Director: Chia-Liang Liu
Starring: Gordon Liu, Kara Hui, Te-Lo Mai, Johnny Lung Wei Wang
Genre: Kung Fu Comedy
Shaw Brothers
In Martial Club (1981) Master Lu (Tit-Woh Jue) and his son Lu Shanhou (King Chue Lee) disrupt the Lion Dance of Master Zheng’s (Wilson Tong) students, it sets in motion a dangerous rivalry between the two schools. The mutually respected Master Wong Qiying (Feng Ku) is brought in to mediate a truce, but it only serves to delay another inevitable confrontation. Master Wong’s son, Wong Fei Hung (Gordon Liu) is best friends with one of the top students of Master Zheng’s school, Wang Yinlin (Robert Mak), and their exploits drag a martial arts master from the north (Johnny Wang) into being a key player in the struggle between the schools of Master Lu and Master Zheng. (Source HKMDB)
Martial Club (1981) is really about etiquette between martial arts schools and what happens when that etiquette is not followed. There are several highlighted fight scenes in this movie. One takes place in an alley between Fei Hung and Master Shan and is filmed without wires. The alley is very narrow (3 feet wide) and truly shows the effectiveness of hun gar kung fu in tight places. There is also a mass kung fu “war” in a local theater which is the second highlight of the movie.
Another unusual aspect of Martial Club (1981) is that Johnny Wang Lung Wei ends up as the hero from the north, instead of his usual villain. A fight does take place between he and Wong Fei Hung, but it is a fair fight between martial artists, and once Johnny Wang Lung Wei discovers that he has been tricked, he refuses to continue in the battle.
