As i was watching this movie tonight starring jet li, i wondered this thing. He has an evil universe twin in this movie. When they meet near the end thay are using both the same style of kung fu, but then the good jet li is knocked down…while laying there he thinks of his wife, and then gets back up and starts using a different style…what is this second style? i knew once when i was younger but now i can’t remember the name…help!!!
I don’t know what the style is exactly, but it’s specifically contrasted with the evil twin’s style. Good Jet uses a very smooth, flowing form, while Evil Jet uses something sharper and more jerky. This is especially clear earlier when scenes of the two practicing are spliced together.
It looks vaguely like Tai Chi.
It’s kung fu, from IMDB:
Tai Chi is not really martial arts - its more of an excercise routine.
Rubbish I’m afraid, Tai Chi is a complete martial art involving many traditional Chinese weapons. Those who study it long enough find it a very effective method of self defense. It’s true that a much watered down version is practised for it’s health benefits.
I agree with CBM. Indeed, if one is familiar with applications of the various moves, one realizes that it’s a remarkably brutal style–kind of like the beauty of the ocean, until that undertow grabs you.
To my knowledge, Tai Chi is the excercise routine and series one can find all over China in the mornings. I’ve never seen anyone use it as a combat style, although it seems to have been adapted from one. Are there two Tai Chis? The stuff I’ve seen is slow and works to build flexibility, work the muscles, and enhance health, and is not at all connected to beating someone up.
What you are thinking of is Tai Chi (or possibly Qi Gong, possibly even Falun Gong depending on where you saw it). That you saw it being used in that manner does not mean it is not a martial art.
It can be a martial art even if it couldn’t be used offensivly (which it most surely can if you are trained for that). It’s a bit like saying jogging isn’t running, it’s only exercise, that only sprinting is running.
Jet Li is a practictioner of wushu. He has a website at http://www.jetli.com/ .
If you’re interested, you can see some wushu videos at http://www.wushucentral.com/videos/index.php .
The term “kung fu” (or “gung fu” as Bruce Lee spelt it, its the same word in chinese) roughly translates into “Hard work” and is an umbrella title for all martial arts of Chinese descent, so just as we would say “martial arts” they would just say “kung fu”. Possibly not anymore with western influences and all, but thats the general idea.
T’ai Chi (“Grand Ultimate”) is an exercise routine. T’ai Chi Chuen (“Grand Ultimate Fist”) is a marial art. (or for those who have been paying attention; a style of Kung Fu)
To the OP’s question, Jet is using two different types of kung fu. Bad Jet is using a linear or external style of kung fu, to good Jet’s circular or internal style.
Now onto the differences in internal and external styles. This is just a broad outline, so other people responding might want to add detail.
External styles focus on power and strength, for example western boxing is an external style. Internal styles are ones that focus on a more spiritual aspect, the whole “inner peace” business you hear about martial arts stems from internal styles. An example of a (mostly) internal martial art is Aikido.
Just as it is accepted in Hollywood that your bad guy should be Brittish, in Chinese cinema your bad guy uses a hard external style, and your good guy a soft internal style - showing the mastery of the ‘spirit’ (or Chi, or the Tao… something metaphysical anyway) over the body, I assume.
The differences between external and internal styles are far more shade of gray than that, however. T’ai Chi Chuen is a mostly internal style, however some schools - notably the Yang school - focus much more on external strength.
The two names of the two styles of KungFu used by the two Jet’s should be searchable on his website, but i really doubt the names would mean anything to you.
literally, wushu and kungfu is simply ‘martial arts’ in chinese…
i should learn to use preview if i insist on opening all the threads at the same time… :smack:
If you look up tai chi download videos on the internet you’ll see many applications of Tai Chi to martial uses. The most common form is Yang style, which is often watered down a lot. Some styles of Tai Chi are more obviously martial, but they all have that as their root. In tact, the name tai ji quan means Grand Ultimate Boxing. Granted, you’ll never learn effective self deffense just doing a solo form or two. But a full study of Tai Chi leads to push hands, sticking hands, joint locks, etc., etc. Very complicated and hard to learn stuff.
Jet Li was a student of modern competitive Wushu which uses a lot of the tai chi styles mentioned in this thread. Wushu, modern at least, however, tends to work on the flashy and faster displays of tai chi and other Chinese boxing schools more acrobatic styles.
You can also ask Jet Li on his website and he’ll probably tell you. He visits the forums on there a lot.
PS Internal martial art isn’t just about spiritual, it’s more about using an opponents blow as an attack…sorta of recycling the force or energy. For instance as an arm comes towards your shoulder as in a punch, you swivel with it and capture it in a lock, or use the force of moving with it to launch your own attack.
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For a lot of information and the source of my answer to this, check out Kungfu.Org.
Yes there are multiple Tai Chi’s. One for just about every teacher in just about every city. It is believed that originally it was developped as an internal martial art, possibly by the shao lin. The developers, and later students, noticed that the practice of the forms also helped improve coordination and increased relaxation, and was believed to include a multitude of health benefits. As it became more popular, chinese doctors often prescribed it to patients as part of their treatment. Overtime the forms spread and evolved into a plethora (i love that word) of forms and movements.
Many practitioners (and I would venture to say most) only focus on the health benefits of the art, and therefore prefer movements that promote this. While others (most notably the chinese military, which uses a short form as part of daily calesthenics) also focus on the martial arts application and therefore use only those movements which can also be applied in combat.
Learning it from one or the other type of teacher will give you one or the other result. I for one took it along with Chuan Fa from once school. We definately used it as a martial art. (unless you consider swinging a sword at your oponent merely ‘exercise’)
As for the OP:
I believe IMDB has the styles listed correctly. Though, the application in the movie were highly stylized versions of the martial arts in question.
Also, if you search the internet for the phrase “chinese boxing” you’ll find a lot on applications of tai chi.
Tai Chi practitioners regularly compete in san shou, full-contact fighting, (w/ throws and take-downs ), on a four foot platform, and win.
Tai Chi is a complete martial art. In the US it’s not often taught that way.
xingi and pakua are BOTH internal forms.
They are complementary and thus are always taught together. Hence, the signifigance of the choice for the movie.
The differences between internal and external styles has to do with how the force is generated. internal styles use the same principles as external styles, but in more subtle ways that usually involve smaller, but more critical movements. Internal styles also take advantage of the physical strentgh of internal organs through compression and expansion. ( It sounds like a complicated idea, but it’s not. )
To no small degree, chi is your awareness of chi. In this sense, it is chi that gives a power to movements that is greater than what it appears it should be. but it’s not that an electro-magnetic type of radiation is emanating so much as your awareness allows an unusual coordination of many small factors to create optimal force from minimal work. It’s intricat applications of basic physical principles. Mostly levers and gravity.
External styles are more basic and larger applications of muscle and bone leverages to generate force. A solid external style has also an internal component. Often this internal component isn’t presented in the curriculum until later because it’s subtler and more frustrating to teach.
Kung fu means, time and energy. Good cooking can be called good kung fu.
Wu shu means martial arts, but has come be associated w/ a very athletic style of martial expression. It’s full of many moves that do not have practical fighting applications, ( like throwing weapons into the air and catching them, landing in the splits, etc ), yet are very challenging and demanding. Wushu is contrasted to traditional Chinese styles by this. In traditional styles all of the movements of forms have practical applications.