What's Chow Yun Fat doing?

April 14, 2007 10:16 AM

What fighting style is Chow Yun Fat using in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?

More specifically, there's a scene early in the film where he's doing a series of martial arts moves with a sword in a courtyard. Is there a particular name for what he's doing?

posted by EarBucket to media & arts (4 comments total)

I found this from 2001: She consulted the Tao Te Ching (道德經) as a reference in writing the dialogue between the characters and invented a sword fighting style called Hsuan-pin Style (玄牝劍法), which is also taken from the Tao Te Ching.
posted by iconomy at 10:50 AM on April 14, 2007

The fighting style is known as Wudangquan. It's Shaolin's less famous brother. The two styles have the same kind of history, developed by monks as a way of defending themselves, but Wudang is more fluid, less staccato, and it's much less well known.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 11:08 AM on April 14, 2007

The specific weapon he's using is called a "jian".
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 11:25 AM on April 14, 2007

Awesome. Thanks!
posted by EarBucket at 12:16 PM on April 14, 2007