by kenneth fish on Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:09 am
Thanks Andy. While the title to the movie was what drew me to it (日落紫堇成)(that and the opportunity to hang out with some other extras whom I was very taken with) the film had only the title in common with Pu Yi's book- it was about corruption and gangs and brothels and drug trade and had only the thinest of plots.
Meng's reputation was already known to me. My best friend, Liu Yanzheng, was training the Taiwan National Taikwondo team, along with Li Jimin and Tan Daoliang (Delon Tan) (already an up and coming aciton film star). Meng had smacked the crap out of Li and Tan by way of demonstrating some moves - I learned from their experience.
Master Meng's movements were crisp, athletic (he already around 60 then), and he expressed power throughout every movement, while remaining fluid and supple. His Black Tiger was very impressive - fast, powerful, almost acrobatic. You got the impression that if you got in the way he would have torn right through you, like a freight train speeding over a fallen branch. I have seen a lot of Shaolin and Minjian martial arts, and very few approached his ability (I would say he was in the same class of skill as my Lohan Shaolin teacher - their power and sheer command over their movement was similar).
There is nothing wrong with Zhaquan. A friend of mine, a retired Army Colonel (who drove a taxi to support himself) was excellent at the system - although the forms were flowery and athletic, the ancillary training was very hard and the applications brutal.
FWIW the clip that was posted looks more like plain vanilla Northern kung fu - even a bit like the basic beginner forms in Eagle Claw.
Also - Alan studied a very short time with Master Meng - again, the harshness of the instruction was a factor, and Master Meng was not exactly a barrel of laughs. Master Meng's son was living in New Jersey a while back (his mother, Fu Suyun, sometimes lived with him). I don't know if he is still there, or if he learned from his father, but it would be interesting to hear what stories he might tell.
Last edited by
kenneth fish on Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.
Friedrich Nietzsche