- Second-hand
- On the other hand
- Off-hand
- Go out on a limb
- Right to bear arms
- Up his sleeves
- Right-hand man
I reserve the right to all boxing puns. After all, humor is supposed to punch up.
One-Armed Boxer (1972) is about a boxer with only one arm. It is a Hong Kong film.
It starts with a clever nod to Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.
Two three people meet and talk about a bird from Thailand. Then some enemies enter. You can tell because the are dressed in lack,
Master Ma claims it is his table and the other people leave. Master Ma asks for the bird, and a fight breaks out.
A group of people notice the Hook gang making trouble.
I love expository dialogue this early. It tells me everyone's names.
That group, led by Yu, fight the hook gang, while the patrons flee.
The fighting is decent. The post-production effects are humorously over-the-top
A) How often does this happen?
B) Isn't this bad for business?
Master Ma challenges Yu to a fight in the valley. Yu accept, but then does a flying kick at Master Ma.
From the information in the first four minutes of film, I gathered that Yu was the good guy and Master Man and the Hook gang were bad guys. Now Yu accepts an invitation to fight later but launches a surprise attack. What?
Luckily, a freeze-frame lead in to the opening credits saves Master Ma
The credits play over stills of Master Ma and Yu fighting. I count a total of four arms. I hope the one-armed isn't metaphorical.
There are over two minutes of opening credits. I guess it took a lot of people to craft the masterpiece that is One-Armed Boxer.
This movie keeps cranking out that exposition.
They fight. Blue shirts are the good guys. Black shirts are the bad Hook gang.
I don't have to point out the problems with this, do I? Nobody has one arm. Nobody is boxing.
Yu's group easily beats the Hooks.
The Hooks are actually fighting with hooks. This movie...
Han Tui, their instructor, reprimands them. Yu's full name is Tien Lung.
So...fighting in a public bar and driving out all the patrons yielded no punishment, but fighting in a random valley did. Odd.
Han Tui reminds them that character is more important than Martial Arts. I did not know that a movie called One-Armed Boxer would be about two-armed martial artists.
Also, the Hook gang runs with drugs and women and are attempting to take over factories.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Hook gang yells at his members for disgracing his name.
Tien Pao (Master Ma) blames Yu Tien Lung for the fight and claims he threatened the leader. This is enough for the leader (Master Chao) to attempt revenge.
Master Chao leads his men into the Han Lui's training. I just want to point out that this is not boxing.
I decided to look it up at this point. A "boxer" can also mean a type of martial artist.
I'm disappointed and at a point in life where I can say "Great, another martial-arts-revenge-disability movie."
Master Chao demands that Han Lui hands over Tien Lung.
Han Lui claims that, although they come from different schools, all schools believe in peace.
Han Lui makes a good point, but I think it is important to listen to both sides of the argument.
They fight. Other than the silly post-production sound effects, the fighting is pretty good.
Han Lui appears to beat Master Chao. Then Master Chao and his gang take out their hooks and attack the entire school.
Now, this part confuses me. Han Lui grabs the hooks and pulls. He takes the hooks, but leaves behind hidden small daggers, called dirks. This is apparantly treachery.
Han Lui stabs Master Chao in the leg with his own hook. Chao and his gang leave, with threats of revenge.
Afterwards, a student approaches Tien Lao and informs him of the situation. Mostly the revenge thing.
Back at the Hooks' base, Master Chao spouts some stellar dialogue.
Let's analyze these three scenes more closely.
1. Chao threatens revenge directly to his enemies
2. A students informs Tien Lao that Chao threatened revenge.
3. Chao tells his gang that he wants revenge.
There's some subtle foreshadowing here that Master Chao is going to take revenge on Han Lui. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, as I already know this is a revenge film. But it's worth considering.
Master Chao wants to go to Shanghai to find a man named No, who trains elite fighters. He believes that hiring these fighters will help defeat Han Tui.
This could be more foreshadowing that Chao is planning to get revenge again Han Tui. But I don't want to assume anything.
Cut to No's school in Shanghai. A man sneezes and breaks some bricks with his head. One-Armed Boxer really was lacking in comic relief.
No trains a vast array of different martial artists from diverse countries. Including a yoga artist from India.
I wondered whether this was a racist joke, but there is a yoga martial-arts hybrid. Now I'm the racist. He stabs himself and pulls the knife out. Okay,
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| Taikwando Expert . |
Is there like a stereotype of taikwando experts? Or is there a stigma against taikwando in the martial arts? Who knows!
A master from Okinawa comes to No's school.
Okay, if I had just waiting, I would have learned that boxing isn't the boxing I thought it was.
And then two Tibetan martial artists jump through the roof and fight the Master. Seems like a logical progression.
Master Chao calls for a meeting. He wants help fighting bandits that interfere with their opium trade. First they have to sabatoge Ching-te's Brick factory.
One Armed Boxer is now about one third done. We've gotten into a plot about opium trade and factory sabotage before a boxer has an arm amputated.
Hires of the Hook gang approaches the brick factory. Lien Tao asks whether they want to buy bricks, but that is like talking to a brick wall.
Fight. For all this movie's faults, the fighting is good. Except the post-production
A hire breaks Lien-Tao's arm with his knee. Finally.
Two hires enter an underground manufacturing area. One of them kills Hsaio San. Their teacher comes out and fights a hire
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| The fire really adds the the aesthetic. |
The hire defeats the teacher and another mass fight ensues. There is a lot of fighting in this movie. Some people get tossed into a pit of boiling water. Then they pick up torches and fight with them.
This may not be coming across, but One Armed Boxer is pretty ridiculous.
Tien Lung and the other students find their classmates dead and run after the Hooks. Into a barn. Which is obviously a trap.
The hires quickly defeat the other students, but Tien Lung keeps fighting.
What kind of jokes can I make when so much of this movie is fighting?
Tien Lung forces a hire's arm into gears. That's twice I though the titular one-armed boxer would form.
At least they try to mix up the kills. At one point, Tien Lung ties a rope around the neck of a hire. The Hook's run away.
At a funeral, Han Lui vows revenge on Master Chao. At that exact moment, Master Chao walks in with his hires, introduces them all as elite in each martial art, and offers to fight to the death. Han Lui accepts.
This means that I have to watch fight after fight. The fighting is decent and varied, but gets tiresome. Obviously, the masters defeat all of the students.
The only funny moment is when this guy cartwheels over in slow motion with dramatic music.
At one point, a hire kicks a student in the arm and the camera holds on it. Just teasing us.
Yu Tien Lung stands forwards. You know he is good because his outfit is a different shade.
Just a mid-movie reminder that this movie is called One-Armed Boxer and nobody has lost an arm jet.
Okay, I wrote that and right afterward, the master from Okinawa jumps forwards and chops Tien-Lung's arm off.
This is apparently retribution for when Tien-Lung forced the hire's arm into the gears.
The other students take Tien-Lung in to treat him. Then there is a comic relief fight.
Through rapid jump cuts, it appears that the fighter is moving more and more quickly. This is form comedic effect and not so the actor will actually have to walk on his hands.
One student fights the Tibeten with some stick, which seems against the rules. The Tibeten wins anyway.
Now, I'm no expert on dramatic tension. I can understand the handstand fight as a way to lighten the mood/ But why have this random other fight with the stick?
The master from Okawana fights and kills Han Lui. Then an all-out fight ensues. Many people die.
Tien Lung crawls along a road with one arm. I would have thought some students would keep watch over him, but what do I know? A man and a woman find him and take him in.
This is the part of the disability-revenge movie where someone takes the hero in and teaches him how to fight with his newly-acquired disability. Usually this is a montage. One-Armed Boxer saves even more time and just have some still images of them nursing Tien Lung back to health. This is less important to the narrative than watching all those nameless people fighting.
Tien Lung and the women. Hsioa Yu, watch a waterfall. The man is her father.
Tien Lung clumsily informs Hsioa Yu and the audience that her father taught him medicine.
I really don't want to criticize One-Armed Boxer (1972) for its story structure, but why not show the father teaching him medicine instead of the cheap slideshow?
He hasn't watched enough disability revenge films.
Hsiao Yu claims that her father has an herb for cripples to take during training. Great, he got taken in by homeopaths.
Would he really use the singular? Hsiao Yu also informs Tien Lung that he has to burn his hand.
Tien Lun goes back to the father, who has been preparing the herbal medicine for 30 years.
Tien Lung got taken in by someone who has been preparing a medicine for thirty years. This medicine is specifically for, and I quote. "people like [Tien Lung] to take in training.' Is there an epidemic in Hong Kong of one-armed boxers crawling on the side of the road? And did it have to stew for 30 years? What if he had gotten there a few years earlier?
One-Armed Boxer is really straining credulity,
Also, you would think that if you find a one-armed boxer the road and you have an herbal medicine for training one-armed boxers, you would say something along the lines of:
"I have an herbal medicine for training one-armed boxers."
Tien Lung has to burn his other hand to kill the nerves, or the medicine won't work.
However, a flashback to his dismemberment gives him the strength to stick his hand in the fire and mutilate it. Okay.
The father soaks the burnt hand in salve and tells Hsiao Yu to nurse Tien Lung for a month for his circulation to return..
Now, a rational person would probably have a few questions about this method. I did some research and "deadening nerves" is a thing in martial arts. I don't think it's recommended that you stick your hand in a fire. But at least I learned something from One-Armed Boxer (1972).
I'm all for adaptive sports and believe that people with different disabilities need to train differently.
However,,,,
The scene of Tien Lung sticking his hand in the fire is fairly intense and probably the best scene of the movie. Which isn't saying much.
One month later, Tien Lung trains. "Train" is a euphemism for smashing his hand with a slab of rock.
This style of training is still more rational than CrossFit.
Hsaoi Yu questions this method and Tien Lung proves it by DESTROYING HER PAVILION.
Tien Lung somehow blames this on her but promises to rebuild it. Then he claims that if he had two arms, he could attack with one and defend with the other.
Hsaoi Yu punches him playfully, and Tien Lung falls to the floor. But he is only joking.
I'm glad this movie has some hint of a sense of humor.
Tien lung decides to go to town with Hsaoi Yu because he hasn't heard any news for six months.
My initial reaction to this was negative. But then I remembered the scene transition from Tien Lung deciding to train to Tien Lung smashing a brick. That probably took at least six months.
Tien Lung and Hsaoi Yu go to the restaurant from the beginning of the movie.
Tien Lung steps out to check the Hook Gang's Hideout. As he leaves, the Hook Gang steps into the restaurant. Then a man prevents Tien Lung from going back in.
I want to complain that this is a really clumsy way to separate Tien Lung and Hsaoi Yu. But I still can't get over that herbal medicine.
Mu Mu Tao and a hire spout some exposition at a table. The Hook gang leader left a few months ago and still hasn't paid any of the hires.
Mu Mu Tau hits on Hsaoi Yu. Hsaoi Yu hits Mu Mu Tau.
The hook gang try to drag Hsaoi Yu away, but Tien Lung comes back at that exact moment.
Tien Lung fights the Hook gang and easily defeats them. The fighting is really good in this movie.
Tien Lung twists Mu Mu Tau's arm behind his head and asks where his teacher is. Get it? Because Mu Mu Tau can't use his other arm, so he is a One-Armed Boxer (1972)
Mu Mu Tau reveals that the teacher is away and only Kau Chiao is at the hideout.
Tien Lung enters the hideout, where everyone is practicing Judo.
I feel like those two statements dont follow logically.
The student threatens to break Tien Lung's other arm and another fight ensues.
As good as the fighting is in this movie, I wish it was more spread-out. The scene with the two school fighting was tedious and long. Then there was a fairly long segment with no fight. And now there are three fights in a row.
All the students try to break Tien Lung's other arm, but fail. Chiao enters and Tien Lung easily defeats him.
The students try to run away, but Tien Lung stops them and tells them to send Master Shao to fight him in the quarry in three days.
The students try to run away, but Tien Lung stops them and tells them to send Master Shao to fight him in the quarry in three days.
Get it? It's like the beginning of the movie.
Those of you paying attention to the names may notice that Master Chao became Master Shao. The subtitles changed. I thought that Shao was a different character than Chao. Like, the main antagonist changes in the last 20 minutes of the movie. I even looked at a cast list for Shao, but it only has Chao. So I will call him Chao.
Yes, Chiao and Chao are different characters.
At the cave, Chao talks to the master from Okinawa about Tien Lung defeating people. The master reassures him that he will be able to beat a One-Armed Boxer (1972) easily and is waiting for two lamas to complete his backup.
Which one is it? Can you defeat him easily or do you need backup or is this a clever line to indicate hypocrisy?
Hsaoi Yu's father shows his daughter and Tien Lung a chart. Notice anything?
Man is misspelled Men. So the Chao/Shao mix-up was a subtitle error.
But the most amazing subtitle errors occurs when Hsaoi Yu's father explains how lamas are so strong.
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| Accidental Ableism |
Lamas control their breathing to close off some of their pressure points. But there is one spot that they can't close off and is fatal.
Never say that One-Armed Boxer (1972) isn't educational.
Tien Lung enters the valley and confronts Chao. Chao sends in his men.
On a narrative level, this is weak because Tien Lung wants to take revenge on Chao and the master from Okiwana directly. Other fighters detract from that.
On an entertainment level, there's some more interesting fighting.
One of the fighters does the handstand again.
Remember when I said that the most ridiculous plot point was "I got picked up by a guy who has been brewing an herbal remedy for thirty years specifically for crippled martial artists?"
That's still true. But this comes close.
The next fighter holds two fingers out stiffly in order to pierce through Tien Lung's right sleeve.
So the message is that disability can be a strength as long as the guy you're fighting aims for the limb you don't have.
Master Chao informs a student that the current fighter had a secret feud with the chief of Okiwana, which is why the master from Okiwana won't join the fight.
This movie is really good at giving contrived explanations as to why they are increasing dramatic tension.
Tien Lung uses the technique of holding his arm stiffly to pierce through the current fighter.
Q: What would be the least satisfying way to defeat Master Chao. Let me remind you that he is the main antagonist. Even though the master from Okiwana broke Tien Lung's arm, Master Chao is the one who orchastrated everything.
A: Master Chao's student throws dynamite at Tien Lung. Tien Lung throws it back and both the student and Master Chao die.
Pad out the movie with fighting between nameless characters, but kill the main antagonist with collateral damage.
The master from Okiwana and some hires chase after Tien Lung through the mountains. Tien Lung defeats the hires but faces off against the master. Five minutes left.
Shot-Reverse Shot for a long to time to "increase the tension".
One would think that this fight would be more intense than the others but it is just longer and they occasionally stop to growl at each other. The master does flying leaps and knocks Tien Lung to the ground a few times.
Mind showing us the fight? And get the rock out of the way?
Tien Lung gets his revenge. He chops off the Master's arm and walks away.
Oh, I get it. The Master chopped off Tien Lung's arms. To get revenge, Tien Lung chopped out the Master's arm. So it's the same thing.
The end...until the sequel.
The sequel is called Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976) and is about a blind kung-fu expert getting revenge on the one-armed boxer. That's
As for One-Armed Boxer....
In terms of technical aspects, this is one of the better disability revenge films. However, the story structure is weak. so much time is devoted to establishing the rivalry between the two schools that the the titular boxer doesn't lose an arm until halfway through the movie. The confrontation between Master Chao and Tien Lung doesn't have the dramatic tension that the brilliant build-up that One-Armed Boxer establishes.
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