My goodness. Youtube had some Bruce Lee footage I've never seen before! It's of the original Game of Death, before Lee died and the studios spewed shit all over Lee's work. The original Game of Death was a philosophical articulation of the various things Lee had decided up to that point in his life about asian martial arts. To quote wikipedia on Game of Death,
I was very thrilled to find that some of the footage which had been discarded the studio, some of the footage in which Lee actually talks a little exposition, is actually on YouTube.
Start here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEUDRKRX1Eg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEUDR...e=user&search=
Just click on More From This User and watch the subsequent clips in order.
I really feel like this is a piece of the history of contemporary popular martial arts. I also can't believe that the studios passed this up in favor of the utter shite which was the commercial release of Game of Death.
The original plot involved Hai Tien (Bruce Lee's character), as well as four other martial artists (two of which were played by James Tien and Chieh Yuan), fighting their way through a five-level pagoda, encountering a different challenge on each floor. The setting of the pagoda was at Beopjusa temple in Songnisan National Park in South Korea. The pagoda, called Palsang-jon, is the only remaining wooden pagoda in South Korea. At the base of the pagoda they fight 10 people all black belts in martial arts, while inside the pagoda, they encounter a different opponent on each floor, each more challenging than the last. Although his allies try to help out, they are handily defeated, and Lee must face each of the martial artists in one-on-one combat. He defeats Filipino martial arts master Dan Inosanto, hapkido master Ji Han Jae, and finally Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who fights with a free and fluid style mirroring Lee's Jeet Kune Do. Because Kareem's character has great size and strength in addition to a fighting style as potent as Lee's, he can only be defeated once Lee recognizes his one weakness-an unusual sensitivity to light. Lee smashes the surrounding windows, weakening him with exposure to daylight, and finally manages to kill him.
Although the pagoda was supposed to have five floors, complete scenes were only shot for three of the floors-the "Palace of the Tiger," where Lee faced Inosanto, the "Palace of the Dragon," where he fought Ji Han Jae, and the final floor, where he fought Abdul-Jabbar. Hapkido master Ing-Sik Whang was slated to play the guardian of the first floor, a master of a kick-oriented style, while Bruce's longtime student Taky Kimura was asked to play the guardian of the second floor, a stylist of praying mantis kung fu. However, no footage has been discovered of these floors. The goal of the film's plot was to showcase Lee's beliefs regarding the principles of martial arts. As each martial artist is defeated (including Lee's allies), the flaws in their fighting style are revealed. Some, like Dan Inosanto's character, rely too much on fixed patterns of offensive and defensive techniques, while others lack economy of motion. Lee defeats his opponents by having a fighting style that involves fluid movement, unpredictability, and an eclectic blend of techniques.
Although the pagoda was supposed to have five floors, complete scenes were only shot for three of the floors-the "Palace of the Tiger," where Lee faced Inosanto, the "Palace of the Dragon," where he fought Ji Han Jae, and the final floor, where he fought Abdul-Jabbar. Hapkido master Ing-Sik Whang was slated to play the guardian of the first floor, a master of a kick-oriented style, while Bruce's longtime student Taky Kimura was asked to play the guardian of the second floor, a stylist of praying mantis kung fu. However, no footage has been discovered of these floors. The goal of the film's plot was to showcase Lee's beliefs regarding the principles of martial arts. As each martial artist is defeated (including Lee's allies), the flaws in their fighting style are revealed. Some, like Dan Inosanto's character, rely too much on fixed patterns of offensive and defensive techniques, while others lack economy of motion. Lee defeats his opponents by having a fighting style that involves fluid movement, unpredictability, and an eclectic blend of techniques.
Start here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEUDRKRX1Eg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEUDR...e=user&search=
Just click on More From This User and watch the subsequent clips in order.
I really feel like this is a piece of the history of contemporary popular martial arts. I also can't believe that the studios passed this up in favor of the utter shite which was the commercial release of Game of Death.
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