Hapkido

Three Chinese martial arts students spend five years in Korea training in the martial art of Hapkido. Korea is under Japanese occupation and after a fight with some Japanese the students are told to leave by their Korean master. Before they go he gives them a final demonstration in the art and some advice which he hopes will help them in the future. Armed with this knowledge they return to China and set up their own martial arts school. Back in China most of the already established martial arts schools in the area welcome the new hapkido school to the community. How ever the local Japanese martial arts school is not so happy to see them, especially when one of the three kicks the crap out of a couple of their students.

The three students turned masters of their own school, are played by kung fu legends Carter Wong, Sammo Hung and Angela Mao. Carter Wong's character is honourable and steadfast. Sammo Hung plays Fan Wei who is hot-headed and cannot stand by while injustice is done. Angela Mao plays the more balanced of the three and a pacifist at heart, although when pushed too far she can kick some serious ass. The three set up their Hapkido School and teach martial arts and practice tradition medicine and at first things go well. It's not long though before the hot-headed Fan Wei crosses paths with two students from the Japanese run Black Bear school. While out drinking with Tiger a student a local martial arts school. After defeating the students it's inevitable they will return and the next time Sammo battles them he leaves several dead after that things escalate drawing his two friends into the conflict.

Hapkido AKA Lady Kung Fu falls into the "rival schools" sub genre of kung fu movies, much like the Bruce Lee classic Fist of Fury which was made in the same year. All the three leads are great with both Sammo and Carter on good form, but this is really Angela Mao's show and she displays some serious skills here, including some top notch spinning kicks. The supporting cast includes Hapkido legend Wong In-Sik and his real life master Ji Han-jae who gives a fantastic demonstration of Hapkido's effectiveness at the beginning of the film. You can also spot Billy Chan, Jackie Chan, Yeun Biao and Corey Yuen in a range of lesser roles. Although my personal preference is for martial arts films set a bit further back in history there have been some great films set in this period and Hapkido is one of them. The DVD from Hong Kong Legends features a lovely print and the original language so if you have a dubbed version you can now see the movie as was intended. The incidental music score is wickedly funky and the films titles at the beginning drip retro cool. If you’re a fan of said retro cool, like myself. The bit at the start where the Japanese guy picks up the pendant and reads the inscription "Hap Ki Do" and then the funky music and titles kicks in will have you grinning from ear to ear.

Hapkido is an overlooked early seventies classic from Golden Harvest. The extras on the disc (UK disk the Weinstein Company will be putting this out in North America in October) are a little light with no commentary, but then I am not really sure who they could get to replace Bey Logan. It does feature a short featurette with hapkido instructor Tammy Parlour who is also interviewed about the martial art of hapkido itself which is interesting as in the UK at least it's not as well known as other martial arts. How ever the really important thing which is the quality of the feature presentation and not extra's as some people seem to believe, is very good. I recommend that fans of martial arts cinema pick up this release, especially if you enjoy the likes of Fist of fury. Also this is a rare chance to see Ji Han-jae on film who is a true master of his art.

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