The Way Back

The 1970’s were cool. I was young and had hair. The afternoons had endless small bowls of Peanut M and Ms, a baby sitter, and every so often accidental martial arts classics.

This was until the sitter changed the channel to a program that was more suitable for my age. I would still see bits and pieces of classics.

I got older. I watched Black Belt Theater. If I was not involved other Saturday activities I could see movies like The Five Deadly Venoms, Enter the Dragon, or Chinese Connection.

I still remember the bad voice dubs and the old film noise on some form of Cathode Ray Tube television. Below are some of the best fights of that era. Remember, this is just an opinion.

The Ten

1. Chinese Connection (Fists of Fury)

This was the first Bruce Lee film I recall. Bruce Lee killed the people who killed his master. Everyone remembers how he screams as he destroys his enemy.

I remember how there was a hate for the Chinese in this movie. It was relentless. No matter what Bruce Lee’s character did, it made the situation worse.

Before he would fight the final boss, he fought this Russian character. This is the first time I had ever seen a thing like it.

In Five Deadly Venoms and other movies, often, the cast only had Asian characters. This particular character was a large, quick, formidable European character.

The Breakdown

Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do, a style simply meant for the faster and more deadly fighter, takes on Robert Baker, Bruce Lee’s former student, with his own Jeet Kune Do. He is larger than Bruce Lee and made it point to prove he is just as fast. They exchange a series of kicks and punches that connect.

Each takes damage. In the end, The Russian resorts to grappling Bruce Lee’s arm and Lee returns the favor and bites The Russian’s leg.  Neither Bruce Lee or the Russian block each other’s attacks.

The Russian character ups his ability every time Bruce Lee does. In the end, Bruce Lee’s character enters another level of rage. He mesmerizes his attacker with a portion of his form  The Russian takes a fatal kick. Bruce adds another and finally ends The Russian.

2. The 36^th Chamber of Shaolin

When I was younger, I remembered this man’s face in many of the martial arts films I would watch on a Saturday. If it was not the 36^th Chamber of Shaolin, it was The Four Assassins, Boxer Rebellion, or Executioners from Shaolin.

I recently saw Mister Chai-Hui Lui in the movie Kill Bill: Vol. 2, as the vicious master, Pai Mei. In Kill Bill: Vol. 2, he teaches The Bride true martial arts skills and persistence.

Chai-Hui Lui as Johnny Mo was cool too. In the 36^th Chamber of Shaolin, I remember the main character, Lui, being persistent.

The Breakdown 2

He had to learn various martial arts styles to avenge an attack, and takeover, by the Manchu.In one scene, Lui develops the three section staff in desperation. He spars an adversary with a form of butterfly swords. He attacks him with, at first, with the typical Bo Staff. The weapon keeps enemies at a distance. However, butterfly swords jab and make it a point to capture enemies, discombobulate, and unbalance them.

For example, imagine The Price Is Right’s Plinko with a Bo Staff. Lui’s adversary moved past the length of the Bo Staff and simply turned the Bo Staff against Lui. At the same time, this adversary found holes to both skewer and disarm Lui. Lui returned to the adversary with a form a Chinese halberd, with a half moon shaped blade at its point. This weapon offered the same problem as the Bo Staff.

It has the length, to keep enemies at a distance, but adds a deadly purpose. Lui’s adversary turned the halberd against him. Like the the Bo Staff, Lui’s Chinese halberd was inflexible. Lui practiced hard with the Bo Staff and the halberd. However, inspiration came as he cut down some bamboo with the halberd.

That was the first time I had seen the three section staff. It breaks the Bo Staff into three flexible sections, connected by chains. Each length is enough to penetrate and harm an enemy. The chain’s on each section allow the weapon to capture, disarm and maneuver around any enemy’s weapon. The three section staff works at a distance. It also adjusts to defend, and attack, with short-range bursts. Lui moved around his adversary, in a third encounter, discombobulated, disarmed, and generally left him embarrassed.

3. Master of the Flying Guillotine

This was a movie I would see in parts. My sitter saw a fighter lose their head, in a scene during a tournament battle, and ban me from watching this movie for years.

It was dumb because you could see the beheaded fighter with a shirt over his head. He fell on the ground and you see his head move inside the shirt. It is still an awesome movie. This was the first movie, I saw, that had a variety of fighters, each with fighting styles from other countries.

The Flying Guillotine character would throw a bladed head case, with chain, and kill most of the one-arm men, in the film, by yanking their heads off from out of nowhere. He worked at a distance. The Flying Guillotine’s purpose was to kill the one-armed man responsible for killing his people.In the end, however, the true one-armed boxer confronted The Flying Guillotine. They had to use hand-to-hand combat against each other. The one-armed boxer almost dies.

The Breakdown 3

The one-armed boxer attacks with one real focus. His one arm can penetrate nearly anything. He does not use kicks. He literally attacks and defends with one arm. The key to his ability is agility. He climbs walls, flips, and evades the attacks of The Flying Guillotine.This blind fighter uses kicks, attacks with a fist, uses a hand made circular saw blade device, and a tank type martial arts style.

He goes through what he faces. The one-armed boxer would leap and evade the The Flying Guillotine. He would break his guillotine. The one-armed boxer literally penetrates The Flying Guillotine, ruptures his heart, with a massive punch, and sends The Flying Guillotine into a casket. The Flying Guillotine was just bad character. He could turn his head 360 degrees around.

4. The Invincible Armor

I recall something funny at the end of The Invincible Armor. These martial artists ban together to defeat the Iron Armor technique. They would try to attack Iron Armor’s nuts, but the Iron Armor technique could resist any attack.

That is when my sitter would come in and turn the film off. Hwang Jang Lee would train his body to resist anything, anywhere, on his body. However, the main character John, would master the Eagle Claw. The Eagle Claw is a bent finger technique meant to penetrate most any surface, or substance.

The Breakdown 4

The key is simply to insert your fingers, as claws, into enemies or objects with a dangerous blunt force. The Iron Armor technique is a time consuming method where a martial artist burns, beats, and crushes his body with a series of test in order to mold it into an impenetrable weapon.

The weakness is off course the balls and the back of the head. The question, in this movie, is who would win in a battle of the two styles.

It takes four martial artists to disorient the Iron Armor technique. The Eagle Claw technique comes into play in two ways. It penetrates the back of the skull of the Iron Armor warrior. This takes away The Iron Armor warrior’s focus. It ends as the Eagle Claw crushes the nuts of the Iron Armor technique.

The Iron Armor warrior had a way to defend against the Eagle Claw initially. He would take his powerful thighs and simply vice grip The Eagle Claw. It worked once. This did not work a second time. The final fight in the movie is good for so many reasons.

5. Game of Death

I never did like how this movie came together. There is actually an original cut of the movie. Game of Death’s known release was this Bruce Lee movie with a set of strange shots of Bruce Lee in it. T

here were also fake Bruce Lee scenes that just did not work. The end of Game of Death is awesome.

Bruce Lee would scale the levels of this building and take on deadly martial artists. At the end, he takes on Lou Alcindor, or Kareem Abdul Jabar, as this blind martial artist, Hakim.

The Breakdown 5

Hakim is over seven feet, fast, fierce, and knows how to handle himself.It is a great scene.Kareem Abdul Jabar is a seven foot version of Bruce Lee. He keeps Bruce Lee at bay with his length and quickness.

He only attacked Bruce Lee when he got close. He counterattacks as enemies approach him. He offers Bruce Lee open palms and warns him to stay away. He even stamps Bruce Lee’s chest with his massive foot and a defensive kick. In the end, Bruce Lee has to take risks, and gets hit with a series of kicks and punches, in order to get close and attack Hakim.

Kareem Abdul Jabar grapples with Lee. Lee bites him. Bruce Lee uses this effort to pound Hakim to death, up close and personal.  Kareem Abdul Jabar was a student of Bruce Lee and both used the Jeet Kune Do technique in this scene.

6. Black Belt Jones

I can always respect what Jim Kelly represented in the 1970s. I just never wanted to invest in the environments in this movie. It was not a movie set made to look like ancient China or an older city. It was closer to modern time in look and in the issues covered.

However, I like the film and definitely the fight scenes. The train scene is funny. The midnight dojo scene is cool, but is just crazy.

Sydney’s scene is awesome. She is a female protagonist in the movie. Her scene is the opposite of a scene in Enter the Dragon.

The Breakdown 6

There is a part in that movie where Bruce Lee’s sister, in the film, gets overwhelmed by a group of male enemies. Sydney, played by Gloria Hendry, beats her odds, period, in her search for the character Pinky.

She enters a dangerous place, known as Pinky’s Hip Pocket. She ask for Pinky. She is shrugged off, rudely. Sydney kicks off her shoes. She unbuttons her dress just a little. She needs kicking room. Sydney throws a series of only kicks. She uses the style Jim Kelly did, Shorin-Ryu Karate. She keeps her enemies at bay. Sydney only uses punches, or chops, if enemies get to close. She slams one enemy’s head against a table to cause major damage. It is something to watch as the thugs just fall.

7. Billy Jack

The only thing about Billy Jack is the fight scenes. It is wild movie. It looks like a 1970s martial arts film in Arizona. Tom Laughlin, as Billy Jack, a Green Beret and Hapkido expert helps to protect these wild horses from slaughter and a “freedom school” from some wealthy villains.

The Breakdown 7

There is a scene where he takes on Stewart Posner, the major enemy, and his group of hired thugs. These thugs are just thugs. They do not have martial arts skills.

Billy Jacks offers them a series of chops, kicks, throws, and jump kicks. The unskilled thugs get beaten, but use their numbers to overwhelm Billy Jack.

He gets his butt kicked. Billy Jack fights them in a park. He uses the space of the park to avoid, and attack, his enemies. The thugs close in on Billy Jack and wait until he is exhausted. They capture him and beat him into submission.

8. The Big Boss

The idea that Bruce Lee could be non-violent is hilarious. His character Cheng swore an oath of non-violence, but must break it when his associates fight back against unfair treatment at work and the mysterious disappearance of other fellow employees.

The Breakdown 8

A scuffle breaks out between workers and employers in the movie. The employers use tools in this ice warehouse to attack the outraged employees. This turns into bedlam. The employees want their just due, but the employers give them blood.

A punch hits Cheng, Bruce Lee’s character. He gets hit once more. This sends him into action. Bruce Lee uses his Jeet Kune Do style along with the weapons available in the warehouse. He beats each seething employer with a vicious kick, or punch.

He kills a few with knives. The enemies surround Cheng, but he beats them back with endless stamina, speed, and uses the size of the warehouse to throw his enemies around. In the end, he faces an arrest for the various murders he committed with his deadly attacks. The Big Boss is good, but is rough.

9. The Way of the Dragon

I want to give Bruce Lee the most coverage on this list. He just made good, modern, movies for the time. The Way of the Dragon was crazy. Chuck Norris is in it. Bruce Lee battles a sniper. He visits another country, and his relatives, but must defend them from an evil group of gangsters.

The gangsters hire Chuck Norris. He comes to Italy. Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris prepare and fight one another. The end of this movie is what you want. Tang Soo Do, Chuck Norris’ style, has a close connection to Korea’s Taekwondo.

It keep enemies at bay with direct kicks and offers deadly punches to enemies that get too close. Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do feels like Chinese boxing, Americanized, with kicks. It relies on speed and accuracy to move in, out, and around enemies to unbalance them and penetrate any defense. It keeps the basic idea of using kicks to keep enemies at bay.

The Breakdown 9

However, speedy, dangerous, punches unbalance enemies as well. Timed right, and used in the proper sequence with kicks, Jeet Kune Do is unstoppable. Chuck Norris used kicks to knock Bruce Lee back in their first exchange, in the final fight scene. Bruce Lee returned the favor with his own set of kicks.

He followed that with a set of kicks and finally a set of massive punches to down Norris. The two got close. Chuck Norris would grapple Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee rips out Chuck Norris’ chest hair. Bruce takes advantage. He kicks Chuck Norris’ legs and arms, to incapacitate him. In the end, Norris charges Lee and gets his neck broken in the process. This is a very good fight.

10. Five Deadly Venoms

This is the movie. A final student, of a dying master, must find the five other deadly students of the master. He has the chore of defeating the previous students that are evil. This movie is just tight.

The Toad style, as Liang Shen played by Meng Lo, was just cool. He was invincible.His technique relies on a series of wayward kicks and punches. He can do this because his body is impenetrable.

The Breakdown 10

The master of the Snake style attacks with a slippery system of kicks and punches that strike, and bite, enemies. This style against the Toad style is worthless, by itself. The Toad style is almost unstoppable as his skin, pressure points, and outer body are indestructible.

However, the master of the Scorpion style hid among the crowd that watched the fight between the Snake and Toad styles. The Scorpion style exposed the weakness of the Toad style.He threw darts into Liang Shen’s ears. The Snake style attacked the same points on Liang Shen’s body.

This disoriented the Toad style. He could not focus on his impenetrable technique. This led to the downfall of the Toad style. Five Deadly Venoms is a great movie.