This chapter concluded the relationship between hip hop and kung fu, but it also spoke of survival and existence. It tied the medium of hip hop (and all it included such as tagging) with mediums kung fu and Jeet Kune Do together by showing us how they are representations of a people forgotten. Later on page 181, Kato writes of how the use of Subway trains was meant to remind those who rode them (“corporate clones”) of the ghetto’s youth and existence.

The survival is also seen through the use of sampling, for both hip hop artists and Bruce Lee’s creation of Jeet Kune Do. By sampling all the best parts of their respective practice, they are recreating a part of their past to fit their present and deelop their future. I described this as an “immigrant’s art form”, because it mirrors the necessity for immigrants to accept parts of their new world without forgetting parts of their old world. For example, Bruce Lee is trained in kung fu and can never fully rid himself of this. For many, he is the face of kung fu. However, his use of sampling what works and creating a new art form allows him to the ability to neither deny nor be overwhelmed by kung fu. And for him, and others, it becomes the most fluid and workable representation of what they can do (which is later explained in more detail on page 192 in reference to the fight scene between Lee and Abdul-Jabbar).

And while both of these art forms have been comodified and put into the capatilist machine to be pumped out for mass consumption without any ingredient labels, they opportunities that have arose and the expression of “I exist!” have become even larger.

Monk Xing Hao walks along a boardwalk in Texas. He points excitedly at the tall prairie grass, shouting, “This gives you a great sense of the American West!”. The following scene positions Monk Xing Hao and Monk De Shan in front of the Houston Space Center. They practice Shaolin kung fu, wearing their traditional monks clothing while a rocketship looms in the distance. The narrator says, ”Like many pioneers of the Old West, Monks Xing Hao and De Shan have come to look for gold. They are Kung Fu brothers with a common goal of making a Kung Fu homestead in Texas”.

This sequence of images was fascinating to me. The immigrant journey of the two monks is told through the narrative of the Great Frontier, while being juxtaposed over the image of the rocket ship. Looking back at Orientals, one can see why invoking the Frontier narrative is particularly jarring, “God’s Free Soil did not have space for the Chinese, whose presence disrupted the mission into the wilderness” (Lee 50). The Chinese were seen as a pollutant, interrupting the Eden of the West and white man’s advancement into the “wilderness”. Shaolin Ulysses is recalling that same narrative, but putting the Chinese monks in the position of white frontiersmen. An initial reading suggests that the background image of the rocket speaks to the monks’ cultural displacement — their traditional martial arts are at odds with the technologically advanced American culture. It’s possible that this was the director’s intent, yet another reading lies beneath the surface. NASA often refers to outer space as the “New Frontier”, or “Last Frontier”, calling forth the same narratives the narrator uses to describe the monk’s experience. The rocket serves as a poignant symbol for American imperialism, where even the “Great Frontier” of space is not free from colonialism.

During the explanation of Shaolin temple history, I thought of a connection between the temple being rebuilt multiple times since the Ming dynasty and how perhaps kung fu has also been “rebuilt”, as its reason for popularity and the lens through which people view it as important have changed. This led me to thinking of my own lens on kung fu; I am not an avid movie-watcher and did not grow up watching kung fu movies, so when I was watching the movements and styles I did not think of Bruce Lee or other famous kung fu stars. Instead, I thought of Avatar: the Last Airbender (from  here on A:TLA) and Kill Bill. I am also very ignorant to the different styles of martial arts and/or kung fu so while neither of these media examples may have kung fu influence I wonder if others like me who are ignorant to kung fu make these connection as well. And if so, how does this “tear down and rebuild” the temple of kung fu in pop culture?

For instance, when the Snake style was mentioned as being inspired by viper, cobra, python, and mamba snakes I thought of how there in Kill Bill there is the fictitious Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (an all of those affiliated within in have snake-influenced code names, although they do not all match with the kung fu animal style snakes). Is the symbol of a snake or use of snake identity influenced by the animal styles?

In A:TLA, the nations are divided by types of “benders”, which are those that are able to manipulate thei specific element [ of the four elements] with the sole use of their bodies engaged with the element. Below is a sort of “making of” or “behind the scenes” style video of A:TLA which explains the influence of style behind each kind. It has specific references to types of kung fu (including Shaolin kung fu and tiger/crane stlyle) an shows the animation is action juxtaposed with a live action example.

Click here to view the embedded video.

(For more on A:TLA, here is the specialized wiki.)

I found both of these important because they allow us to look at alternative ways that kung fu is being represented and how the styles have influenced pop culture beyond the definitive sub culture made popular by Bruce Lee.