Kung-Fu Documentary Provides A Rare Glimpse Of Elders

I hadn’t heard about this movie until Hulu all of a sudden decided to showcase it.  I thought it was new but it looks like it came out in 2008.  Anyhow, this kung-fu documentary provides accounts of what happened to martial artists who, for political reasons, had to flee China and struggle to survive, and somehow keep their art alive in the ensuing decades.  I really enjoyed watching it!Here is the name of the gong-fu/kung-fu documentary and brief description:

Needle Through Brick

• A documentary about the struggle for survival of traditional art and culture in the face of a rapidly changing and modernizing world told from the perspective of time-honored Chinese Kung Fu masters.
• http://www.hulu.com/needle-through-brick

One of the things I loved about it was how it made explicit the difference between modern Wushu, and traditional Gong Fu (a.k.a. Kung Fu).

Among other things, Wushu is really for show and exercise, not for combat, therefore it looks very pretty and quite impressive with its exaggerated, large, and sometimes acrobatic movements.  Real gong fu doesn’t look pretty.  It takes training and experience to be able to identify it, and it doesn’t resemble its Hollywood-friendly cousin, Wushu.

The movie touches on an important distinction made in martial arts between internal and external styles.  One of the scenes that stands out for me is during an interview with a teacher and his young student.  The student admits that for him, internal styles (such as taiji, “tai-chi”) are beyond him – he known he doesn’t have the patience for it.  He’s content and happy with his external practice.  They didn’t really do a good job explaining the difference between the two styles beyond that.

Needle Through Brick style master reminiscing that he only learned a fraction of his teachers material.

Some of the treasure of this kung-fu documentary is certainly the scenes where you see the old masters show their stuff.  This is rare footage of some of these styles, performed by elder practitioners!! Treasure indeed.

There is a background sense of sadness all along in this kung-fu documentary about the loss of such skill, such devotion and tradition to the tides of time.  The tragedy of political struggles and the fleeing from China is an experience that is shared among many intellectuals in that time and place.    Some of those who were persecuted and had to flee were traditional doctors, the practitioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine.   Acupuncturists and Herbalists followed similar destinies as the martial artists this movie chronicles.

All in all its a great little documentary.  Check it out.