrows and matching wig, who takes a liking to the youth and begins teaching him “back kung fu.” Training includes throwing him on a bed of spikes. Later, Shao advances to training with bamboo strips tied to posts and pulled back like a bow to release and give him a sound thrashing. He’s also given a kung fu manual that ends up partially burned, forcing him to interpret half of the instructions that are missing the legwork for use in his training. Finally, his master develops a grasshopper kung fu style that Shao adopts into his training. This random mix of fantasy martial styles ends up being put to use against local yokels employed by a petty boss. Predictably, the boss teams up with the master’s old enemy, a master of “Chicken Fist,” and Shao and his goofball buddy must take them all on.

Even without lamo production values and a lack of big-name talent, it’s easy to spot a kung fu movie lemon. Take one good look at the action and the truth comes out. In this film, the kung fu is slow, clunky and constantly reverts to comedy fu that fails to show any of the technical expertise, creativity and fun one can find from classic kung fu comedy leaders Lau Kar-leung, Yuen Wo-ping, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung. Sure, stunt doubles perform a variety of flips, falls and leaps and Simon Yuen briefly gets in on the action. But it’s all weak-kneed fluff that all but the most dedicated fu fan will find difficult not to dismiss out of boredom.

Tossed in amongst the film’s many forgettable fights are equal amounts of juvenile comedy situations where flatulence, foot odors, bird shit, and Looney Toons-inspired antics, accented by sound effects, become the groan-inducing punch lines to very unfunny jokes. Yuen Wo-ping could be accused of using the same banal tactics in his early ’80s kung fu comedies, but at least his stuff was well-choreographed and curiously surreal in its bizarre nature.