This Chinese-produced documentary introduces and explores the world of modern wushu in all its forms while highlighting the choreography of national champions, providing some history and displaying some of China’s vast array of kung fu weaponry and many different styles.

Watching kung fu movies, new or old, where elaborate choreography is paired with dramatic storytelling is often an eye-opening experience for viewers unaccustomed to Chinese screen fighting. For most, how Jackie Chan or Jet Li can perform such fantastic moves in films like Drunken Master II and Once Upon a Time in China remains a mystery. However, martial artists who have studied kung fu or wushu, as it’s labeled in Mainland China, know that it takes years of body conditioning, training in rudimentary and advanced forms, mental focus, and great determination to reach or surpass a level of proficiency witnessed by the best martial arts actors. It also takes a degree of film magic. With this in mind, consider This is Kung Fu, a documentary produced in Mainland China after the considerable success of the country’s first kung fu movie, Shaolin Temple (1982). It’s a propaganda work whose aim is not political, but to turn viewers on to the magic of real Chinese kung fu and wushu as it is practiced in the modern world. It succeeds admirably and thus presents an enlightening journey for the kung fu movie enthusiast or anyone remotely interested in the art.

As Jet Li is the only recognizable face in the film, his image is generally used to sell it. A portion of the film is devoted to Li, but only a small one in scenes that include archival exhibition footage at age eight, wushu forms work at age nineteen, brief footage from his first two films, and images of Li with his family. The rest features other top wushu practitioners of all ages performing a wide variety of styles and weapons combat as the narrator takes the viewer through a thorough introduction to wushu.

This is truly a remarkable and one-of-kind documentary that anyone can enjoy. It has world-class examples of wushu that experienced martial artists will appreciate and enough real-world examples of styles seen in countless movies with supplemental information that will entertain and inform genre fans.

The documentary begins with a general introduction to wushu, China’s national sport. It’s derived from traditional kung fu, but with the direction of the government it has evolved in the 20th century into a performance art form and sport, like gymnastics, but with an emphasis on displays of martial skill from weapons handling and forms to coordinated sparring between two or more competitors. What this film shows is that, unlike gymnastics, wushu is also a part of everyday life for many people of all ages. Young children such as Jet Li are shown using the advantage of their flexible bodies and quick learning ability to perform complex routines. Yung adults in their prime perform advanced techniques involving difficult weapons like whip darts and three-section staves. Older masters and even the elderly are shown to possess an amazing level of fitness, precision and dexterity for their age.

The bulk of the film goes into the various major kung fu styles with history and examples provided. These examples include Tai Chi, all the Shaolin animal forms, weapons forms and combat with many different instruments, Wudang swordplay, and qigong. Piqua quan, Wing Chun and many other styles are also shown. The forms work by individuals is impressive enough, but the various sparring scenes are incredible. Consider that most kung fu movies, even in their heyday under the direction of kung fu masters like Lau Kar-leung, didn’t show more than eight to twelve moves in a single shot. Time didn’t permit the actors to undergo the additional training necessary to safely spar for any longer. Yet in this film, the viewer gets to see competitive practitioners who have trained for years to perfect these various forms. As a result, we’re treated to long sets (still usually edited for impact) of a fighter employing Drunken Fist against a Monkey Fist exponent. Or we see a classic encounter where a Snake Fist expert takes on the fierce technique of an Eagle’s Claw master. Seasoned genre buffs will recognize many of the techniques used in Hong Kong’s kung fu movies of the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

There is a bit of humor thrown in here or there, especially as the narrator begs his audience not to dismiss the potency of the Duck style or when he laughs at an obviously flustered Caucasian who is fumbling his way through a Tai Chi routine. But the qigong demonstration is no laughing matter. A family is shown performing some incredible feats that prove they either have incredibly thick skin or have a great understanding of what kind of punishment their bodies can take. Most alarming is how small children are voluntarily used as Dad shatters bricks over his son’s head or his daughter is weighed down by 2,200 pounds of bricks.

The best is saved for last as the film switches to footage of actual exhibition matches that are unedited, insanely fast and long. You won’t find anything this impressive in any kung fu movie. But it shows that long and complex sets of sparring are possible with enough time given to practice and mastery of the arts involved. It also gives us some appreciation for the technical proficiency of the martial arts genre’s finest performers, like Jet Li. In this way, the film makes an excellent companion piece to any collector’s library.

This is Kung Fu is proof that kung fu and wushu really are works of performance art on par with any other forms such as ballet or figure skating. The fact that these performers are using weapons that, although dulled, are more than capable of causing severe injury or death if mistakes are made is only greater reason to be in awe. Street-style martial artists may play down the effectiveness of wushu as practical defense techniques. However, the film also briefly shows how elements of wushu can be adapted to throw attackers off balance. It’s not discussed in the film, but wushu has been adapted for police and military use in China. In this way, China has the best of all worlds; an age old tradition in kung fu designed to promote health, a fantastic competitive art form that is growing in popularity around the world, the ability to draw from this pool of talent for films like Hero, and the ability to strip the flowery arts to their base maneuvers for practical self defense in the modern world.

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