He qi dao

Pretty standard fare as far as 70s martial arts flicks go. However, notable for the role of 'Teacher' played by Hapkido founder Grandmaster Ji Han Jae. Some great fight scenes (watch Grandmaster pulverise his students ;]). Also good to watch Angela Mao and Samo Hung in some decent fight scenes. A very interesting 'must-see' for all Hapkido (and other martial arts) students.

Raymond Chow produced "Lady Kung-Fu," a no-holds-barred martial arts action flick from the early 1970s directed by Feng Huang, and contains shades of nearly every Bruce Lee movie from that time. When I looked at it last night, I saw a number of interesting parallels between this flick and Bruce Lee's "The Chinese Connection," as both films were released in 1972. Most notable is that the plots bear some resemblance to one another and there is a strong sense of conflict between warring martial arts schools. Unlike "The Chinese Connection," however, the enemy, the Japanese, are portrayed in a flagrant, one-sided, racist, and xenophobic light; they are sometimes referred to as "Japs" by the main Chinese characters (I know this film is set before World War II - I wonder, did such racial epithets exist before then?). But I'm getting off track. Angela Mao, Carter Wong, and Sammo Hung star as three Chinese gong-fu students studying martial arts in Korea under a famed exile (Hapkido Grandmaster Han Jae Ji). They take their Hapkido training (called "kung-fu" in the film) back to China and attempt to set up their own school, only to face opposition from the ruling Japanese occupational forces, who seek to promote their art of Judo (founded in 1882 by Dr. Jigoro Kano). That's about all there is to the plot, and then we have the fights. During the opening credits, we're treated to one incredible sequence with Wong drubbing a band of thugs. Next, there is a training sequence with Angela Mao. Then, Han Jae Ji himself demonstrates his unique Hapkido fighting art. In "Lady Kung-Fu," there are a number of familiar faces from Chow-produced martial arts action flicks too. Mao is probably my favorite fighter, since she is mostly famous for her tragic portrayal of Bruce Lee's sister in "Enter the Dragon" (1973). On a side note, I am currently studying Hapkido and I encourage anyone else interested in it to check out this flick.

An enjoyable martial arts romp.

8/10

Jackie can be seen briefly in at least two scenes. I first noticed him near the end of the film in the scene where Angela visits the Japanese school and is prevented from leaving. Jackie, dressed in black, stands in the doorway and gets flipped to the floor by Angela. In another scene, he's also standing on the left side of a doorway, but he's wearing white.

I THINK I also saw Yuen Biao (in white) a couple of times, but unfortunately, I can't tell you where to look for him.

What surprised me was how prominently featured Lam Ching-Ying is in this movie. He's all over the fight scene that takes place in the street market, ultimately taking punches from Sammo Hung, who probably has more screen time than anyone else in the film.. certainly screen time spent fighting.

Finally, I was surprised to discover that the attractive young woman who gets ogled and nearly groped near the start is none other than Nancy Sit!

Grandmaster gave me a copy of "Hapkido" to watch. Unfortunately, it was the only copy he had, and it was kinda in poor condition. But what I saw of it was extraordinary. He could kick like nobody could. The throws, joint locks, simply incredible. To be honest, he still looks just as good today.

This film takes place during the Japanese occupation of Korea with three young Chinese adults by the names of "Kao Yu Ying" (Angelo Mao), "Kao Chang" (Carter Wong) and "Fan Wei" (Sammo Kam-Bo Hung) having a picnic and enjoying nature. All of a sudden some Japanese men arrive and begin harassing them. What these Japanese men do not realize, however, is that all three of these people have come to Korea to study the martial art known as hapkido and happen to be among the best students in the school. As a result, the Japanese are thoroughly beaten and depart quite humiliated. Not long afterward, cognizant of the political situation, their teacher "Shih Kung-chan" (Han Jae Ji) instructs them to go back to China to start a new school there. Unfortunately, there just happens to be a Japanese martial arts school already in the city they set up in and this creates all kinds of problems for them. Now, rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a good "old-style" kung fu film which covered the familiar "Chinese vs. Japanese" theme quite well. It also featured several actors who had previously performed with Bruce Lee in other films most notably Ping-Ou Wei (as the Japanese thug "Chang Pu-tse"), the affable Ti Chin ("Hsiao Lao-fu") and Ing-Sik Whang (as the elder student "Whang In Sik"). Be that as it may, while certainly not a great martial arts film by any means, I still enjoyed it for the most part and I have rated it accordingly.