In Khmer, “kru” means teacher but is culturally loaded with many other meanings. I think it stems from the Indian word that English calls “guru.” Maybe, maybe not, just my speculation. FYI, Cambodian culture is greatly influenced by Indian culture.

The “Kru” I refer to today is a spirit/guardian angel that Cambodian culture believes follows you throughout your entire life. Of course, there are things you must do to honor your “kru” but I will not get into that.

Some people have 1 “kru”,

some people have more than 1.

and some have none.

As much as I THOUGHT I had one, my dad found out that I DON’T. When my sister told me this news, many things went through my mind.

“Am I alone?”

“Am I not special?”

“How will this knowledge affect my confidence?”

“Who is it that watches me then?”

“Is the energy I feel all my own?”

“Is acquiring this knowledge not fact but a simple test from God that will push me to be better?”

I was confused, disappointed, relieved, lonely, sad, determined, empowered, angry, scared, curious, etc. 

As time went on, I worried less about NOT having a “kru” and more about how determined I am to take this life on alone. That’s what I thought…

I received a check last Friday that made it possible for me to replace the last thing necessary for Dary’s wedding. Without it, I WOULD NOT have been able to do this. It is time for me to change my focus FROM everything I lack in my life TO all the priceless things money cannot buy. I realized there’s NO “kru” with me but I’m NOT alone. THERE ARE ANGELS HERE ON EARTH.

I definitely have an idea of who this check is from. I rejected a few online offers of aid but this one angel is very stubborn, I don’t know how she was sure it would reach my hands the way it did but it did.

Dary and John says Thank You and I say thank you for being stubborn but please please please don’t do it again.

 All jokes aside.

I call this my AnD family and I treat it as such. Although showbiz is a business, this is a part of me that must remain.

This post is about an unfortunate incident that happened to my family today. Four burglars entered my parents house and stole all the family heirlooms along with important things tied to my sisters wedding that is scheduled to occur in 2 weeks.  Many things held sentimental value including necklaces my grandmother left for us before she died, my father’s Buddha charm made-from-elephant tusk necklace given by his mother before her loss of speech, and my sister’s wedding money and wedding rings; adding to a sum of $25K.

If my mom entered the house 10-15 minutes earlier than she did, she might have been in grave danger. I’m thankful that no one was hurt. That is everything. Thank you, God.

Our struggle remains as we seek to find the means to replace everything needed for Dary’s wedding in two weeks. Once again, this mission will put our hearts to the test.

This internment camp baby will not rest until his little sister gets the wedding she deserves. Dary is one of those people in this world that can show you all the goodness of life within 3 sentences. She is the wind that makes you want to fly. Without her, I would be nothing. Her happiness means more than any career success in this world. (Well, I can always fall back on being the best film-fighting homeless that ever lived.)

Right now, it’s not just about a wedding; this is about integrity, perseverance and the relentless will of a family; this is war... NOT a war against those that wronged us, NOT a war against financial disposition… but a war against ourselves, our own frustration, our own pride, our own weaknesses; for it will test the strength of our unity, our passion, and our love.

What I DO know is it’s gonna take more than a bullet in the heart to hold me back. (But if you have 2 bullets and good aim, then please don’t shoot or don’t aim, one or the other.)

I do not wish for pity or anything, just to share my journey in hopes that you will share yours. For after everything is said and done in this world, all we really have is the people shared in this journey (through thick and thin, thick food and thin food, thick accents and thin accents (Now you know for sure that I’m talking about AnD people hehe)).

Continued…

So first things first, I’ll address the inquiries of the last blog.

Joe Fiorello – William Shatner Star Trek fight was a classic. Haha.

Flagday – Well like I said, I cannot put a real martial artist on here and put him on blast. I don’t want to make enemies… just yet. haha j/k. cuz to be honest, I can criticize even the best of them just as an acting teacher can criticize an Oscar achieving performance but wouldn’t that send out the wrong signals? I will steer away from negativity because though some film-fighting is not good, I do still enjoy it.

MissScarlett – Good point. It was a little bit insulting when we can clearly see that Collin Chou would destroy Keanu in a heartbeat haha but I still enjoyed seeing Collin and Yuen Wu Ping invade the western scene.

JRS - “Close-ups in film fighting cover up a variety of flaws” That’s actually a great observation.  Not many viewers know this. American action does this a lot, take for example Batman Begins however in that particular example, it fits the style. I agree that martial arts flips cannot compare to gymnastic flips.

“Teach us, baby!”

…and show all my secrets?! Hahaha. NO WAY!

……………………………………………………………..

Okay so back to the component EXPRESSION.

EVEN REAL MARTIAL ARTISTS FAIL AT THIS STEP:

Real martial artist know how to throw a REAL punch, have good core strength and accuracy depending on their level. Someone like the MMA fighter Rampage Jackson might kill 3 stuntmen per day, destroy 2 expensive cameras, and break the DP’s nose in the process… and then still the footage is still unusable particularly because camera tension is very prevalent amongst non-experienced film-fighters.

Film-fighting is TEAMWORK. Real fighting is not. In film-fighting, the stuntmen and the “hero” must have trust, coordination, and chemistry; traits very similar to a BASKETBALL team. (not talking about the old-school high shorts )

A skilled fighter can throw a spin-kick very easily. But can he throw the same exact spin-kick 25 times at 3AM after 8 hours of shooting action with the same exact precision and intent and power and speed and emotion while knowing where the camera is so he can open up to it and sell the presence with focus eyes and perfect positioning according to the directors preference, (not to mention, stop on a DIME if stuntmen stumble too close)? ::catches air in a hurry::

Most viewers are unaware that in film, there are many takes and film scenes can be brutal. More often than not, you must throw A COMBINATION of attacks, not just one and in between each attack you also must sell the “in-between” without looking like you are waiting (but that’s a different component).  

Just like in the court of law (ooh I made a connection), INTENT is a very important part of expression. When you throw a film punch, you must sell the intent to hit him while maintaining control.  This small detail entails knowing what it is to want to beat a man’s face in. ... and so I'm not sexist, beat a woman's face in also.

Film fighters must know what it is to be in a REAL FIGHT and the emotion that comes along with it. Why? Because this IS THE EMOTION YOU MUST SELL. (Now when I say fighting, I’m not talking about gloves and a ring. I’m talking about NO HOLDS BARRED on the streets and the emotions that come with that.) For example, small details like where your eyes are looking when you are film-fighting. Inexperienced film-fighters focus their eyes on their opponent’s next attack before the opponent even attacks. In doing so reveals the sequence of CHOREOGRAPHY. That is bad because it takes away the element of fighting called UNPREDICABILITY or surprise element (separate component discussed later).  The eyes should look at the center of the person’s chest so that one can use the peripheral vision to see attacks from all angles. Is this confusing? haha

Aight I didn’t know I was going to be circulating AnD. If I did, I would have put on a shirt and combed my hair for this. … well actually, just the “combed my hair” part.

At Flagday’s and JRS’ request.

Next time I’ll go over "gags and stunts" which is essential for excitement. Maybe I’ll show some clips from my film… hehehe lessee how high my ego is hoovering at that time LOL.

 After visiting more artists pages on AnD, I’ve been inspired to write something informative. (dun dun dunnnnnn!) No, the end of the world is not coming, I just thought after reading useful information at the sites of Jeanne Hartman, Mark Allen, Bey Logan and many others, I, too, have a field of study, film-fighting.

This is fueled in a major way by my friends telling me “Don’t blame people for not being able to tell the difference between good and bad film-fighting, if you don’t INFORM them!” Okay! So I understand that 4 out of 5 people aren’t able, just like how I AM NOT ABLE to tell the difference between good and bad ballet. You get me? There’s no blame here, just hugs and kisses.

So… I just realized… THIS is my attempt to educate. (inner monologue: what did I get myself into?) Keep in mind that this is just MY take on it. One may ask, “What are my credentials?” Long story semi-short, I couldn’t afford a martial arts school so I first learned martial arts by watching film-fighting. I would analyze fight scenes for days in order to learn it and do with friend; not just fighting, but beauty of expression, timing, emotion, command, and the many components I will explain to in order to compose a good film-fight. This began when I was 13 so I’ve been doing this along with coordinating and choreographing shows and film-fights for 17 years. The first show I choreographed and coordinated was for my high school at age 15. Okay, I know, I know, enough about me.

(I feel I have to protect myself because people are vicious) I’m not a writer. I can barely convey myself accurately. As a matter of fact, I’m totally INCOMPETENT with a hoola-hoop, but film-fighting is the one thing I DO know. So if you happen to LIKE to pick on people for technicalities/wording or happen to be a person COMPETING IN MY FIELD (LOL), please leave happily NOW!

I’ve never offered anything here more than some good-old fashioned salivating but here goes some information “one time for your mind” that WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU VIEW FILM-FIGHTING. 

Key Components to Film-Fighting:

1. Command – selling the fact that you have the power to damage. There are 2 components to command, core strength and expression.

Core strength: the ability to stay in balance while you perform the moves. (Basically: Your spine is your core. The muscles around your spine make it tough.)

Good example:

Jet Li probably has one of the toughest cores ever expressed on screen; pulling difficult moves while maintaining good balance; the best wire worker in my opinion (Myth: people think wirework is easy). Of course, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen all have great cores. That is why they succeed well in it.

Anti-thesis: Gymnasts have super core strength but cannot achieve this, because they lack other components.

Bad example: Sonya from Mortal Kombat 1995

I can pick on real martial artist but that would be mean. I will not.

2. Expression (the other component for command, I separated to keep clear) – this gives the audience a feeling and just like in acting, a real human emotion is not simply black or white, happy or sad, excited or angry. Within one second humans have many emotions simultaneously and so it is also true for the expression in a film-fight. Aggression (next component I will get to) can fall within this category however the expression in a film fight can go further than just aggression. Bruce Lee was a master at this. He always preached about emotional content and so far no one has reached his level of emotional expression in my opinion. Poses such as Jet Li’s Wong Fei Hong pose fall into this category, it can inspire one to feel proud, confident and so on.

This step is probably the toughest step. THIS IS WHERE NON-MARTIAL ARTISTS FAULTER. For how can one convey a MARTIAL SPIRIT, if one is not a martial artist?  They can only imitate… and often the imitation is simply a CONCEPT of martial spirit that is created in their MINDS, not authentic. It’s like, I am NOT from England but I can SORT OF imitate an English accent. I may be able to fool an American but will I be able to fool someone from England? Maybe not the best example but anyways.

EVEN REAL MARTIAL ARTISTS FAIL AT THIS STEP: zzzzZZZzzzZZZzzz

I’m tired… to be continue on the next episode of Film-Fighting 101.