Celebrating the FIFA World Cup. Every four years the best 32 national football teams around the globe are called to participate in a tournament to win the prestigious World Cup. This is how we celebrate this event…
The major Football event
In these days, Football’s fan around the globe are enjoying the final part of the FIFA World Cup, this year located in Qatar. Due to this big event, I would like to introduce the most football influenced martial art movie ever created, Shaolin Soccer.
The major Football/Martial arts movie
Stephen Chow directed and starred as protagonist of Shaolin Soccer, a 2001 Hong Kong sport comedy film. The plot is simple as it is brilliant, a poor shaolin monk whose goal in life is to promote the spiritual benefit of the martial arts to the modern society, decide to do it through football. Asking to his old shaolin brothers to team up to participate in the local championship, the protagonist Sing will eventually fulfil his dreams.
Shaolin through football
The football matches are actual fights in this movie, where martial arts and shaolin style in particular are introduced in a very funny way. Every shaolin brother has a unique fighting style, which is applied to playing football:
- Sing is the Mighty Steel Leg, the team’s striker, whose style is a mix of Kung Fu and Taekwondo techniques
- Iron Head uses his style to succeed in headers during the matches.
- Hooking Leg uses his ground tumbling boxing skills as team’s full back.
- Iron Shirt can absorb blunt force attacks without injuries, holding and propelling the ball with his abdomen.
- Empty Hand/Lighting Hand is the goalkeeper, resembling Bruce Lee in various ways and played by the martial artist Danny Chan Kwok-kwan
- Light Weight Vest is the youngest and capable to leap incredible heights.
Celebrating the FIFA World Cup. Which Shaolin brother is your favourite? Did you know the movie?