I see. Mark Ho was an actor. (googled!) But from a few clips I watched not that good of an actor with so so KF skills.
Here is Fu Sheng doing Tit Sin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee_BVaM85m8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCOuF...ailpage#t=244s
I see. Mark Ho was an actor. (googled!) But from a few clips I watched not that good of an actor with so so KF skills.
Here is Fu Sheng doing Tit Sin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ee_BVaM85m8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCOuF...ailpage#t=244s
Last edited by SouthernGungFu; 03-27-2012 at 05:19 PM.
By many accounts, Fu Sheng was highly intelligent in kung fu and was a natural at it. He very well could have, and probably did train, very extensively, especially in his earlier years with Lau Sifu. He was actually discovered by a Shaw Bros talent scout in around 1971 or '72 in Hawaii, where he was living at the time, while competing in a judo (or karate, I forget which) tournament. Then he was recruited into the Shaw Bros drama school to prepare as an actor. So even before he learned Hung style, he already had a MA background. It's not easy to perform kung fu movements like he did in such a short amount of time.
What many people don't realize is that Fu Sheng was seriously injured in the late '70s. If I remember right, he'd broken both legs and also fell about 10 feet(?) from being suspended on wires onto his head. I had heard that his ability to perform kung fu was never the same after that. That's why his best physical performances tended to be from 1974 through '76 (Shaolin series of films).
Last edited by Jimbo; 03-07-2012 at 08:20 PM.
I was always a huge fan of Fu Sheng and think he had great presence on screen. Had he not died he would have really become an even bigger star. In terms of hung gar I think Chi Kuan Chun was better in terms of real Kung fu but Fu Sheng outshined him on screen perhaps because of his charisma whereas Chi Kuan Chun was a stiff robot type.
Agreed about Fu Sheng and Chi Kuan-Chun.
Chi Kuan-Chun was a student of Chiu Wai, and I heard he began Hung Gar training around 1961 or so. So by the time he first teamed with Fu Sheng onscreen, he'd been training 13 years. His HG form was far more mature. Fu Sheng was definitely the better actor, and also moved more fluidly. It also looked to me like Fu Sheng kept some of the kicks he might have learned in karate(?).
Supposedly, Fu Sheng was the original choice as the lead for Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, but Shaw Bros would not lend him out for it, so Yuen Woo-Ping ended up going with Jackie Chan. The rest is history.
Last edited by Jimbo; 03-07-2012 at 08:34 PM.
Just for the poster at the top of the page.
Mark Houghton is an English ex-pat Hung Gar teacher, who learned in Malaysia the older variation of Hung style, he got the chance to go and meet Lau si-fu, the reason he started Hung Gar in the first place, in 1988. Lau si-fu was impressed enough that Mark became Lau's first disciple since Fu Sheng died, Mark learned the Wong Fei Hung Hung Gar then.
As for Mark's acting....acting in Chinese movies is not the real reason anyone watches them is it?? Action is what counts...and Mark was the first gwai-lo to recieve a stunt man's licence from HKSA, and was also assisstant fight choreographer on Drunken Master 2.
More than all that he is a cool guy....who really can use Hung Gar...a genuine kung fu man
Last edited by Chris m; 03-07-2012 at 10:10 PM.
I have never heard anything but good things about Mark Houghton and as for acing ability in Kung fu movies, seriously ?
They are all "bad" actors, LMAO !!
That's part of the charm.
Psalms 144:1
Praise be my Lord my Rock,
He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !
From what I've heard about Mark Houghton, he is the real deal and really knows his stuff.
SR,
I kinda have to disagree with you there. Sure, there are (were) a lot of poor actors in old KF movies, who were simply put into movies because of their look/MA abilities. But a number of them could indeed act. Yasuaki Kurata, Fu Sheng, Ti Lung, Sammo Hung, Leung Kar-Yan, etc., come to mind. And not all of their films let them show that. But they've shown they were capable of it if they had to. That's in addition to their natural charisma, which really can't be taught. But these were actors who had some sort of drama training or stage training, etc., except maybe Leung Kar-Yan, who was a complete natural.
The acting style will be different because people in different cultures behave/express differently, even though there's some universal behaviors as well. The trick is that they make it look easy. I study acting, and believe me, it's NOT easy to look totally natural and project well onscreen. People who are good make it look so easy that non-actors think that anyone can do it, but they can't.
Sorry to OP for going so far OT...
Lam Saiwing had about 7 different teachers, the last of them being Wong Feihung
Hi, I'm a student of Lau family, learning same curriculum Fu Sheng would have. Fu Sheng spent about over a decade training under Lau Kar Leung. It is not unreasonable to think Fu Sheng would have properly been on way to understand tit sin by '75, outside of work besides just showing it. I have been training for just under 3 years & am now learning LKL's tit sin (only through dedicated daily training - have to train hard to live up to this lineage). Fu Sheng learnt Choy Lee Fut from Lau Kar Leung as early as '73: In our curriculum we learn Gung Gee, then Fu Hok, then a seemingly unique variant on Sup Gee from Choy Lee Fut (taught this where other HGK lineages have sup ying kuen), then Tit Sin. Fu Sheng performs start of our CLF sup gee at opening of '73 production Men From The Monastery. I reckon they included it as he was prob working on it at time, fits a training timeframe, Fu Sheng would have learnt full form (LKL does a bit at start of My Young Auntie, & in a TV demo of his main crew) for sure & LKL would have made sure he understood it. Some speculation but it all fits from how I'm taught, His hung kyun fits my understanding of it more than CKC's, somewhat softer. I think the CLF in place of sup ying gives a unique flavor - LKL says his HK starts as HK & progresses towards CLF. Anyhoo, just some stuff...
If you want to see best of Fu Sheng I reckon see My Rebellious Son. It might not bear LKL's direct involvement, but it really does - closest FS showed to stealing his sifu's hands in terms of body mechanics on screen, confirms everything for me, something I haven't seen from Chi Kuan Chun in the same way to fit how we're taught. In those early Chang Cheh form demos FS weren't up to standard with CKC at all, but elements of beginning his approach properly do show. In time he developed something great I feel more in tune with through hard training than CKC. FS's way makes far more sense to me for visual correlation of making my stuff practical, form or otherwise. Fu Sheng worked hard & it shows.
Last edited by A Joyful Proces; 03-15-2012 at 05:26 AM.
some excellent info, thnx for sharing and clarification. i have deleted the sentence about Fu Sheng not training long under Lau sifu so the article is more accurate.
Spiritual Tiger – Chinese Grappling and Ground Fighting
http://naamkyun.com/2012/03/spiritua...ound-fighting/
Ling Naam Wing Chun Kuen
http://naamkyun.com/2012/03/ling-naam-wing-chun-kuen/
article + videos, enjoy!