Justin Lin's climb up the Fast & Furious ladder matches the film titles, fast and furious. He's the only director to shoot five sequels (3, 4, 5, 6, 9) with F10 on the way. The resulting action composition in F9: The Last Saga (F9) has been brewing since his intro to Bruce Lee and Lin's early subliminal and now obvious influences from Jackie Chan.
When I first discussed Bruce Lee with the Taiwanese-born, Los Angeles-raised Lin in 1997, he shared, "Whether Asian Americans like it or not, they all have a relationship with Bruce. When I was 10, I was deeply disturbed watching Bruce's Game of Death (1979). There was a guy who vaguely looked like Lee interspersed with shots of the real Lee, right down to a photo of Lee pasted onto a mirror to make us believe the guy in front of the mirror was Bruce. Yet when I first saw Bruce Lee on screen, I felt his power, he gave me the strength to strive for something. After learning about the film's freaky news, I thought, how in the hell did the double get that job?"
Lin addressed this question in his first martial arts film, Finishing the Game (2007). Co-starring Sung Kang, Lin also hired fight choreographer Don Thai, who at the time was a close associate and one of Jackie Chan's protégés.
Years earlier, Jackie Chan's Opera brother Corey Yuen directed Jason Statham's breakout martial arts film Transporter(2002). Around the same time, Jackie Chan's stunt double/fight choreographer, Andy Cheng, was priming Dwayne Johnson in Chan's style of action too as the fight coordinator on Johnson's first martial arts film Rundown (2003).
The Fast & Furious films began as street drag-racing movies, perhaps influenced by the demented driving antics of Steve McQueen in real life and in his movie Getaway (1972). Yet with the addition of Dwayne Johnson as CIA agent Luke Hobbs in Fast Five (2011), whose job was to track down and capture Dom, the franchise morphed into a car-llection of visceral flicks filled with over-the-top, outrageous, literal high-octane car stunts.
Then just as you think there's no more juice in the engines, apart from flashing red buttons connected to newfangled fuel-injection systems, which are attached to nitrous oxide canisters capable of giving short bursts of Star Wars light speed, Furious 7 (2015) arrived. F7 upped the martial arts ante by casting legitimate martial artist Jason Statham as the rogue assassin Deckard Shaw who ran pugilistic mayhem around Dom and Hobbs.
Yet with F9, Lin translated Lee's power into his action sequences and saw how Chan's fights used the tangible qualities of space and how Chan continually transforms it from the confines of small rooms, alleys or a high-rise's narrow ledge to the vastness of a castle, mountaintop, or rooftops of big towering buildings. Like Chan, Lin achieves these transformations via extended chase sequences where each unpredictable redefinition of space adds to the scene's momentum by creating a giddy farce. As his characters move through new environments, they confront new circumstances and possibilities.
With F9, Lin goes beyond these confines. Dom learns that his long-lost renegade brother Jacob (John Cena) has become a deadly assassin who's in cahoots with Dom's mortal enemy Cipher from The Fate and the Furious (2017) and her new psychotic partner Otto. Their aim is to find two halves of a top-secret gadget that can control the world's security network. It's time for Dom and his speedster band of brothers/sisters to unite to save the world from this terminally ruthless trio while dealing with family secrets.
In 1999, Diesel told about his bouncer and boxing background in New York, and his love for the 1970's Shaw Brother kung fu films adding with a bellowing calm voice, "It would've been cool to be in one of those movies, the weapons, the wires, the fights."
By a strange twist of fate, Diesel is doing a kung fu film that's as close to being a 1970s, Shaw Brothers wuxia movie than he could ever have imagined. His weapon of choice isn't fists, knives or kung fu, but a 1968 Dodge Charger with car fufight choreography.
Dom can maneuver his cars to block, deflect and parry oncoming forces of sideswiping and head on attacks from other autos, armored vehicles, giant transporter trucks and even a flying wing. His car fu has skills that can catch and intercept flying members of his team out of mid-air death plummets that are more radical than a square route.
The wire-fu car fu is as outrageous as it sounds. In one moment Dom can be speeding along then he pulls of this dodgy move that's akin to maniacal spider falling from a ceiling toward your unsuspecting head on the end of a single strand of silk thread.
Stunt coordinator J.J. Perry who was into Hong Kong stylized action since his beginnings, choreographed a handful of unique fights that are well worth the watch and there are two particular fights that take into account the yin and yang balance of combat.
One is Dom's rough and tumble, smash and crash brawl as he becomes a human muscle car in a wide-open underground warehouse where he takes on droves of heavily armed punch and crunch security forces. The opposing energy is a powerful light focusing on the F9's fighting women, Letty, Mia and newcomer Elle taking on a team of marauding mercenaries within the tight confines of a small Tokyo apartment. It's a close quarters, tag-team action fray using medium shots, where each lady does 2-6 techniques per take.
In Chinese numerology, nine represents longevity and so it's no wonder that F9 will continue the franchise's staying power where breaking the speed limit is a way of life.
The main advantage of the stick over other weapons is in simple handling, fast appliance in the defence from one or more attackers, and keeping the opponent at a certain distance as well as its easy transformation from a tool to a weapon.
Although the skill of fighting with the stick was well known all over the world as a martial art with a specific name, it has remained just in a few countries.
In ancient Greece and Italy the use of the stick was more common with shepherds even though the Romans used the stick for fighting but this skill didn't take hold.
During the military campaigns of Charlemagne (768-814) European peasants also used the stick for self- defence.
In feudal England the skill of short stick handling was a constituent part of education and upbringing of young men.
The fight with the stick as the means of self-defence actually appeared in most of Europe after 1096 when the first Crusade began. There were some records of stick fighting in England so that a legend of the fight between Robin Hood (Longsdale) and Little John ( the skill called singlestick) comes from that time.
In the 16th and 17th century duels (fighting with the sword) as a way to solve conflicts became very common in Italy, Germany and England. Nevertheless, the country with the largest number of duels was France. Historians confirm that during the period from 1589 till 1607 more than 4000 people died in such fights, mainly from the officer corps and aristocracy.Even at that time there were lots of officers applying the stick for protection.
Although the stick had been known as a means of self-defence since the ancient times, its use started to spread throughout Europe around 1700 as a martial art and it became accepted as a means of self-defence not only by farm men but also by aristocracy. This skill was most appreciated in England.
Consequently the European aristocracy from England, France and Switzerland, later in other parts of Europe eg Italy, Spain and Portugal , and less often in Germany, Scandinavia and Russia, used the stick as a handy means of self-defence.
The fight with the stick is called bataireacht in Ireland, while a similar fight in Spain is juego del palo( in Basque-makila), in Portugal jogu do pau, in Italy scherma di bastone and in Venezuela juego del garote. In England there are famous stick fights known as singlestick (cudgels) or quarterstaff from Berkshire… the fight with the stick is also called…
Japan(Kendo),India(Kalaripayattu),India-Sikhs(Gatka),Philippine(Arnis,Eskrima,Kali), Brasil(Maculele),Trinidad (Calinda),Japan (Bo-jutsu),Thailand (Krabi krabong),China(Gang), Korea (yong bong)…and many other.
The stick has gradually evolved from its first use as a means of self-defence into a part of aristocratic costume accessory and thus carrying the stick was considered gentlemanly
( walking sticks). The custom of stick carrying as a sword replacement survived with European aristocracy until the middle of 19th century, in some countries eg England and France even till the beginning of 20th century.
Stick carrying was also fashionable insome colonial states in Americas ( the USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil etc.).
Though plenty of members of aristocracy and bourgeois gentlemen used the stick for their own protection, the fighting skill itself having a national and traditional value was maintained only in a few countries in a modified and transformed way.
A good example is England round 1850 where this discipline was called cudgelling, backswording or most often singlestick. The skill's aim was to fulfill or counterbalance punching ie boxing. Nevertheless, this martial art didn't attract population very much so that it was later only trained in the police. In England stick fighting was present in some boxing clubs at the beginning of 20th century or as a part of self-defence training ( bartitsu-also be used with a sturdy umbrela), but gradually it fell into oblivion.
In France around 1800, with the apearance of savate ( French boxing), the practitioners started exercising with a short stick (la canne in French) or with a longer one called le baton
( a bit older and different kind of fight).
La canne was invented by French officers and noblemen in 18th century and they were the first to use it for self-defence.The stick replaced the sabre and the skill itself resembled fencing.
Unlike la canne, the martial art with a longer stick – le baton came from peasants and shepherds .The same skill started to be used by lots of French citizens for self- defence in the 17th century.
In 1817 a public demonstration of la canne was performed in the theatre Ville Lumiere (Paris). Since then the police started to practise it in Toulouse and Paris where a certain master called E.Vidoca was their instructor.
The first book about the discipline " Loze de Toulouse" was written by J. Le Boucher in 1850. Later lots of savate masters fulfilled and systematized the stick fighting skill la canne. Among the first masters to recommend it were E. Larribeau and C. Lecour. In 1845 Charles Lecour (1808- 1894) wrote the first manual on savate rules, presenting 180 techniques from la canne, too. This martial art was also promoted by French masters G. Pavigneron and J. Charlemon
( a savate promoter as well). It is said that round 1850 there were about 250 la canne instructors. The savate master Joseph Charlemon passed down his knowledge to his son Charles Charlemon who later became a famous savate and la canne master, too.
It is important to mention Owen Swift and Jack Adams, the two masters of savate and la canne who showed exceptional knowledge in 1838, as well as one of the former leading masters of these martial arts Michel Casseux (1794- 1869).
Savate masters used another name for la canne discipline – canne chausson.
Another la canne promoter was a Swiss named Pierre Vigny (Paris 1866- Geneva 1917 ?), who taught bartitsu in London from 1901 to 1904. Unfortunatelly, Vigny modified and changed la canne discipline so that he added some elements of the English martial style quarterstaff together with some procedures from the self-defence techniques of bartitsu ( bartitsu-created by E.W. Barton-Wright). In 1920 the English officer Henry G. Lang taught elements of la canne discipline in India but again mixed with bartitsu variations.
Thanks to the savate master Charles Charlemont (1862-1944), savate,and therefore la canne skill, got introduced at 1924 Olympic Games in Paris. In 1900 the master A.C. Cunningham started teaching la canne in America,also in 1940 the skill is taught and Charles Yerkov. At that time the famous master Roger La Fond taught the discipline in France.
Unfortunatelly the period between 1924 and 1950 meant the slow decline of this martial art and the number of practitioners was drastically reduced. A few remaining masters wanted to save la canne skill and knowledge but, on purpose or not, they mixed various le baton techniques and joined them to la canne. Such a skill, rather neglected and forgotten, came back in the period between 1950 to 1970.Thus the martial art la canne got rediscovered by the master Maurice Sarry ( 1935- 1994). He repeated the mistake from his predecesors combining certain techniques from le baton and bartitsu (quarterstaff) and mixing them with the one of la canne ( which was not the authentic old form itself).Moreover, the skill of self-defence ( the primary aim) got a new sport character.
The stick used in la canne skill is 85cm to 105 cm long (very rarely the length was from 80cm to 110cm). The best length regularly is 95 cm. The stick weighs between 150 and 300 grams depending on the material of which it was made. The stick used to be made of high quality wood, hard and shockproof ( burned beech,oak or chestnut). The wood was often dried in order to achieve additional strength and resistance.The stick handle had mostly a spherical shape (Baroque stick) made of some metal like silver, ivory or gemstones, specially carved and ornamented. It was mostly hitched to the stick by a brass or nickel ring with a screw for wood. Sometimes the handle was made in some animal forms eg duck, goose, lion, dog, horse, snake, eagle etc., in a certain form of hammer and even in a form of devil.The human imagination in the stick making was and still is astonishing.
The stick used in le baton discipline is 140 cm to 170 cm long. Very rarely it could be longer but not more than 180cm. The weight of the stick is 400 cm maximum. It had to be made of high quality wood, hard and shockproof but light as well. Mainly all of the fighting techniques were performed so that the stick was held with both hands throughout the fight.
This technique is very similar to the stick fighting techniques in Spain, Portugal, Venezuela and some African countries ( the fighting technique with a longer stick held by both hands).
Some authors of articles on la canne as well as some masters claim that there are only 6 basic techniques mutually combined. Such a statement is neither completely correct nor true because some old fencing techniques are missing.The technique of la canne is unique in the world ,and the la canne master has to know the fencing technique very well, especially the one of the discipline - foil. There is also a certain la canne technique similar to the fencing technique with a sword called rapier (a long and pointed sword), the one known as rapier- sword style.
The master of la canne should apply the old fencing technique, which is almost no longer used in modern fencing. It doesn't mean that such a technique is wrong, bad or useless in self- defence. On the contrary, it has got a century long tradition and has been used for countless times in various situations. In fact the skills savate and la canne were invented only for this purpose.
Nowadays la canne has a sport character so that there are many stick fighting competitions organized worldwide. The competitor's goal is to give two strokes that the oponent can't evade. The name of this discipline is – canne de combat. It uses a rather distorted la canne technique ( an attractive and modern technique with plenty of jumps or vaults). The sportsmen who practise la canne at present are mostly not acquainted with savate technique. All in all, if you are interested in stick fighting you can take part in this very interesting sport.
It is interesting that there are more la canne experts or those that claim to know a lot about it in other countries than France now, like in Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Canada, Australia and the USA and even in. Lebanon, Senegal, Mauritius.
It can be said that the performance of la canne today is very questionable: from greeting the oponent to taking of the initial position. Also both the defensive and offensive techniques are not authentic ( they consist of lot of jumping?!). The sticks that are used are diverse, some are too long, some are rounded in the upper part ( so called shepherd or hooked sticks), other haven't got the handle that suits la canne discipline.
There are practitioners who perform le baton discipline, reassuring us that it is actually the same as la canne or even they exercise with two sticks (battons) , or turn the stick round the arms like majorettes or circus artists (twirling). Some of them neither know the basic elements of savate or fencing technique. This is certainly not la canne.
Today the highest quality sticks are made in Germany and one of the best kinds of wood for this purpose is American wallnut ( burnt wallnut, particularly dried). Such a stick is more resistant to vibrations and more solid than others. Nevertheless, some masters want unique sticks even with a metal blade inside (sword –rapier).
Regardless of numerous variations while performing the sticking fight la canne, the skill itself seems attractive for modern practitioners, the number of which is constantly growing. Among them there are some who are going to rediscover the old authentic discipline of la canne to the general public (eg Maurice Sarry : le secret "La Rose Couverte") and restore its luster and reputation which it surely deserves in the world of martial arts.
Finally, instead of conclusion:
EN GARDE - SALUT DES ARMES – BALESTRA – FLECHE – PASSATA – TOUCHE
David"Sensei"Stainko ------------ Master of kinesiology -------------- 7th Dan MMS
