In the traditional kung fu films of the 1970s and 1980s, some martial artists specialized in leg skills. Most of them have a foundation in taekwondo, leg techniques such as whips, easy to retract, both offensive and defensive, and highly ornamental. Among them, Huang Zhengli, Tan Daoliang, Liu Zhongliang, and Kasava are the leaders, and they are collectively known as the "Four-legged King".
"The greatest leg master in the history of kung fu films" Huang Zhengli and "human tornado" Kasava are both from South Korea, and their Bole is Wu Siyuan and Hong Jinbao, respectively. Although most of the actors are supporting roles and villains, their superb leg skills add a lot to the film and maintain a good relationship with the Hong Kong film industry.
Today, I will focus on two other leg kings: Tan Daoliang and Liu Zhongliang.
Tan Daoliang, an overseas Korean, was born in South Korea in 1947. He began to learn taekwondo at the age of 7, became the youngest taekwondo instructor at the age of 17, and won a taekwondo championship in South Korea for three consecutive years from the age of 20. In 1970, he was invited to return to Taiwan to develop.
Liu Zhongliang, born in Taiwan in 1944, grew up learning Liu JiaQuan (also known as "Nin fist") with his grandfather Liu Nin. In the early 1970s, at the recommendation of his mother, he met Tan Daoliang, who was teaching taekwondo at a university in Taiwan at the time. Although he was three years older than Tan Daoliang, he was impressed by his strength and asked tan Daoliang to guide him to learn taekwondo in exchange for helping Tan Daoliang cook rice and laundry and do chores.
It is said that Liu Zhongliang's flexibility is not good, and under Tan Daoliang's strict training, it took him two years to achieve the split fork.
With the rise of kung fu films, martial artists with real kung fu have been discovered by production companies. In 1972, Tan Daoliang and Lin Fengjiao co-starred in "Chaozhou Nu Han", which became a hit. In the same year, under his introduction, Liu Zhongliang also made a cameo appearance in the Taiwanese kung fu film "Chinese Boxing".
In 1976, Tan Daoliang collaborated with "Jiahe" on two films, one was "Tantric Sacred Hand" directed by Huang Feng, and the other was "Shaolin Gate" directed by Wu Yusen. When Tan Daoliang shined, Hong Jinbaoye had become a well-known martial arts instructor, Jackie Chan had not yet cut his double eyelids, and Yuan Kui, Yuan Biao and others were still small roles that no one cared about.
Liu Zhongliang, who developed in parallel with his master, filmed Wu Siyuan's "South Fist and North Leg" in 1976. The film was filmed in South Korea, and the main villain is played by Hwang Jeong-lee. Since then, Huang Zhengli has entered the Hong Kong film industry. The following year, Wu Siyuan launched a sequel, "Southern Fist And North Leg Fighting Golden Fox", and the Southern Fist was replaced by a wang general.
"Southern Fist and North Leg" made Liu Zhongliang famous, and even the master Tan Daoliang was influenced by it and made a follow-up film "Southern Fist and North Leg Living Yama King". The film was directed by Li Zuonan, and recruited Nan Quan Wang Dao to cooperate with Tan Daoliang. In 1979, Wu Siyuan's royal photographer Zhang Qi filmed "Crane-shaped Mantis Legs" based on "South Fist and North Legs", and the two films not only had similar characters and similar plots, but even the filming locations were in the same place. In 1981, Liu Zhongliang starred in another "New South Fist North Leg". Without Wu Siyuan's control and Huang Zhengli's powerful villain, these sequels are greatly reduced in quality.
Liu Zhongliang and Huang Zhengli cooperated five times: "Southern Fist and North Leg", "Southern Fist and North Leg Fighting Golden Fox", "Divine Leg Iron Fan Gong", "Eagle Claw Iron Cloth Shirt" and "True and False Kung Fu". Among them, "Eagle Claw Iron Cloth Shirt" was released in the mainland, and its influence is extremely far-reaching, and it is an indelible memory of many post-70s and post-80s kung fu films.
Due to the box office failures of "Tantric Sacred Hand" and "Shaolin Gate", "Jiahe" abandoned Tan Daoliang. Since then, most of Tan Daoliang's films have been filmed in Taiwan. Although the production of these films is relatively inferior, it does not prevent fans from respecting and appreciating Tan Daoliang.
In 1978, in "Hu Huiqian's Blood Battle at the West Zen Temple" directed by Noon Ma and written by Zhang Che, Tan Daoliang played the villain Gao Jinzhong for the first time. At the end of the film, the white-clad Master Tan's leg method is magical, and the strength crushes the male protagonist Qi Champion.
Another film worth mentioning is Li Zuonan's "Crocodile Head Black Star", which is one of Tan Daoliang's few fashion kung fu films, and the martial arts director is Liang Xiaolong and Liang Xiaoxiong brothers, which is worth watching.
The film that collects the essence of Tan Daoliang's leg method is "The King of The North and South Legs". The film is also directed by Li Zuonan, and Peng Gang, an early member of the Chengjia class, serves as a martial arts instructor and villain. The film combines the fierceness of the north leg, the dexterity of the south leg and the viciousness of the "ground leg", and Xia Guangli from Taiwan's Luguang Drama School, Peng Gang and Tan Daoliang from the Fuxing Drama School are very wonderful.
After entering the 80s, the traditional kung fu films gradually declined, and Tan Daoliang went to Los Angeles to open a martial arts gym. In 1998, before Bruce Lee's daughter Li Xiangning starred in the action film "Full of Guts", Tan Daoliang was invited to train his legs. It is said that when Zhou Xingchi started filming "Kung Fu", he invited him to play the "Fire Cloud Evil God", but he refused.
In 2011, when the famous Japanese movie star Yasuaki Kurata opened its "Chuang Wu Guan" in Hong Kong, Tan Daoliang was present to congratulate him.
On the other hand, Liu Zhongliang is not satisfied with the role of an actor and wants to be involved in many aspects such as directing and screenwriter. In 1981, he settled in Paris with his wife and daughter, and founded "Zhongliang Pictures", directing and acting in three films: "Ninja Fist Shocking Paris", "Killer Camp" and "Dragon's Blood".
It is worth mentioning that there is another leg king in "Killer Camp" Kasava cameo. After successive defeats, Liu Zhong's conscience was disheartened and he also withdrew from the film industry to open an apprenticeship.
In 2000, in the "Lonely Island Grudge" starring Shi Tianlong, he accidentally found the figure of Master Liu.
The only highlight of this bad film is Liu Zhongliang, who is over fifty years old. His leg technique was still sharp, so it could be seen that there was no waste of martial arts. However, his hair has thinned a lot, and his legs have to rely on crutches to support him. It can be seen from this that Tan Daoliang's rejection of Zhou Xingchi is not unreasonable. Although he did not become popular again, at least he retained his heroic image. As for Liang Xiaolong, he has long given up image management.
Tan Daoliang attacked continuously with his left leg, and the rhythm was excellent; while Liu Zhongliang's right leg was stretched strongly and very flexibly, and the two just complemented each other. Strangely enough, although the two were mentors and apprentices, they had never worked together in their careers, and even a group photo could not be found. I once saw a comment from a foreign netizen that if the two of them worked together to shoot a "Yin-yang Legs", what a spectacular scene it would be.
If there is such a film, I hope that the director is Li Zuonan, the screenwriter is the talent Ni Kuang, and the martial arts director is Yuan Heping and Dai Che. There are already two leg kings, if the villain is Huang Zhengli, the role is not known how to divide, it is better to arrange the old drama Bone GuFeng and Luo Lie. As for other supporting roles, Jin Di and Wei Ping'ao can be comedic, plus Pan Yingzi and Zhao Yongxin, two beautiful women, this film must be very good.
Unfortunately, the jianghu is old, the hero is in his twilight years, and this film will never be filmed. Just like the fans imagined stallone and Schwarzenegger starring in "Contra", missing a moment is missing forever.
I wonder if the two masters are okay?
End