Here is a quote from Wu Xia forum about skills in “Kung Fu hustle”.
Firstly, the old begger that tricks Sing into buying the martial arts manual is played by non other than Yuen Cheung yan, brother of the renowned Yuen Wo Ping. He’s also a skilled choreographer himself and has appeared in numerous Hong Kong martial arts film.
One of the powerful skills practiced by the Landlady where she delivers a shattering roar is actually a skill practised by a character called Golden maned Lion Lord in a very well known wuxia novel called ( Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre ). He is one of 4 extremely skilled martial artists from which forms a puglistic sect of whom each possesses a distinctive skill, the other 3 being White eyebrowed Eagle Lord, Green Bat Lord, Purple Dragon Lord, all translating loosely. Their original Chinese names sound alot cooler of course.
Another skill she uses when chasing Sing at breakneck speed is a tribute to yet another skill in ( 8 Steps of the Heavenly Dragon, see below ) called Ling Bo Wei Bu ( a non offensive skill that allows the practicer to move at very fast speed ie very good qinggoing )
One of the skills used by the Landlady’s husband is of course the renowned Taiji Quan ( the simple theory behind this skill lies in counterattacking your opponents with their own attacks, well illstrated in the film ), a real life martial arts, the founder of whom is Zhang Sanfeng, also a character himself in a famous wuixa novel called 8 Steps of the Heavenly Dragon, of which is a prequel to Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre. ( mentioned above ).
The very destructive skill used by the 2 assassins ( using the Chinese musical instrument Guzhen or Qin ) was probably derived from a well know Hong Kong martial arts filmed called Tian Mo Qin ( loosely translating as the Heaven Demonic Qin ), where a powerful martial artists uses the Qin as her weapon, unleashing waves of killer Chi while playing the instrument.
The skill used by the Beast at the end of the film is of course the Toad Stance, used by again, 1 of four highly skilled martial artists in the film Legend of the Condor Heroes ( also a prequel to Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre mentioned above ) of whom are translating loosely again, Western Poison, Eastern Evil, Southern and Northern Begger.
The skill used by Sing is the very well known Wan Fuo Ru Lai Shen Zhang, translating as the Ru Lai Palm of the 10000 Buddha’s. In a Hong Kong remake of a film with this name the main adversary of the person who practices Rulai Shen Zhang is Tian Can Jiao, or Heavenly Cicada Legs, a powerful skill unleashed with kicks and is played by the same actor who plays the Landlady’s Husband.
At the end of the film, when the begger again tries to sell some martial arts manuals to a befuddled kid, those manuals are actually a collection of some of the most powerful martial art skills found in several very well known novels, namely
Stance of the 9 Suns ( the most powerful skill in the novel Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre. )
Yi Yang Zhi ( A very powerful skill used by a few puglists in 8 Steps of the Heavenly Dragon )
Dugu Jiu Jian ( A very powerful swordsplay skill used in the novel and film of the same name Swordsman )
I missed out on 2 more of them, who knows ?
And lastly, though the 3 villagers that defended the townspeople did not yield any supernaturally powerful skills, they are real martial arts ie the Qiang ( the spear, a derivative of the pole used by Shaolin Monks ), and Nanquan BeiTui, ie Southern Fists and Northern Kicks, a term used to describe the people who practice martial arts in China, where the South is well known for its Fist attacks and the North for its Kicks.
That’s all I know folks. Those who do know more please add in, and correct me where I’m wrong ! Hope the information was a little entertaining ! :]
The hotdog joke came from kung fu -the legend continues. (I admitted to knowing that, where’s my icepick?)
Here’s one from Mad, circa 1970’s.
A billion chinese walk into a bar and order a beer. After a long silence the bartender finally can’t stand it any more ans says “Gee, we don’t get many Chinese in here.” Then the spokesman for the chinese says “With that attitude of hedonistic imperealism you probably won’t get many more.”
