He qi dao

Korea, 1934. During the Japanese occupation, there is open warfare between rival martial arts schools. There is a fight in the marketplace, and three Chinese students cannot stand the unfair way of students that side up with the invaders, when they gang assault one of the fighting men. Between the three, they send the aggressors away. Retaliation is heavy: their school is destroyed, and they are banished.

This film may be best known for an uncredited cameo from Jackie Chan before he became an international star, but it is a decent film in its own right. While not quite as action-packed as "Lady Whirlwind" (which came out the same year from the same director), there is a better plot here, and the production value from Golden Harvest is noticeably higher.

A decent copy has been released from Shout Factory. While it is not pristine (this may not even be possible) and does not have much for special features, this is a film worth checking out.

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.

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

I cannot understand why this film is really rare and not widely available. The copy I have seen has burnt in English subtitles that is almost impossible to read as it often goes under the screen and since it was in white color it disappeared in their white clothes.

Apart from that the movie is really good. Although I have never been a fan of Carter Wong or Sammo Hung Kam Bo, I have enjoyed the scenes with Hwang In Sik. He is such a good high kicker.

One thing that bothered me about this movie is that it looks way too similar to Fist of Fury. They even used the same guy that played the annoying Chinese man siding with the Japanese in Fist of Fury too.

Definitely not as good as Fist of Fury but much better than most of the martial arts movies. Recommended...

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!