Comments on: The Heroine Yu So-chau http://www.kungfucinema.com/the-heroine-yu-so-chau-3769 Screen Fighting News & Review Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:25:39 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jean Lukitsh http://www.kungfucinema.com/the-heroine-yu-so-chau-3769/comment-page-1#comment-9206 Jean Lukitsh Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:33:46 +0000 http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=3769#comment-9206 It's true that many of the actors came from the opera world, but that doesn't mean they weren't also martial artists. Opera movement can be terribly stylized, but there are also indications that performers in the theater and film industries of pre-war Shanghai were trying to develop a more realistic style of combat, especially in contemporary productions. An early film by Ren Pengnian (GREEDY NEIGHBORS, 1932) shows this style of fighting, and it may have been choreographed by Yuen Siu-tin (Yuen Wo-ping's father), who was an opera veteran who worked with Ren at the time. Many martial arts schools teach fighting sets with 2 or more students performing a mock combat. The longer the students practice, the more natural the set appears. The old film actors didn't have much time to rehearse, but I see them demonstrating the same strategic interplay in the best screen fights. Of course, there's a certain degree of stylization in every staged combat. One thing is for sure - there needs to be a lot more research done on this topic! Basically I think we're saying the same thing, but I don't see that big a gap between opera technique and martial arts technique. It’s true that many of the actors came from the opera world, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t also martial artists. Opera movement can be terribly stylized, but there are also indications that performers in the theater and film industries of pre-war Shanghai were trying to develop a more realistic style of combat, especially in contemporary productions. An early film by Ren Pengnian (GREEDY NEIGHBORS, 1932) shows this style of fighting, and it may have been choreographed by Yuen Siu-tin (Yuen Wo-ping’s father), who was an opera veteran who worked with Ren at the time.

Many martial arts schools teach fighting sets with 2 or more students performing a mock combat. The longer the students practice, the more natural the set appears. The old film actors didn’t have much time to rehearse, but I see them demonstrating the same strategic interplay in the best screen fights. Of course, there’s a certain degree of stylization in every staged combat. One thing is for sure – there needs to be a lot more research done on this topic!

Basically I think we’re saying the same thing, but I don’t see that big a gap between opera technique and martial arts technique.

]]> By: nn http://www.kungfucinema.com/the-heroine-yu-so-chau-3769/comment-page-1#comment-9177 nn Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:25:23 +0000 http://www.kungfucinema.com/?p=3769#comment-9177 "Kung fu cinema started when directors and tech crews first worked with actors trained in combat." I'd argue that Kung Fu cinema started when early directors, quite naturally, began importing the aesthetics and techniques of Chinese opera into the the new medium of film. Even today, the coreography of many Kung Fu or Wuxia films have more to do with the stylized movements of opera performance, and less to do with the intricacies of combat training. “Kung fu cinema started when directors and tech crews first worked with actors trained in combat.”

I’d argue that Kung Fu cinema started when early directors, quite naturally, began importing the aesthetics and techniques of Chinese opera into the the new medium of film. Even today, the coreography of many Kung Fu or Wuxia films have more to do with the stylized movements of opera performance, and less to do with the intricacies of combat training.

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