Steven Ho's Blog - Deconstructing Fighting and Stunts for your enjoyment

Not sure about his decision to use the kid in 0:42…but this is pretty cool, historic footage from the thirties.

Sugar Shane Mosely (46-6, 39 knockouts) will be in full training mode soon at his Big Bear gym. But he dropped by Westside Boxing Club yesterday to train while he was in LA doing press junkets for his upcoming fight against 29-year-old Sergio Mora (22-1-1, six KOs), a former WBC junior middleweight king at the Staples Center. As always, the Hall of Famer is as gracious out of the ring as he is savvy and tough in the ring. He took the time to sign pictures for the local kids and even donned a body pad and mitts to work with his son.

Westside Boxing Club | 4500 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90019 | T: 323 947-1306

PRE-ICON

This is pretty historic footage - Bruce Lee’s screen test for The Green Hornet. He was 24, super cool and composed. About 10 years before Enter the Dragon, The Green Hornet was America’s first look at Bruce…so this footage is literally how it all began.

Given his friendship with Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, I’m pretty convinced that if Master Bruce Lee were alive today he would’ve most likely been sitting court side next to Jack at the Lakeshow this Thursday. I’ve been into all these music mash ups that have been floating around lately, and was I inspired to make Bruce-Kobe mash up art to commemorate #5!

Big thanks to Francis Pineda of Jhoon Ree Tae Kwon Do in Arlington, Virginia for finding this in his VHS drawer. I believe this was the first 540 kick I ever through on the East Coast. The watermark is dated June 2, 1990 and it was a demo in either Washington D.C. or Boston.

KNOW YOUR OGs. Before advanced 3-D, CGI, fast cuts, huge explosions, and even before Dirty Harry…there was Steve McQueen and Bullitt.

Released in 1968, this car chase is still heralded by film historians as one of the greatest ever shot. Set during the peak of the muscle car era, this chase sequence follows two huge V8’s racing through the hills of San Francisco.

If you’re used to the pace of modern day action sequences, you may find this to be a little slow in the build. But watch it with the historical significance in mind that it deserves (this was the first major SF car chase featured on film), and you’ll find yourself getting into the characters as much as the actual chase.

Personally, I really appreciate the fact that it appears “real time” without an amped up soundtrack (the V8 engine is the soundtrack) and I love the realism of both driver’s stoic and focused expressions throughout the entire segment. Who needs 3-D, or even car rigs for that matter, when you have these awesome over-the-shoulder and POV shots looking directly into the road like this…

Stunt Coordinator: Carey Loftin
Steve McQeen Double: Bud Ekins

Many will debate Elvis’ true abilities in martial arts and if he was really deserving of that seventh degree kenpo black belt. But regardless of the truth of that matter, nobody wore a gi like the King did.

Pronounced: nun·cha·ku also nun-chucks

In the early seventies after Bruce Lee exploded onto the bigscreen with Fist of Fury, Return of the Dragon and Enter the Dragon, nunchakus and other martial art weapons gained huge popularity. Shortly after, lawmakers worldwide associated this mystical Asian weapon with violent street gangs. The world was being introduced to the martial arts and non practitioners and law enforcement feared the worst.

Soon after, the banning of nunchakus became a worldwide and trending law. I can’t seem to find any backup information on widespread nunchaku gang fights or home invasions by “nunchaku gangs”, but like many strange laws created by vocal politicians….this one stuck.

Why those same lawmakers did not also make brooms, kitchen knives, coke bottles, rolls of quarters, razor blades, and baseball bats illegal is beyond me…apparently they didn’t see The Warriors.

Most martial artist know that although nunchakus are technically illegal in many areas, they are easily purchasable from a number of martial art supply stores.

I have yet to hear of SWAT raids on martial art studios or little karate kids being arrested at weekend tournaments or mall demonstrations. But the fact that this law has not been revoked is a bit annoying and a disconcerting loophole that can potentially cause a martial artist big problems.

Currently possession of nunchaku is illegal in a number of countries including Germany, Norway, Canada, Russia and Spain. In the United Kingdom for many years it was thought legal for anyone over the age of 18 to buy and possess Nunchaku, although public possession is not allowed unless transporting between a place of training or private addresses.

However, following a case brought by Strathclyde Police and the Procurator Fiscal heard at Glasgow Sheriff Court on the 10th February 2010, a Sheriff ruled that nunchakus fell into the category of a prohibited weapon as defined by the Criminal Justice Act 1988 (Offensive Weapons) Order 1988 Section 141 (n). If, and only if it were upheld by a senior court, this ruling would have the effect of making it an offense to import, manufacture or sell nunchakus in the UK. It would also criminalize hundreds of thousands of martial arts enthusiasts who own a set of nunchakus.

In the U.K., even the depiction of nunchakus in Bruce Lee movies and even the Ninja Turtle movies were banned. Believe it or not, the word “Ninja” was even banned from use. The TMNT movies had to be retitled Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in order to get a release there.

In Hong Kong, it is illegal to possess metal or wooden nunchaku connected by a chain. It can be possessed by obtaining a license from the police as a martial arts instructor. Any rubber nunchaku are allowed. However, possession of nunchaku in Mainland China is legal.

Legality in Australia is also determined by individual state laws. In New South Wales, the weapon is on the restricted weapons list, and thus can only be owned with a permit.

Legality in the United States varies at state level, e.g., personal possession of nunchaku is illegal in New York, Arizona, California and Massachusetts, but in other states possession has not been criminalized. In New York, attorney Jim Maloney has brought a federal constitutional challenge to the statutes that criminalize simple in-home possession of nunchaku for peaceful use in martial-arts practice or legal home defense. As of March 2009, the case was awaiting the filing of a petition for review by the U.S. Supreme Court.

CHECK OUT BRUCE LEE OFFICIAL SITE HERE

NUNCHAKU LAWS ON TOTALNUNCHAKU.COM

My parents didn’t initially buy my childhood pitch of letting me study martial arts because I was a little rambunctious as a child and I think they may have feared that formal fight training wouldn’t have helped the issue. Once they gave in and supported my training, it was all good.

But during the first 11 years of prohibition, my Uncle helped keep the dream alive by regularly supplying me with martial arts training books (particularly the Ohara series of Bruce Lee’s Fighting Method that I cherished so deeply).

I will remember and appreciate my Uncle for many things, but hold dearest the memory of his nurturing a dream for a young child.