The transcript below is from the video “Jackie Chan’s Kung Fu is “Fake” and That’s Okay | Video Essay“ by Accented Cinema.

It’s an age old question: Can Jackie Chan fight? Many people call Kung Fu “fake”, for the simple reason that its practitioner isn’t the best in an MMA ring. And that, ot me, its a very narrow minded understanding of Kung Fu.

So, for this episode, I’d like to talk about how Kung Fu took over cinema, and how it has changed. And through this exploration, hopefully we can learn to appreciate Kung Fu’s beauty.

(Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema): 

“Yeah!  Alright, you read the video title.  You probably know where I’m going with this.  We all know that one person who says this, “Um… you know wrestling’s fake, right?”  Well, A, it’s staged, not fake.  There’s nothing fake about a 10 feet drop.  And B, there are also competitive wrestling out there.  How dare you?  Now, change wrestling with Kung Fu and the discussion gets nasty.

“Kung Fu is useless in real life.”  “Jackie Chan is not a real fighter.”  “Chinese martial art is fake.”  I’ll tackle those claims in this episode, but let me say this first.  Even if this is fake, so what?  That’s okay.”

“Jackie Chan’s Kung Fu is “Fake” and that’s okay.” 

(Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema): 

Chapter 1

 “First, let’s tackle the questions of effectiveness and practicality.  As with wrestling, Kung Fu came from a place of real world combat.  It likely stemmed from early human needs for effective violence in warfare.  Documentation of Chinese Martial Art dates back as far as 5th century BCE, and interestingly enough, the art was similar to competitive wrestling.  Over time, various religious and philosophical ideas took hold and Chinese martial arts gradually began putting more emphasis on its form.

In other words, you don’t just kick ass.  You have to look good doing it.  Still, the effectiveness of Chinese martial art persists all the way to relatively recent history.  In the 20th century, for example, Chinese martial arts were used during the Boxer Rebellion.  Although, their effectiveness were mostly used against civilians.  When facing western invaders… well…  But as firearms took over the battlefield, Kung Fu gradually shed its combat utility and became a discipline in and of itself.

(Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema): 

Today, relatively few styles of Kung Fu even practice sparring.  It’s all about the performance.  Some consider this a regression much as people consider abstract painting a regression from renaissance art, and it doesn’t help that there is a lot of Kung Fu quackery out there.  So people began calling Kung Fu “fake.”  But I see this as an adaption.  As we’ll see, Kung Fu lives on from a different discipline.”

(Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema):

Chapter 2

 “You’re looking at a Beijing Opera performance.  Unlike European Opera where music is the dominant focus, Beijing Opera divides its focus among four elements; singing, acting, speaking, and fighting.  That’s right.  Acrobatic fighting is part of the opera tradition.  Here, not only is combat effectiveness not required, it is actively avoided.  Punches and kicks need accuracy to stay close but not make contact.

It has to look powerful but also not do any damage if contact is made.  It needs to have a predictable rhythm like a dance.  It is a task even experienced martial artists have trouble following.”

Jackie Chan (Hong Kong martial artist, actor, film director, producer, stuntman, and singer):

 “You just remember your thing.  You have to watch me.”

 (Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema):

 “It is in this discipline that Jackie Chan receives his martial art training.  From age six, Jackie was trained to be an opera performer, which also explains why he can act.”

Jackie Chan (Hong Kong martial artist, actor, film director, producer, stuntman, and singer):

“I lost control.”

(Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema):

“And even has albums under his name.  As Tony Zhou from “Every Frame a Painting” pointed out, “If you look at some of Jackie’s earliest films, there’s a very noticeable rhythm.”  That is because the fighting from Beijing Opera has a rhythm.  In fact, it is dictated by the music played in the background.  This tradition continues and evolves to be faster and faster, and so are the acrobatics, the fancy, flowery movement.

It is this lineage that dictates most people’s current perspective of Kung Fu.  It looks “fake” because that is the point.  That 10 feet drop looks fake, too and it looks awesome.  What does it matter if Jackie Chan’s Kung Fu is fake?”

(Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema):

Chapter 3 

“Thanks to Kung Fu movies, the legacy of Chinese Kung Fu continues outside of its theatre tradition as we can see from World Wushu Championships.  In most events, Chinese martial art is performed like gymnastics with some exceptions such as Sanda.  Before you yell “Lame!” in the comments, take a look at this clip in which Anderson Silva knocks his opponent out.  Anderson Silva is one of the best MMA strikers in history but his punches don’t look that impressive, do they?

That’s because real fighters have to avoid their “tell.”  Their punches have little wind-up and come out quick, otherwise their opponent can react and block it.  Wushu, in comparison, is a completely different discipline.  Spins, back flips, splits, building up the anticipation, powerful release.  Both disciplines demand a great deal of body control, but for different purpose.  One, for kicking ass.  One, for looking good.

Looking good however, is not easy.  Take a look at this.  See how Bruce Lee pulls back his arm and shoulder before making a huge arc with his fist?  It’s not because he’s incapable of fast punching.  It’s because his job is to sell the punch, using the same principle from Wushu performance; anticipation, fast action, posing.  Fast forward to 2007.  This principle used by Bruce Lee is now used by Donnie Yen, but faster and even more exaggerated.

(Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema):

Now, that’s a punch!  Today, Chinese martial arts have become so specialized.  Even experienced fighters have trouble crossing over and getting results.  Without the training and knowledge to sell his attack, Mike Tyson has to swing his punches from off-screen.  Sell the power through sound effects and the fight needs to be tightened up with editing.  Compare that to Simon Kuke, an experienced stuntman.  He can hold on to long takes like this.

It’s not because Mike Tyson can’t fight for real.  It’s because he doesn’t know how to fight pretty.  One last example from Kung Fu Hustle.  We see Yu Xing, an actual Shaolin monk in real life kicking people in the face.  See how his foot pulls back after he makes contact?  Anyone with real combat training knows you are supposed to kick past your target.  In other words, he pulls back his kick right as he makes contact.

Looking frame-by-frame, you can barely see him slowing down right before tapping this man’s head.  What amazing accuracy!  Compare this to Stephen Chow’s later fight scene, Chow has no formal Kung Fu training and it shows.  None of his kicks make contact because he doesn’t have the ability to kick people without hurting them.  Now you know better.  Don’t you think Kung Fu and its practitioners deserve a bit more respect?”

(Accented Cinema (Yang Zhang-owner & Chinese-Canadian filmmaker, YouTube video essay series with a focus on foreign cinema):

In Conclusion

“Granted, I think Kung Fu is doing a piss poor job at advertising itself.  Many styles still cling to its identity as a combat art, yet refuse to spar and adapt along with other martial arts.  So, many people’s dismissal of Chinese Kung Fu isn’t without its reasons, but with or without combat utility – Kung Fu, and Wrestling, for the matter still requires years upon years of training.  Through Kung Fu, practitioners achieve such fine control over their body, it shouldn’t be any less impressive than a real fighter.

Yes, that is Vincent Zhao, kicking the foam off a microphone.  Asking if Jackie Chan can fight is like asking if Anderson Silva can act.  They both do, but that’s not what they are good at.  It’s okay if Kung Fu lost its combat edge.  It is still a difficult art that these people spend decades practicing.  They should be proud and honor that fact because they are great artists, martial artist.  Oh, we got to see that one more time.”

(Scene from Unforgiven (2006)  World Wrestling Entertainment)

“Awesome!”