"I don't know if your grandfather mentioned to you the very famous Xingyi Quan in Neijiaquan when you were practicing boxing?"

Wu Yusen will definitely not mention Xingyi boxing for no reason, Lin Mingyang did hear his grandfather Lin Aoquan mention that Xingyi boxing originated in Taigu, Shanxi, and is one of the three major internal boxing styles in China. The style of Xingyi boxing is hard to fight and advance, almost like lightning and thunder, which is unique in the inner boxing.

Lin Mingyang nodded: "I have heard of this kind of boxing method, which is famous for being good at fighting, and there is a saying that 'Tai Chi does not go out for ten years, and Xingyi kills people in one year'!" ”

"I'm also a layman for Xingyi Boxing, but when I was young at Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers Film Company, I made films with Zhang Che, the most famous action film director at the time, and I learned a lot of skills from it, and I changed the knife in Zhang Che's movie to a gun, so it would be very similar to my "True Colors of Heroes". During that time, I had a lot of contact with martial arts in Hong Kong, and during this time, I also met several experts in Xingyi Quan and watched them practice. This kind of boxing gives me the feeling that it is strong and simple, the movements are concise and practical, the fighting style is fierce, there are no tricks, the body is fast, and the straight forward and straight retreat. John Woo recalled some of the things he saw when he first entered the film and television industry.

"The style of Xingyi Boxing is to fight in the middle, and there is a saying that 'if you don't move, you can't fight, it's a fight'." Although Lin Mingyang was in the United States and had not seen this kind of boxing with his own eyes, he knew that Xingyi Quan was an obvious gun fist, and spear art was a battlefield art that appeared after the Zhou Dynasty in China, and it had the merit of protecting the king and stabilizing the country. In ancient times, there were famous generals Zhao Zilong and Jiang Weishan guns. Jiang Wei has a descendant of Zhou Dong of the Song Dynasty, who is the head of the forbidden army, and his disciple Lin Chong, the head of the leopard, succeeded to his throne. Born from the big gun, Xingyi boxing is especially suitable for battlefield combat, and it can also be said that this set of boxing is obtained by generations of people who have experienced battlefield battles.

John Woo was inspired by Lin Mingyang's previous performances, and Xingyi Boxing is basically a pictographic boxing, and its main routines are mostly imitations of the predatory and self-defense actions of some animals, that is, the so-called "pictographic and meaning", added to the battle between the transformed werewolf and the vampire, which will not appear abrupt, but also make the fight more exciting.

"I don't like Hollywood's usual fight scenes, your idea of integrating Chinese martial arts into action performance is very good, but Chinese martial arts are broad and profound, and there are many skills in the application, why don't we go to Hong Kong and find a few experienced martial arts instructors, so that they can help design a set of fighting movements with Xingyi Quan as the core?"

――――John Woo is the kind of director who will do it immediately when he thinks of it, and this trip to Hong Kong not only called Lin Mingyang, but also invited the heroine Kate Beckinsale to accompany him. On the surface, they went to Hong Kong to promote the film, so they didn't attract much attention from the Hollywood media, but the Hong Kong media have already heard about it. John Woo and the two leading actors of "Legend of the Night" have not yet left from Budapest, and the media in Hong Kong here have already been lively. The reporters did everything possible to get John Woo's itinerary in Hong Kong from the organizers, and then waited at the airport early.

Doing propaganda was just a cover, Wu Yusen did not expect the Hong Kong media to be so enthusiastic, on the plane, he and Lin Mingyang chatted about the topic of martial arts in Hong Kong.

After all, John Woo is a director who came out of the Hong Kong film and television industry, and he can be said to know this aspect well: "Hong Kong's professional martial arts are divided: skills, weapons, boxing, cars, substitutes, power, fire, and miscellaneous. A mature martial arts team needs at least these eight complete systems, and the eight leading masters lead a number of apprentices under them, who are responsible for all the martial arts and stunts in the movie. ”

"Isn't Wu Xing a stuntman?" Kate Beckinsale also heard the conversation between the two on the sidelines, and she was curious because Hollywood has specialized special effects stuntarts, but there is no such complex classification as John Woo said.

"You know that Hong Kong's action movies are very famous, and martial arts is actually a miniature crew, such as props, lighting and even drama management, and stuntmen are just one of the departments." Lin Mingyang patiently explained to the British beauty.

Kate nodded as if she didn't understand, and then Lin Mingyang then asked Wu Yusen about martial arts.

"The so-called 'skill' is stunts, especially the performance of thrilling actions; 'instrument' is the instrument, which refers to the design of traditional Chinese swords, swords, and clubs; 'fist' is the kung fu design, and those of the bare hands in the movie are the most popular in Hong Kong and internationally; 'car', as the name suggests, is car skills, flying car stunts; 'ti' is a stand-in, instead of the actor to complete all the actions, equipment, fireworks and other thrilling and difficult actions; Wei' refers to Weiya, that is, the hanging wire, this line is the invention of Hong Kong people themselves, don't underestimate the hanging rope flying around in the sky, the martial arts master who is responsible for pulling the rope must go through very professional training, otherwise it is easy to be dangerous; 'fire', is fireworks, which also includes firearms, bombs and so on. Hong Kong films have far more skills in this regard than Hollywood, and when an actor is shot to death indiscriminately, the small holes in his body are blown up, and the plasma spurting out but does not hurt the actor's skin is the job of this master; And 'miscellaneous', that is, miscellaneous, to put it bluntly, is the work that is not included in the first seven doors, and the rest of this door is all inclusive. ”

"All martial arts in Hong Kong include these eight gates?"

"It's not, many martial arts classes lack a certain type of martial arts according to their own specialties or the company's film needs, or there are several martial arts masters of a certain type. For example, in Jackie Chan's family class, there are three or four leading masters in the word 'skill'. ”

Among the Hong Kong martial arts mentioned by John Woo, the family class is the most familiar to Lin Mingyang, and several generations of the family class have bled and broken their hands to make Jackie Chan popular, and at the same time, they have also made the banner of the family class famous all over the world.

"Then we need to find talents in the field of 'boxing', and we are also looking for a family class?"

"The family class is really good, you know that to win the best choreographer at the Hong Kong Film Awards, it's as difficult as winning a championship in the NBA, because everyone is very strong overall. The Becoming a Family class is by far the most awarded action team, and it is also the only action team that has won this award for three consecutive years. However, in the world, Yuan Heping's Yuan family class is more famous during this time. Especially after "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", Hollywood action directors like to work with him. ”

From this evaluation, Lin Mingyang can basically conclude that what Wu Yusen is looking for when he returns to Hong Kong this time is neither the family class nor the Yuan family class, if he wants to find Yuan Heping, he doesn't have to fly all the way to Hong Kong, because the "eighth master" has stayed in Hollywood during this time, and it doesn't have to be so troublesome to find him.

"When I was still working under Director Zhang Che, I knew a martial artist, and now he has made a martial arts himself, and he is not very famous in Hong Kong, but the Xingyi Quan I told you was what he practiced for me at that time."

――――Walking into the lobby of Hong Kong International Airport from the VIP passage, Lin Mingyang was taken aback by the scene in front of him. Because it was in the name of publicity, he knew that this trip had been known to the media in advance, but there were so many people outside the passage, and the scene still looked a little exaggerated. All the reporters crowded at the front of the crowd and adjusted their shots early.

Lin Mingyang and Kate Beckinsale both wore sunglasses, but they were already conspicuous when they stood together, not to mention that there was a smiling John Woo standing in the middle, which was very recognizable in the crowd. As soon as they appeared, they attracted countless flashes of lights and screams from fans, reporters were busy taking pictures, and fans behind neatly shouted the English names of Lin Mingyang and Kate. During this time, "Terminator 3" was being screened in Hong Kong, and "Cinderella's Glass Phone" also performed well when it was released in Hong Kong, so both of them each have a large number of fans here.

There were probably more than 1,500 fans and reporters at the scene, and in order to maintain order at the scene, hundreds of security guards were dispatched at the airport. Under the strict escort of more than a dozen black-clothed security guards around, the group struggled through the crowd. Lin Mingyang was still wearing sunglasses and pretending to be cool, but Kate took off her sunglasses and waved her hand gently at her fans with a smile.

This move stimulated the fans around them, and their desire to squeeze in this direction became stronger and stronger. The scene began to become a little chaotic, John Woo, who was walking in front, got out in time, but Lin Mingyang and Kate were "dumplings", and several strong black security guards still couldn't stop the enthusiasm of the fans around them. The left and right were surrounded and couldn't walk, so Lin Mingyang and Kate could only take the autograph pens handed by the fans and put their names on their clothes or hats.

Kate's fans are mostly male surnames, so she is also the focus of the security guards, and Lin Mingyang's fans have a lot of young girls, probably because they feel that they are not a big threat, and the security forces arranged by the agency around him are a little stretched, and finally met the most famous handsome guy of the new generation in Hollywood, and those excited female fans naturally will not miss this opportunity, they squeezed over one after another, asking to shake hands with Lin Mingyang.

Just shake hands, just shake hands, hold it and don't let go, Lin Mingyang finally "broke free" from this hand, and the other hands immediately stretched out. There are too many people, and the signature must not be signed, so in desperation, he can only bite the signature pen with his mouth, and use both hands at the same time, and in the end it is not a handshake, just touch it and immediately move away.

Fortunately, the quality of Hong Kong movie fans is very high, and crazy actions such as tearing clothes and scratching faces did not appear, Kate was intact, but Lin Mingyang was a little embarrassed when he came out, anyway, the sunglasses on his face were squeezed crooked.

"Are the Chinese so enthusiastic?" It was the first time Kate had encountered such a situation, even though they had already gotten into the car, reporters and fans who were chasing after them surrounded and were stopped by the security guards.

Lin Mingyang sat in the car before he had time to help his sunglasses, "Hospitality is a traditional virtue of the Chinese!" ”

Kate patted her chest with "palpitations", "The British are as crazy as this in the football stands!" ”

"I think you'd better be prepared to deal with Hong Kong's entertainment reporters!" John Woo, who was also sitting in the car, kindly reminded, "I promise that they will be as 'dedicated' as their counterparts in Hollywood!" ”

-- With their previous experience at the airport, Lin Mingyang and Kate were already fully mentally prepared in the face of the densely packed reporters sitting in the audience at the subsequent press conference. But at first, Hong Kong reporters still left their questions to John Woo, after all, his success in Hollywood can be regarded as a pride for Hong Kong people. Hong Kong films are now in decline, but the directors trained in Hong Kong are shining in Hollywood, and they also have a sense of glory.

Hong Kong reporters are not most concerned about John Woo's situation in Hollywood, they prefer to recall the past eventful years of Hong Kong films, and the problem naturally comes to Tsui Hark, and it is rumored that the two have been turning against each other for more than 10 years.

In front of Hong Kong reporters, John Woo recalled the friendship between himself and Tsui Hark, and was very emotional: "Actually, I am very grateful to Tsui Hark. He always remembers that when he was the most depressed in his life, it was Tsui Hark who gave him the opportunity to shoot "The True Color of Heroes".

When Tsui Hark became popular, John Woo was experiencing the most depressed three years of his life. Several comedies have lost money in a row, and the new film "Heroes Without Tears" was hidden by the company, and John Woo became box office poison. Some of his friends, even John Woo had helped, thought "you can retire" or told him that he should go home and watch the tapes to see what's trending right now and then shoot them.

Tsui Hark knew that John Woo was wronged, so he asked him to remake Long Gang's classic film "The True Color of Heroes". In fact, both Tsui Hark and John Woo wanted to shoot this script, but Tsui Hark saw that John Woo was unwilling, so he gave him the film and became the producer of the film himself.

The success of "True Colors of Heroes" changed John Woo's life and became a monument to the golden age of Hong Kong cinema. The down-and-out new actor Chow Yun became popular, the outdated hero Dillon found the market again, and even the fate of Tim Yip, who was hungry as an art assistant, also changed. At the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards, Tsui Hark presented John Woo with the first Best Director Award.

"I miss the old days, everyone has cherished each other for so many years, I have worked hard in Hollywood for so many years, and I feel too much when I return to Hong Kong. More than 10 years ago, my first directing award was also awarded to me by Tsui Hark. There are so many memorable things about "The True Color of Heroes" back then, almost the voices of me, Tsui Hark, Chow Yun-fat and other young people. ”

After chatting about the old things, the questions from the reporters in the audience slowly returned to the topic: "Foreign journalists think that you are one of the few directors who can achieve box office success in your own country and Hollywood, how did you do this?" ”

"It's hard to tell. For American audiences, they want to see something different. My first film "The Ultimate Bullseye" I made in Hollywood was unsuccessful because I was too ambitious to make an American story into a Hong Kong film, which was difficult for some viewers who are used to watching action movies to accept. They see some slow motion and think it's like an advertisement; When I saw a freeze-frame shot, I thought it was the end of the scene. Later, I found out that I was still making American films, and people wanted to watch American films, but there had to be something different in them. You can't change their viewing habits all of a sudden, completely. Since you can't change the audience's habitual surname, you have to learn how to make American films as a foreigner. ”

(To be continued)