Les Combats sauvages de Mantis

The movie opens with the lead actor Ting Wa-Chung demonstrating his not so good kung fu skills. A fight breaks out in a casino and spills into the street and Ting is swept up in the action. The boss, Lung Fei as Master Lu, is impressed by Ting's fighting but the rest of his men show the new guy no respect. Ting is promoted to collecting protection money and he meets the girl, Kam Yin-Fei (only 2 movies and excellent fighting skills). He learns "Chicken Fist" from Master Lu so he can impress the girl. The gang war between the two masters escalates. The girl's father shows him a rooster fighting a praying mantis. He finally gets the girl's handkerchief, a condition for marriage. A challenger arrives at Master Lu's and our guy defeats him. He finally figures out the criminal activity he has been part of and has remorse. Ting Wa-Chung has excellent skills and acrobatic ability as good as any of the Five Venoms. He began his career at Shaw Brothers in 1975 in "Marco Polo". His first lead was in "Fantastic Magic Baby" from Shaw Brothers followed by "Monkey King with 72 Magic" from Taiwan. He had about 15 films during the golden age of martial arts movies. That makes him just another one of hundreds of guys as good as Jackie Chan that fate did not select to attain movie fame and fortune. This movie is certainly worth watching and I rate it a solid 7 out of 10.

One of the best of the old, poorly dubbed kung-fu flicks. In my opinion, it is right up there with the likes of "Shaolin vs. Lama" and "Shaolin Master Killer". Chicken fist is a very different style, which makes it interesting and the fight scenes are superbly choreographed. Don't expect a cinematic masterpiece, but if you are into this kind of movie you probably aren't in the first place. If its fast paced kung-fu action you are looking for I highly recommend you check it out.

Another feature of this movie that stands out from many other of its kind is that there aren't really clear cut lines between good and bad. Not until the very end do you find out who the 'good guys' really are. Its fun to pick a side (Chicken fist master or Mantis master) and route for them. The main character is trained in both styles and uses a fair mix of techniques. I have seen this move dozens of times and could watch it again just about any time.