|
When Patrick Swayze died I remember hearing this quote of his, that dancing with someone is the most intense connection you’ll ever have with a person. I believed that then and still do. Part of becoming a young woman is finding your sexual center. This too is Tasha’s journey in Black Kungfu Chick. Often our first sexual experiences can be clumsy, awkward and strange even though we may be falling in love. It’s a tentative time of changes emotional, mental and biological. My true sexual awakening would actually come much later when I learned how to dance salsa and learned to love my body. So it was a surprise and yet at the same time something I already knew when I watched the actress in her first martial arts session hear that part of her study was understanding how her libido or lower dantian energies were connected to other parts of her body.  I’ve been dancing for years in many different spaces, styles and at various ages but when you dance with someone you connect with, it is always fresh—youthful, invigorating and sensual. You feel alive and free and like you are blossoming anew. Why do you think old people love to dance? Oh to dance with a real dancer when our bodies are relaxed and raw and intimate as we move forward together! You become extremely present with the right partner and of course there’s that whole fluid motion of bodies moving together thing that is totally divine. With all that electric energy flowing you often feel that you are falling in love. Again and again and again. So talking about martial arts as a dance and about two people falling in love in that dance is not a leap. I mean there are a mountain of movies that tell that story, from Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Yimou’s House of the Flying Daggers to the older Wing Chun with Michelle Yeoh and Donny Yen and The Crane Fighter with Judy Lee. That list goes on and on. It’s destiny damn it when two people are thrusting and moving, bodies are colliding and gliding in unison that something sexual is happening. Any dancer will tell you that’s the truth. So talking about martial arts as a dance and about two people falling in love in that dance is not a leap. I mean there are a mountain of movies that tell that story, from Wong Kar Wai’s The Grandmaster, Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, and Yimou’s House of the Flying Daggers to the older Wing Chun with Michelle Yeoh and Donny Yen and The Crane Fighter with Judy Lee. That list goes on and on. It’s destiny damn it when two people are thrusting and moving, bodies are colliding and gliding in unison that something sexual is happening. Any dancer will tell you that’s the truth. When I began taking my first tai chi classes they recognized immediately that I was a dancer because of how I moved. What was interesting about tai chi however is that it is not typically a partner activity because it’s not typically used for combat. So learning tai chi was a new awakening for me as I discovered how to find my center without a partner which is an interesting experience if you’re accustomed to partner dancing. It’s about finding your balance on your own… which is at the end of the day the most important element to any dance. It’s only when you both have balance, that you can find a way to move forward together. I’m excited to see where Tasha’s lessons in martial arts take her in her career and home life, but also in her love life. This idea of balance is so central to our lives and it is certainly central to Tasha’s story. Keep on the look out for that guy that she may end up fighting more than a few times… he just might become a love interest! 
0 Comments
 It was the first time when I stood next to Jackie Chan’s wax statue on a road (very unusual for a Madam Tussaud’s work open in public) in HongKong, others thought I was posing for a click, but I was making a wish - “I want to work with this legend, one day”. Recently I heard my eight year old son’s friend’s mom say, “Liam learnt to share and give generously from his martial arts class’ - my perception about the martial art classes changed and I understood better what kids are learning in these classes which are more important lessons on values and good living while mastering how to protect themselves. Black Kungfu Chick, is my fantasy of working on a Jackie Chan movie, but the bigger draw is the endless transmedia opportunities which unfolds with a content like BKC. We get to take the show beyond the five inch screens or larger and start touching lives on the ground. A comic book, a smartphone and tablet application, a loaded and interactive website, a multi platform game, virtual Kung fu classes, fan fiction, local activation, events, contests and the list is endless. A 360 degree campaign is being woven around the show and that is what I will lead as a Transmedia Producer and bring to the viewers and fans of Black Kungfu Chick. Here is Jainardhan Sathyan’s recent work as a producer - Dying To Live ! https://vimeo.com/150286039 http://www.dtlmovie.com Filmography on IMDB http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7759531/ www.jainardhansathyan.com Follow Sathyan on: I love nurses. If you’ve ever had to be in a hospital overnight or for a longer stay you’ll appreciate them. While doctors can be very technical and analytical at times… and more cautious in this era of legalities, nurses on the other hand try to walk the fine line of care and service. When I had a needle stuck into my arm several times over 10 days and it was blue and black from the bruising, it was their compassion that kept me going. That compassion is something that comes to the very heart of Tasha’s mother.  Nurses have long held a very special role in the black community. It’s historically been considered a somewhat esteemed and respectable profession. I’ll harken back to one of my favorite nurse movies: The English Patient where the military nurse played by the elegant Juliette Binoche abandoned her troop for the then scarred Ralph Fiennes to care for him. The long hours, knowledge required and technical language have made it a noble middle class career. But nursing has also had its drawbacks. Long hours. Huge commitment. Physically and mentally exhausting. A nurse’s work is never done. This is the challenging conundrum Tasha must face with her mother. Ruth is the kind of woman who will stop in the middle of the night and get out of her car to walk someone across the street. She is a doer not a dreamer. She overflows with compassion and I believe compassion drives her to sometimes make bad decisions for her family. She is the kind of woman who can sense those deeply in need. But she has blinders when it comes to her own children. She is surrounded by death and dying everyday so she is not always able to sense the small things. Every life has a deeper role and meaning. She cherishes it. She is someone who comforts and stays late and works late. She stays late to work with the sickest patients. Ruth is Tasha’s role model. She is the hardworking mother, the caring mother, the mother who never passes a homeless person by. But in her attention to those around her, she doesn’t see how much Tasha truly needs her. She is the mother who is always trying to do too much. She has received awards and many gifts for her service, but to her children they mean little because it is always time away from them. They fill in that lost time by doing things for each other. Sadly, nurses commonly become some of the sickest people as they age. Their care of others commonly results in not enough self-care. This is an element Tasha will need to deal with in as the seasons progress
Although I’ve long been a cinema fan of the martial arts, I didn’t become a student until a few years ago. I started learning tai chi from a wonderful teacher I met at the Audobon Center in Highland Park. Wayne is a sweet man, old but spectacularly mobile for his age! He had moved to the US when he was over 60 and here in America he created a whole new life! I deeply admired Wayne because he was a teacher who made a commitment every week to come and teach a small group of students for free. FREE. As a novice, I know very little but I can share just a little of what I’ve gleaned from those who have shared with me and the books I have studied. Yet, when I talk about the beginnings of Black Kungfu Chick, I know that learning tai chi quan from Wayne is a big part of that. As well, I know my interactions with my many international students have also led me here. We also had a little in common because we both shared a love of poetry. Following Wayne as we did tai chi, was always a bit of poetry for me. I also appreciated the freedom that Wayne gave us. He would give us a little pamphlet of information, caution us about tension and balance, but other than that we would just follow him. He infrequently gave comments or feedback but when he did, it was never critical and he was always concerned for our safety. Mostly Wayne loved to share insights from articles he read. And sometimes, poetry. It was an ethereal experience starting out.  As someone who is constantly in my head and is a professed workaholic, it was something special to hear the birds, catch the scent of the pond and glimpse the grapes hanging by the vine. It was something amazing to feel present.I felt very lucky having a good teacher who really helped me to connect to myself and the martial arts. It was like praying to the world.
The movements in tai chi tend to be very slow and it’s all about balance. You have to create stances and steps where you are forced to balance yourself or you cannot accomplish the next move. It is also about breathing which is a big part of balance. You are taught when you inhale and when you exhale. Deep breathing is long considered a way to clean the toxins from your lungs if done properly. |
| www.prarthanajoshi.com | Follow Prarthana Joshi on Social Media. | |
Kung fu Origins
A great place to begin is language: the word for “martial” in Chinese is “wu,” and it is constructed from two other Chinese words: “zhi” which means to stop or cease, and “ge” which means describes a weapon. So from this the original meaning to stop using weapons. There is a lot of irony wrapped up in martial arts films because they are always about some fighter struggling not to fight, but it always comes down to that. But we can see that the origins of kung fu come from this idea of defense. I think any true teacher will tell you that. Watching our actress train during her first lesson, even her teacher told her running is always option. You fight when there is no other choice.
Although the Chinese martial arts have been around for centuries they’ve only been a part of the Western world for the last few decades. But the origins of the martial arts are hard to pinpoint because the practice was being used in ancient times before people were recording history, before people were even literate so the traditions were passed down orally. In the beginning there may have been thousands of martial arts styles but the weakest were weeded out and best were refined. Martial arts would then continue to evolve with the traditions of the bagua or eight trigrams concept, and the yin yang theory.
Bagua is one of the three internal styles of Chinese martial arts and is based on organizing natural phenomena into eight symbols that come from ancient Chinese divination text. The primary idea is that change within these phenomena is a means to defeating an opponent. Yin and yang is the foundation of many martial arts styles including wing chun and comes from the idea that harmony can only been accomplished with the balance of two opposing, complementary and interdependent forces. Force cannot defeat brute force. You’ll notice that both of these symbols are incorporated at least in part into our logo.
What’s fascinating about the martial arts is that there is a “hard” and “soft” or “internal” and “external” side to the techniques. Fighting is only one part. But there are deeper philosophies (Buddhism, Taoism, and more) that have to be uncovered to truly achieve any kind of mastery. It’s been fascinating to watch the actress being trained by an actual martial arts master and to learn so much about Chinese culture in the process.
What?! You missed our amazing table read back in February?! Let me tell you about it. Hosted by the marvelous Teka Lark Fleming of the Blk Grrl Book Fair and fab production designer Skira Martinez at the glorious Cielo Galleries in the heart of central LA it was pretty live! The event opened with Teka Lark interviewing the writer-director-producer Rae Shaw who talked about her passion for martial arts movies, ethnically diverse characters, and female heroines including martial arts dynamos like Michelle Yeoh, Angela Mao Ying, and Pei Pei Cheng.
Next up the actors performed in a table read of the pilot episode: lead actors La’Raia Gribble and Jim Lau led the spectacular night by endowing their charming teacher-student relationship with comedic moments but some tender ones too. Supporting cast was also on point and included Ace Gibson, Angela Monique Imperial, Kwesiu Jones, Jason Gilmore and Trenekia Gilmore.
Later in the evening Rae Shaw also described the path to creating this incredible web series and its pilot season of 10 episodes on Youtube and mobile app. That’s right a BKC App that explores a young girl’s journey to becoming a doctor as she defends her community from local menaces with the help of her premed teacher who also happens to know kungfu. The app would include the webisodes and a game and some other interactive components. She also spotlighted a few reference films in telling the story: Girlhood, Karate Kid, and A Touch of Zen—a legendary King Hu film that’s been referenced by everybody in the martial arts world from Quentin Tarantino to the Wachowski’s sibs!
Then at the end, there was a great raffle giveaway that included some cool gifts like the Chang Cheh’s kungfu classic Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, a framed African stenciled pic, and the super cool handmade BKC leather bracelets— made in South LA! Yeeeeeah Compton! Check them out on our rewards site HERE!
Then at the end, there was a great raffle giveaway that included some cool gifts like the Chang Cheh’s kungfu classic Ten Tigers of Kwangtung, a framed African stenciled pic, and the super cool handmade BKC leather bracelets— made in South LA! Yeeeeeah Compton! Check them out on our rewards site HERE!
It all started with my love affair with Netflix and the battle with finding good quality films that are also entertaining. They had a sudden influx of martial arts movies a few years ago, but not the modern ones, the really old Shaw Brothers ones by Chang Cheh. Simple plot lines but off the chain moves! I was obsessed!
I immediately jumped into watching all the venom mob movies and fell in love with Chiang Sheng who is sadly deceased. He was this incredible martial artist who had gone to the famous Peking Opera School. When he performed he was silly but serious, rhythmic always kind of dancing around. Supposedly he was called “Cutie Pie,” because he was also terribly adorable and had these great dimples. He was also typically the good guy though not always.
I didn’t remember him from earlier kung fu movies nor his style of kungfu which was laced with acrobatics. He could leap into single hand backflips and run up walls like he belonged there. I found out that he became an assistant director for Chang Cheh and as I researched him more, I found that he also became a choreographer for Cheh. Then I discovered that he and 2 other of the venom mob players had all gone to school together Philip Kuo Chui and Lu Feng who is still around—they were all like heartthrobs in their era. Their moves were amazing! They would do 100-300 sequence moves in one take! There was no cutting and the camera barely moved. I was awed. Then I was buying up as many DVDs as possible.
I didn’t remember him from earlier kung fu movies nor his style of kungfu which was laced with acrobatics. He could leap into single hand backflips and run up walls like he belonged there. I found out that he became an assistant director for Chang Cheh and as I researched him more, I found that he also became a choreographer for Cheh. Then I discovered that he and 2 other of the venom mob players had all gone to school together Philip Kuo Chui and Lu Feng who is still around—they were all like heartthrobs in their era. Their moves were amazing! They would do 100-300 sequence moves in one take! There was no cutting and the camera barely moved. I was awed. Then I was buying up as many DVDs as possible.
The other thing that happened in these movies as I watched more of them is that Chang Cheh was very interested in portraying a male brotherhood that was very chilvarous. Most times women in the films, did very little because they needed to be saved, but sometimes there was more there. In Flags of Iron, there’s a storyline about women being kidnapped and brought into brothels against their will. In this movie in particular, a woman that they save returns and she says something like, “Did you think you only needed to save me once?” It was something very heavy in a mostly light-hearted ketchup-blood action movie. But a lot of these films would kind of roll over some of these really dark themes having to do with women. I think the idea of Black Kungfu Chick really began to take seed there as I watched women’s roles in these movies.
Eventually I moved over to the internet and youtube to find more movies and I started rewatching movies with female leads that I remembered watching as a kid. I found a few blogs that directed me where to watch the best female martial artists— I remembered Pei Pei Cheng from the classic Dragon Inn. I also rediscovered Bruce Lee and Michele Yeoh and fell into Angela Mao Ying— she has a movie called Broken Oath where she does kung fu but also throws scorpions—she’s so badass—to avenge her murdered parents; but I had to really hunt down A Touch of Zen by King Hu whom I would compare to a Terrence Malick. The first part of the movie is all about Hsu Feng’s character being mysterious and a part of some political rebels with a very slight love plot. She ends up sleeping with this guy who is chasing her simply to fulfill his mother’s dream of having a legacy.
Eventually I moved over to the internet and youtube to find more movies and I started rewatching movies with female leads that I remembered watching as a kid. I found a few blogs that directed me where to watch the best female martial artists— I remembered Pei Pei Cheng from the classic Dragon Inn. I also rediscovered Bruce Lee and Michele Yeoh and fell into Angela Mao Ying— she has a movie called Broken Oath where she does kung fu but also throws scorpions—she’s so badass—to avenge her murdered parents; but I had to really hunt down A Touch of Zen by King Hu whom I would compare to a Terrence Malick. The first part of the movie is all about Hsu Feng’s character being mysterious and a part of some political rebels with a very slight love plot. She ends up sleeping with this guy who is chasing her simply to fulfill his mother’s dream of having a legacy.
But she’s all business when things get a little crazy. This all felt very radical to me for the time. But the second half gets all zen—monks, sun, and forest and desert—and leaves the action plot completely behind. I was fascinated when I looked him up to discover that the industry there (like the industry here with the Malick’s) didn’t approve of his thoughtful and more spiritual expressions. King Hu’s work didn’t have the ketchup bleeding of Cheh nor the flagrant acrobatics, but his films were very cinematic and the movements were very carefully choreographed like in an opera. He also frequently worked with female leads who barely ever fell in love. They were dutiful and not playing.
All these ideas from the 70’s just felt incredibly relevant now, these issues that women grapple with— trying to find a way to protect themselves and those they care about, can a woman be strong, vulnerable, demure and sexy?, can a woman have a job and have love too? This desire to find the balance I feel is a universal female struggle. That is where Black Kungfu Chick began to form.
All these ideas from the 70’s just felt incredibly relevant now, these issues that women grapple with— trying to find a way to protect themselves and those they care about, can a woman be strong, vulnerable, demure and sexy?, can a woman have a job and have love too? This desire to find the balance I feel is a universal female struggle. That is where Black Kungfu Chick began to form.
We’re steadily moving forward mapping out and chilin’ at locations in South LA and still gathering up our awesome crew! We just finished our first series of camera tests at glorious Panavision Woodland Hills where we compared the gritty real super8 color reversal and negative to super 16 and digital and digital VHS. That’s right folks! We’re going super8 on this one! Yeah JJ!! To capture the look and feel of those 70’s martial arts films! Black Kungfu Chick is happening right now with the nostalgia of the past! Don’t miss out!
As we get closer to the funding and production we’ll be locking down locations in Compton, Watts and Willowbrook, looking for local musicians, and trying to roll up with a crystal sync max 8 super 8 cameraaaa. Our favorite art-inspired location is the watts towers but there’s a chance we may be headed into Leimert Park too—shhhh! But mainly now we’re concentrating on funding ($50KKKKKs) to get what we need to secure all those super8 film rolls and camera, a fantastic crew, and some dope set dressing and props cause Tasha’s all that and a bag of chips!
As we get closer to the funding and production we’ll be locking down locations in Compton, Watts and Willowbrook, looking for local musicians, and trying to roll up with a crystal sync max 8 super 8 cameraaaa. Our favorite art-inspired location is the watts towers but there’s a chance we may be headed into Leimert Park too—shhhh! But mainly now we’re concentrating on funding ($50KKKKKs) to get what we need to secure all those super8 film rolls and camera, a fantastic crew, and some dope set dressing and props cause Tasha’s all that and a bag of chips!
RSS Feed
