Last week I finished watching Real Kung Fu, a 20 episode TV drama series starring Yuen Biao, Gordon Liu, Leung Kar Yan, Lo Mang, Yuen Wah and Lee Hoi Seng.
The story seemed to revolve around an unambitious middle age man (Yuen Biao, who I assume is playing his age) who gets caught up in a murder mystery. When Leung Kar Yan (who used to be nicknamed "Beardy") appears as an effeminate ex-opera performer (and kung fu expert) with asthma, I figure it's just a nod to a character played by Lam Ching Ying in Prodigal Son. Even knowing that Yuen played the lead in Prodigal Son, I thought nothing more of it, since the lead character here seemed completely different.
It wasn't until an article on Kung Fu Cinema about a newer series called Wing Chun, did I start to make a connection. I was still in the middle of Real Kung Fu (from 2005), when I read that Wing Chun (2007) was a direct sequel to Prodigal Son that re-united Sammo Hung, the film's director with Yuen Biao who played Leung Jan.
Soon I'd figure out that Leung Tsan from the series I was watching was the same, though the story was different.
Leung Chan (spelling varies) was a
Wing Chun expert from the 1800's/1900's. He taught the man (
Chan Wah-Shun) who taught
Yip Man who was
Bruce Lee's teacher in Wing Chun, which I guess makes him Lee's Grand teacher. Had I not been a kung fu school drop out, I would have known this and not had to find this out on
Wikipedia, but there it is.
Here's the trailer for Prodigal Son:
The opening theme for Real Kung Fu:
and a scene from Wing Chun:
The article says that Wing Chun (a 40 episode series) will be released on DVD in May by
Tai Seng for a suggested retail price of sixty bucks, but it's available now from
YesAsia for about forty eight bucks. Of course, it can also be found online, *ahem*. I look forward to watching it.
Labels: Awesome, downloads, DVD, kung fu, Liu Chia Hui, movies, tv, youtube and other video
# posted by Edshugeo The GodMoor : 9:39 AM
