Avatar and Kungfu Movies
I'm a relatively new fan to ATLA, and after I watched the entire cartoon series, I was struck by how much of ATLA was inspired by Wuxia epics and Hong Kong kungfu movies from the 80's and 90's. While awaiting 'The Legend of Korra' to be released next year, I thought I'll write a post on the different kungfu styles and inspirations in ATLA.
A typical wuxia story:
... features a young male protagonist who experiences a tragedy such as losing his loved ones. He undertakes several trials and tribulations throughout his adventures and learns several forms of martial arts from various pugilists. At the end of the story, the protagonist emerges as a powerful pugilist whom few can equal. He uses his abilities to follow the code of xia and offers them chivalrously to mend the ills of the jianghu. -- from Wikipedia.org.
I grew up watching those wuxia and kungfu movies, and when I watched ATLA, I was pleasantly surprised and reminded of my childhood. Perhaps, the whole of ATLA reminded me most of this movie: The Twin Warriors, which is one of my all time favourite 'wuxia' movies. Not only the storyline carries similar themes with ATLA, even the fight scenes are very reminiscent of the different styles of 'bending' in ATLA. When I did a search on Youtube, I was surprised to see how many 'Real Life' bending videos there are out there, and gurl, ever wondered how those kungfu moves would look like in Real Life?
Look no further.
So, let me post a few badass Real Life 'bending' moves from various movies (most of them from 'The Twin Warriors'):
Wanna see why water-bending is based on Taichi? There's a segment around the 4'0 mark which is totally awesome! The last bits of the video are brilliant too!
Wanna see the double broad swords that Zuko uses in Live Action? Look no further! Michelle Yeoh's double broad sword fight scene is the epitome of brilliant entertainment!
Wanna see how Firebending would fare against Waterbending? This clip from 'The Twin Warriors' showcases an epic fight scene between Taichi (Jet li in blue) and Shaolin Northern Fist (guy in black armour).
Psst, if anybody wants to watch 'The Twin Warriors', the whole movie is available on Youtube with English dub. It has Shaolin monks in it with awesome staff fighting. :) Note: this official American release has large chunks of the movie censored for some reason.
If you wanna watch the movie in its ORIGINAL Cantonese dub with English subtitles, it's even more awesome! The soundtrack is brilliant, and I don't get why the original score was blanked out with the official English dub release. Also? NOTHING was censored. Downside: the quality of the movie isn't as great since the movie was originally released in Hong Kong in 1993. I was still in primary school then.... lol.
Okay, of course I would look for other clips from movies which may give you some idea of the kungfu styles used in ATLA.
The most recent one that comes to mind is Jet Li in 'The One'. Alright, Jet Li plays multiple characters in this movie, and in the final fight scene, Jet Li uses Ba Gua Palms (the style of kungfu which Airbending is based on) against another style of kungfu (think it's XingYi Fist from WuDang?). I can totally see Aang's movements superimposed over Jet Li's.
Of course I wouldn't forget Hung Ga, the style of kungfu which earthbending is based on. In 'The Magnificent Butcher', there's a fight sequence which showcases Hung Ga in detail. The two guys protecting the house fought using Hung Ga! Also? Fighting with fans is also featured in this clip! Yo, Suki!
So, have you noticed any movies or clips that you might wanna share with other ATLA fans?
A typical wuxia story:
... features a young male protagonist who experiences a tragedy such as losing his loved ones. He undertakes several trials and tribulations throughout his adventures and learns several forms of martial arts from various pugilists. At the end of the story, the protagonist emerges as a powerful pugilist whom few can equal. He uses his abilities to follow the code of xia and offers them chivalrously to mend the ills of the jianghu. -- from Wikipedia.org.
I grew up watching those wuxia and kungfu movies, and when I watched ATLA, I was pleasantly surprised and reminded of my childhood. Perhaps, the whole of ATLA reminded me most of this movie: The Twin Warriors, which is one of my all time favourite 'wuxia' movies. Not only the storyline carries similar themes with ATLA, even the fight scenes are very reminiscent of the different styles of 'bending' in ATLA. When I did a search on Youtube, I was surprised to see how many 'Real Life' bending videos there are out there, and gurl, ever wondered how those kungfu moves would look like in Real Life?
Look no further.
So, let me post a few badass Real Life 'bending' moves from various movies (most of them from 'The Twin Warriors'):
Click to viewWanna see why water-bending is based on Taichi? There's a segment around the 4'0 mark which is totally awesome! The last bits of the video are brilliant too!
Wanna see the double broad swords that Zuko uses in Live Action? Look no further! Michelle Yeoh's double broad sword fight scene is the epitome of brilliant entertainment!
Wanna see how Firebending would fare against Waterbending? This clip from 'The Twin Warriors' showcases an epic fight scene between Taichi (Jet li in blue) and Shaolin Northern Fist (guy in black armour).
Psst, if anybody wants to watch 'The Twin Warriors', the whole movie is available on Youtube with English dub. It has Shaolin monks in it with awesome staff fighting. :) Note: this official American release has large chunks of the movie censored for some reason.
If you wanna watch the movie in its ORIGINAL Cantonese dub with English subtitles, it's even more awesome! The soundtrack is brilliant, and I don't get why the original score was blanked out with the official English dub release. Also? NOTHING was censored. Downside: the quality of the movie isn't as great since the movie was originally released in Hong Kong in 1993. I was still in primary school then.... lol.
Okay, of course I would look for other clips from movies which may give you some idea of the kungfu styles used in ATLA.
The most recent one that comes to mind is Jet Li in 'The One'. Alright, Jet Li plays multiple characters in this movie, and in the final fight scene, Jet Li uses Ba Gua Palms (the style of kungfu which Airbending is based on) against another style of kungfu (think it's XingYi Fist from WuDang?). I can totally see Aang's movements superimposed over Jet Li's.
Of course I wouldn't forget Hung Ga, the style of kungfu which earthbending is based on. In 'The Magnificent Butcher', there's a fight sequence which showcases Hung Ga in detail. The two guys protecting the house fought using Hung Ga! Also? Fighting with fans is also featured in this clip! Yo, Suki!
So, have you noticed any movies or clips that you might wanna share with other ATLA fans?