Alpha Asian

Lewis Tan (who played in Zhou Chao in Iron Fist and Gaius Chau in Into the Badlands ) talks about  his role as advocate for Asians and martial arts in film:

Frank Lee arrived in Canada in 1960. He was Grandmaster White Crane Kung Fu who devised his own style for contact fighting. As a boy in Hong Kong, he grew up on the streets where he saw a lot of violence firsthand — mostly shootings and stabbings. It was a normal sight. However when he moved to Canada he was ready to leave all of that behind and forget what his life had been like in the ghetto. He worked at the Phoenix Café in Alberta in the early 1960s. His job was waiting tables and helping in the kitchen for 12 hours. Fights used to break out and often he would have to get rid of rowdy patrons. Soon people would come to the restaurant only to watch him fight and more than a few would deliberately start up arguments to try to get him to fight them. When martial arts became popular in the 1970s thanks to Bruce Lee, Frank was thrust into the spotlight. He became some sort of super hero who could throw a watermelon into the air and then smash it with his fingertips and break coc...

"Forty years ago, a homeless Korean immigrant built an Orlando martial arts empire. In 1987, he recruited his devoted students to act as amateur cast and crew for his ill-fated action movie, Miami Connection, which follows a TaeKwondo themed synth rock band in their battle against drug-dealing motorcycle ninjas."

Ben "10" Nguyen takes the belt from Julz "The Jackal" in under 30 seconds.

So I've been watching this TV series on National Geographic called Kung Fu Quest .  It's a fascinating show where a couple of martial artists go train in different systems of kung fu.  In this particular episode they trace the origin of karate to white crane boxing: At the 48 minute mark , they go over traditional karate strength training exercises: stone hammers , sanchin steps, stone locks and dynamic tension . I've always found traditional martial arts strength exercises to be fascinating, because martial artists use a lot of strength exercises that predate the advent of dumbbells and barbells.  Martial artists practice a wide variety of body weight exercises and partner-assisted exercises meant to build strength, mobility and flexibility.  Different disciplines, for example, have their own push-up variations: The original purpose of exercise was martial.  Exercise originated from the martial arts and from warrior cultures.  Prior to in...

I admit, I'm a sucker for anything Bruce Lee. If there's a documentary on Bruce Lee, then I'll watch it. History Channel had a documentary last night called "How Bruce Lee Changed the World." It wasn't a good biography on Bruce. There are better ones for that. But it was good documentary that showed how Bruce influenced a wide variety of people in a wide of variety of fields and wide variety of cultural backgrounds. From the documentary you'd figure Bruce invented the space shuttle and sliced bread. Nevertheless, it does show how Bruce's philosophy had a huge impact on the world. I remember growing up as a little kid watching his movies and feeling a sense of pride in my Chinese heritage, something I didn't feel prior. What amazed me at the time was that all of my childhood friends and classmates who were white, black and Hispanic all wanted to be Bruce and emulate him. That's the thing with Bruce: he was so extraordinary that peo...

I've been watching a cool show on the Discovery Channel called One Man Army. It's a reality game show where military operatives, law enforcement and others compete in a series of tests on speed, strength and intelligence. Tests can include breaking through 5 walls with a sledgehammer, unlocking 5 safes and assembling their contents into a 9mm handgun while hanging upside down, sawing your way out of a locked underwater tank or breaking out of a prison cell. The winner gets a cash prize and the title "One Man Army." Now in modern society, the specialist reigns supreme. You don't have to be a generalist, a one man army, in order to survive or to be successful. You can specialize in a specific skill set and as long as your skill set is in high demand, you can make a living off of it. But when civilization collapses and the zombie apocalypse arrives, the generalist, the one man army will reign supreme. What's better than a one man army? A two man army, of cours...

Young girls in Thailand tag team an American man who thought they were hookers

It's interesting how the martial arts of a culture reflects it's philosophy and values. Although there are notable exceptions (Muay Thai), Western martial arts tend to have an offensive mindset while Eastern martial arts tend to have a defensive mindset. The offensive mindset is this: The best defense is a good offense. In the Western mindset, it is about meeting force with force. You cannot predict what others do, nor should you care. You only know what you can do, and you do it. You exert your force and will to dominate others. Action is always better than inaction. The offensive mindset operates on constant forward drive. The defensive mindset is this: The best offense is a good defense. In the Eastern mindset, it's about going with the flow. You cannot always meet force with force and expect to win. You choose your battles wisely. Every attack on you provides you with an opportunity to launch a counterattack. The defensive mindset operates on patience, skill and...