[Expanded with Old Man Film Recommendations.]
For some it was Bruce Lee.
For others, Chuck Norris.
For those of a more recent vintage it may be Jackie
Chan, Jet Li, Donnie Yen, or Tony Jaa—all excellent by the way.
Me, as a 58-year-old man and child of the 70’s, sure I
had my Bruce Lee poster phase but, the real filmic influences, the ones that
grabbed by my eye, my imagination, my soul, my aesthetic were two icons
grounded right here in the grand ol’ American tradition—yeah, yeah, Billy Jack Korean
Hapkido, Bong Soo-Han and all that…we’ll get to that.
My youngster eye went to Charles Bronson and Tom
Laughlin’s character of American Indian half-breed, Billy Jack.
But, even here I am specific—it was not the Billy Jack
of the increasingly hippie-dippie self-indulgent sequels, it was the original Billy
Jack, even here less the Billy Jack of the 1971 film titled Billy Jack.
I was smitten, captured, held by the 1967 quasi-biker
flick, The Born Losers.
In this version we have far less chop-socky and more
slow-burn “Never lose your cool” can do.
I saw this film at a drive-in sitting in the backseat of
my parents car upon a re-release in 1970. I was five years old. To say that
film made an impression on me is an understatement.
At that young age all things Native American, all things
fighty filled my head.
The fighty things were aided and abetted by the
scufflin’ being shown to me and my cousins by my Grandfather, odd tips and
tricks in throwing hands and twistin’ limbs he picked up as a coalminer in Rose
hill, Virginia as a young man.
We three young ‘uns would twist on one another under
his eye and throw hands on the grain filled duffle bag hung in the barn while
he advised us, or pushed or pulled us into proper position.
I did not know something unique was being imparted. A legacy
beyond that of Grandfather to Grandsons. It was later I learned that it was a
bit of American History.
Flash forward to 1975.
The film Hard Times hits the screens. It tells
of a Depression Erea rough ‘n’ tumble fighter by the name of Chaney making a living
throwing hands, launching low-lines kicks, and in general, doing things that me
and my cousins immediately recognized as, “Hey, ain’t that the stuff PaPaw
shows us?”
Again, I am ten years old when this film came out but…in
my young mind I combined the grit and feel of the Southwest American Indian
aesthetic with this Old School scufflin’ and, well, the Bruce Lee, Shaw
Brothers, and Kung Fu Theater, well, they were fun, but they never quite rung
my soul as this side of the pond work did.
Somewhere in there began this quest, this dedicated
diggin’ that sort of combined what I dug on the screen with what I dug being
shown by a mighty mighty influential man in my life, my grandfather [PaPaw, I
am a Southerner after all] George Washington Goins.
Another reason Bronson was/is so influential—and this
even beyond that single film, was his conditioning.
He was fit before Hollywood fit was a thing.
He was fit, and natural fit at that, no needles,
concoctions, no powders etc. His physique was born from pure OD G-R-I-T and
long and dedicated work.
Bronson was 54-years-old in the film Hard Times.
He was fit in his 20s, his 30s, and he clearly kept at it.
He used Old School ways to get where he was and THAT
was yet another arrow in my cognitive quiver of “Let’s look to the past to
what can be done today.”
To use a vocabulary that I didn’t possess when I was younger,
let alone the modern reference, I wanted to be a Frontier John Wick.
I wanted to grab some of that Old School Bronson physique
that can be maintained far past expectation—hence our Unleaded Program.
I wanted to fathom the Old School of ways of throwing hands,
twisting limbs, boombattle, scufflin’ “dirty tricks” etc.
I desired to dive deep into Frontier culture, Native
American esoterica, early scoutcraft to revive and Live what still has
relevance—turns out much of it, if not most.
Hence, The Black Box Project.
Over the years I have complied boxes and boxes and
boxes of obscure resources to fuel my passion.
I put it all through the paces to test, to see, to
feel, to experience.
Each time I think, well, this tank has gotta be
getting topped, I open a new box and, gloriously, the passion begins all over
again.
Sure, I may have used fictional heroes to express or
direct myself, but it was the flesh-and-blood hero of my Grandfather acting as
the ambassador of all who came before him that moves it all from Frontier John
Wick, to Frontier Y-O-U if you put the time and soul into it.
The
Old Man’s Brief List of Old-School Filmic Bad-Assery
First…
·
These are just a few random selections in
no particular order.
·
My bias is older work actually done.
·
No wirework
·
No CGI
·
No tight frenetic-kinetic camera-work that
obscures or gives the illusion more is being done.
·
In other words, give me Jackie Chan directing
himself with wide open shots proving this Man is really doing this as opposed to
Matt Damon/Jason Bourne tight and shaky to cover holes—Bourne is still a fine
film, just stating my preference.
#1—Anything directed by Jackie Chan from 1982 to 1990.
Sure, there are high points in other films of the period directed by others,
and good work before and after, but to my mind, this is the golden period. Soooooo
many marvels to choose from, so why choose? Enjoy them all.
#2—Hard Times--[1975] If you don’t know why,
re-read the preceding essay and look at my life. In the words of Stan Lee, “’Nuff
said.”
#3—The Born Losers & Billy Jack—For me, it
less the fight aspect [a bit sloppy] but more the mastery of the affable
slow-burn before the explosion of violence. No 80s/90s action-hero catch-phrase
BS here. Just small talk, almost kibbitzing.
#4—Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.—The silent
swashbuckler par excellence. The Jackie Chan of his day [Jackie often cites
him as an influence.] Dial up The Black Pirate or Don Q Son of Zorro
for his smiling form of derring do.
#5—“Are you OK?”—There is a sequence in the
2006 Bond film Casino Royale. In this sequence Bond is close to death
and our heroine must use a defibrillator to revive him. He bursts out of this
near-death moment immediately into the line “Are you OK?” This “From
Death to Duty” “From Death to Concern for Others” strikes me as
head-and-shoulders above any “cool catch-phrase line” that has ever been
offered in the Bond franchise, the Terminator flicks, any of the expendable
forms of Expendable derivatives. Simply superlative. Craig nailed the Bond of
the novels. This Old Man will miss him.
#6—Dixie Dynamite—[1976]—I love me some ‘70’s car
movies, but this one stands tall for one reason. Steve McQueen, at the height
of his career, is asked by the stunt-coordinator on this low-budget flick if he’d
like to do some stunts? He’s uncredited, he’s hard to spot. He did it for the
love of it. Now THAT is bad-ass.
[More Old Man Recommendations another day.]
BLACK FRIDAY GRATITUDE SALE
·
From NOW until Monday, November27th, Noon
EST—for every $30 dollars spent in our store you can pick out a volume of ESP
RAW free of charge.
·
I repeat, you buy $30 bucks, you get a
free RAW.
·
$60 bucks, 2 free RAWs, etc.
·
Caveat:
The RAW picks can only be selected from volumes 1-213.
·
214 forward is when The Black Box Project
began. No freebies here.
·
To take advantage of the deal, place your
order then drop me an email with your RAW pick[s].
Gracias to you all!
The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast
Comments
Post a Comment