Movies with FMA's

Discussion in 'Filipino Martial Arts' started by EmptyHandGuy, Feb 7, 2009.

  1. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    Could do. Though I read an interview with him years ago that indicated taekwondo. I do mean years ago though. Like... two decades.
     
  2. GrappleorWrestle

    GrappleorWrestle Valued Member

    I know what you mean there. Jeff Speakman seems to like the double stick sequences as well. He also has a Kenpo background. Watch The Perfect Weapon and a few of his other movies from the early 90s...
     
    Last edited: Feb 18, 2009
  3. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    That movie came out shortly after I started training in eskrima. And, trust me, the kenpo folks in my area did NOT appreciate hearing questions about Jeff Speakman doing eskrima. They did a demo at the movie theater where it was playing, and some people asked about him doing eskrima. They got very irrate about it. Went on about how double stick had always been in the EPAK system.

    I think that's probably true, in their defense. But man alive, touchy touchy.


    Stuart
     
  4. EmptyHandGuy

    EmptyHandGuy Valued Member

    Wow!! I've seen most of the movies so far, just seems like I've blocked most of it out from my memory!!
     
  5. BakbakanFighter

    BakbakanFighter Valued Member

    Ha I thought Jeff Speakman was mixing Eskrima and Kenpo! The perfect weapon is a good film though. Any ideas where you can get it from nowadays? I lent it to a mate and not seen it since!
     
  6. Pat OMalley

    Pat OMalley Valued Member

    I have a guy in Ireland who is not only and Eskrima Instructor, but his first art is Ed Parkers Kenpo and he will tell you without a doubt that EPAK has a very large influence of Eskrima in it and he can show you too.

    Some may deny it, and I dont know why and does it really matter if it is there but you cant ignore it is there. Why do people think that Master Parker asked Dan Inosanto to look to his own culture for Martial Arts????

    Best regards

    Pat
     
  7. GrappleorWrestle

    GrappleorWrestle Valued Member

    I actually found an origianal VHS copy at a local used books and movies store not too long ago.

    And I agree, it's pretty a pretty entertaining movie. I mean you have to love it when the character's broomstick is snapped in two and they use them as eskrima sticks to demolish all of the so called bad guys.
     
  8. ap Oweyn

    ap Oweyn Ret. Supporter

    I'm not saying that kenpo and eskrima didn't cross pollinate. Just describing the reaction of a particular pair of kenpo instructors. That's all.
     
  9. EmptyHandGuy

    EmptyHandGuy Valued Member

    There are loads of copies on Ebay and you there is 1 copy on DVD on the amazon.co.uk website.
     
  10. GrappleorWrestle

    GrappleorWrestle Valued Member

    Is it me or does Jeff Speakman do an over abundance of groin strikes in his movies?
     
  11. blindside

    blindside Valued Member

    Well, at least two well known, and very very experienced kenpo seniors would disagree. Huk Planas is one of the widely recognized instructors in American Kenpo and an escrimador in his own right (his brother is also a high mucky muck in kabaoran escrima) had this to say:
    Ron Chapel, (another high level been around with Ed Parker since like...forever types) had this to say:
    Ron "Doc" Chapel at some point mentioned that originally that the Ed Parker wanted to use something that was more a "club" than a stick, something more like a hammer or broken pool cue, and that at one point had numerous iterations of single and double club and knife forms, but then eventually simply did the unarmed techs with the weapons in their hands to get a product out to the market. Which is why Huk Planas says the forms violate weapon rules, they are a unarmed to armed translation, rather than the other direction.

    So if FMA got mixed into kenpo, it was done in a way that ignored offensive weapon use and the assumption of a skilled weapon using opponent that is so ubiquitous in the FMA systems. It was also done in such a way that two very senior kenpoists missed it completely.

    Lalmont
     
  12. Pat OMalley

    Pat OMalley Valued Member

    Thanks for the input, bearing in mind I am not a EPAK practioner and quite frankley I dont care whether they have Eskrima or not but I do know a few senior practioners and I have had one in particular demonstrate the links between EPAK and Eskrima and I must say he made a lot of sense and even I could see it when it was demo'ed.

    EPAK was deveolped in the USA from the knowledge gained by the founder, does it matter where he took his material from, be it from Japan, China, Philipines, Hongkongpingponggonewrong? No it does not and as long as people love to practice it then that is what counts.

    Whether they translate empty hand to weapons and we translate weapons to empty hand, I have seen some of those EPAK translations and apart from the interpretations the movements within the forms they show are just too identical to be coincindence. But what do I care, I dont do EPAK.

    Best regards

    Pat
     
  13. blindside

    blindside Valued Member

    I certainly agree on the similarity of movement, I came to kali from kenpo and I certainly picked up on the motion and flow of kali quickly because of that similarity. AK is designed to be a study of motion, and while not exhaustive it does a pretty good job demonstrating motion, within that framework as conceptual motion you will certainly find some that is useful for weaponwork as well as not useful.
     
  14. blindside

    blindside Valued Member

    To get us back on topic.

    How about "Enforcer from Death Row" with Leo Fong. I haven't seen the whole thing, just the scene where Angel Cabales is training the main character with a basic three count sumbrada pattern. Looking at the ratings on IMDB, it didn't look like I missed much.

    Also "Rapid Fire" which you get little glimpses of FMA in the mishmash of muay thai and wing chun.
     
  15. EmptyHandGuy

    EmptyHandGuy Valued Member

    I liked Rapid Fire, one of the better Brandon Lee films. I must admit that some of the films that I thought were pretty good when released back in the 80's do make me cringe a bit now when friends remind me of my obvious poor taiste in films :confused:
     
  16. BakbakanFighter

    BakbakanFighter Valued Member

    I agree GB. However id rather watch a film with a martial artisit in who cant act than and actor who cant fight. New martial arts films that are any good are few and far between. Jet Li is good but relies too much on wires. Many other films use too much CGI. Even the once great Steven Seagal doesnt even do his own fight scenes now, he has some bloke doing kicks and back flips, I mean come on, he couldnt even do that 20 years ago!!! The only good martial artist film fest has come from Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong. Tony Jaa looks awesome and the fights at least feel slightly real...
     
  17. BakbakanFighter

    BakbakanFighter Valued Member

    maybe we should all get together and make one!
     
  18. EmptyHandGuy

    EmptyHandGuy Valued Member

    Two films that stand out for me with regards to actual martial arts content have been taken with Liam Neeson and from a couple of years ago (but only recently seen) the hunted with Tommy Lee Jones. I have no idea if either of these are martial artists but they do pull off their stuff pretty well in both of those movies. But then thats the magic of movies, being able to make people look or do things that they may never have done in real life.
     
  19. BakbakanFighter

    BakbakanFighter Valued Member

    Neither of them are. However, for the hunted film, the Sayoc Kali boys did all the knife training, hence it looks good. not sure what Liam Neeson film you are talking about however I saw his most recent once, Taken the other week and that was superb. It prompted me to start another thread about it. Turns out that was FMA influenced too!
     
  20. EmptyHandGuy

    EmptyHandGuy Valued Member

    That was the film I was talking about, think I must have read your thread and got a copy to watch. Great film.
     

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