Episode 587 - Showdown in Little Tokyo Fight Clip
In this episode, Jeremy is joined by Josh Blum as they talk about a fight clip from the film Showdown in Little Tokyo.
Showdown in Little Tokyo Fight Clip - Episode 587
In this episode, Jeremy is joined by Josh Blum and they dissect a fight clip from the 1991 film, Showdown in Little Tokyo. The film is starred by Brandon Lee (The Crow) and Dolph Lundgren (Universal Soldier, Creed II) and it’s about two cops with different cultures and heritage. Listen to learn why this episode is very special!
Show Transcript
You can read the transcript below.
James Lesniak:
Hey, what's up everybody? Welcome to whistlekick Martial Arts Radio Episode 587 and today, I'm recording with my friend, Josh. We are unpacking for the first time ever in video, we are doing our unpacks of a famous movie fight scene. This happens to be Showdown in Little Tokyo with the late Brandon Lee. If you're new to the show, you might want to go to whistlekickmartialartsradio.com, see all the things that we've got going on in this show, all the different episodes we've done. We've done so many in there, all of available for free.
If you want to see everything that we do as an organization, go to whistlekick.com. There's a lot over there, a lot of things that we're involved in. You can check them all out and if they mean something to you, if you want to support us, make a purchase on the store, that's one way you can help us out. There's even a discount code, podcast15. I had to think about it for a second. I don't know why. But we've also got a Patreon, patreon.com/whistlekick. We post exclusive content there just for Patreon supporters. The more you're willing to throw our way, the more we're going to give back to you. So, without further ado, here's this great episode with Josh. Enjoy!
Josh Blum:
Hey, welcome guys! Jeremy and I are gonna introduce this little clip we have for you guys.
James Lesniak:
Yeah.
Josh Blum:
And this comes from a movie from 1991, Showdown in Little Tokyo. Honestly, one of my favorite movies. Although it is, I will say, guilty pleasure. Re-watching it as an adult...it is quite a bit of the [01:38:00] elements that I don't think I entirely appreciate as a kid but one of the reasons we want to do this is for two-fold. Sort of in celebration of Brandon Lee's birthday which is on February 1st. He was born the last day of the, I think, the last day of the Year of the Dragon so he's born on 1965. But technically, it was I guess 1964 coining it to Lunar Year. It's gonna be a new Lunar Year, you know, mid-February, so depending on which platform you're listening to this on, it may already be that. But yeah, so this is the scene where he squares it off against [02:15:26]. So, we're gonna be watching this clip...it's a fairly short clip where both of them...so they're both in the police and they haven't sort of officially met each other at this point and there are gonna be fighting some thugs and each other. So, we're gonna be watching this at a quarter speed as we've done in previous times when doing this. When you look on YouTube, you can see some stuff on the lower right-hand corner and there'll be a little gear there and you pick the playback speed. So, we're gonna be watching it at one quarter speed.
James Lesniak:
Yeah, this is a fun clip. There's some really good stuff in here and, you know, the quarter speed gives us the opportunity to talks about it.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
Instead of...what's that?
Josh Blum:
I think, you know, some of these things it almost feels like you can't say enough even if at a quarter speed.
James Lesniak:
Yeah.
Josh Blum:
It's moving so quickly.
James Lesniak:
Yeah. I don't know if you've ever spent time in a class really unpacking application of a form but you could...if you had nuance to it, you could spend, you know, 20-30 minutes unpacking a form that typically takes what? 60-90 seconds?
Josh Blum:
Right, yeah.
James Lesniak:
There's a lot there.
Josh Blum:
Some of my favorite classes I think are...we just do 1 or 2 techniques. We spend the whole time getting into it and at least by the time you leave, you're like, "Oh, I at least learned 1 or 2 things because you spent the time..."
James Lesniak:
Right, exactly.
Josh Blum:
So, there will be an attempt to do that here.
James Lesniak:
Alright, yeah. So we're gonna have the link in the show notes so wherever you're coming from, whether you're coming from Josh's podcast or from mine, you'll be able to grab that link and you know, sink up. I'm gonna give you a count down 3-2-1...We are gonna start this clip at 46 seconds. There is an ad that runs before the clip so you gotta bear through that but we're at 46 seconds in. We are gonna have it muted so if you're listening to this in audio form without the benefit of watching the video...
Josh Blum:
I mean, [04:24:05] them. That might be entertaining, I don't know.
James Lesniak:
But at the very least, it's going to be strange because we'll be taking about things that you're not looking at which is odd. So, is there anything else we need to talk about or do before we get into it?
Josh Blum:
I don't think so, Jeremy. That's it.
James Lesniak:
Okay, cool. Let's do it. Again, 46 seconds. I'm counting down 5-4-3-2-1...I love the faces on these guys. They're just like...
Josh Blum:
Oh yeah.
James Lesniak:
"Uh. Who are you?" in...
Josh Blum:
Motorcycles of Jackhead holding a teacup.
James Lesniak:
Right. And the ties. I mean, everybody's tie and shirt is...it's '91 but it's very 80's.
Josh Blum:
Oh yes, so loud.
James Lesniak:
Do a hold over.
Josh Blum:
It's a holdover from 80's but you know, we have to have a butterfly knife in there.
James Lesniak:
Of course. Dolph Lundgren, he's just...he's holding that teacup so gently like he doesn't have his whole hand on it. He's just kinda like... you could always imagine his pinky finger's gonna go up.
Josh Blum:
I think he points.
James Lesniak:
Really?
Josh Blum:
I think it does.
James Lesniak:
I missed that when he came through and that knife. That simple grab and roll over the head.
Josh Blum:
Right.
James Lesniak:
It doesn't spill any tea.
Josh Blum:
Right. That's not...grabs the knife. Starts doing a little...he closes it.
James Lesniak:
A little flippy.
James Lesniak:
[05:43:07]
Josh Blum:
Yeah. She's like, "How's this?"
James Lesniak:
Guns out and he's still holding the teacup for some reason. There's a gun but he's like, "I don't want to drop my tea."
Josh Blum:
Well, you can tell he's kind of like in restraint mode, right? Like he's not really...you know, he's not smashing any heads or anything. I love how he just does that just like one-handed you know.
James Lesniak:
Yeah.
Josh Blum:
Typically this thing is probably gonna work like with a non-complaint partner unless you get the [06:09:20].
James Lesniak:
Oh, there's the finger. There's the pinky.
Josh Blum:
Oh.
James Lesniak:
It popped right up. But I love how these guys are like, "Oh, there's what? Five of us, four of us and one of you, I'm drinking, here's the pinky up again."
Josh Blum:
There it is. He's got...
James Lesniak:
And...
Josh Blum:
…the three-finger grip.
James Lesniak:
We're just...we're still intimidated.
Josh Blum:
Right.
James Lesniak:
There's a kick and a punch all at the same time and somehow it knocks down three people with two techniques. I mean, that's pretty darn impressive. I don't think anyone has ever done that.
Josh Blum:
Then he comes out...
James Lesniak:
Right, we were talking about back kicks.
Josh Blum:
He does that without even looking. So, now the destruction happens you know, right. You can tell the lady was like, " Oh go go go, defend my shelf." He's like, "No, you're breaking mine."
James Lesniak:
I'm gonna destroy every fig in here just to prove a point. Just 'cause I can.
Josh Blum:
So I love that. So, he just...he elbows. It's one of the things you can't do in competition. His elbows they kind of [07:07:23].
James Lesniak:
Yeah, just dropped that right down on his shin. I think we've all had that accidentally and at some point, and...
Josh Blum:
Right, and you get [07:14:02] the next week.
James Lesniak:
It hurts so much.
Josh Blum:
So, all pretense is gone of like, you know. So [07:21:13] wanting destruction at this point. You know, the guy just goes through front glass and I hope they have insurance.
James Lesniak:
Hope so. 'Cause this is gonna be a clean-up.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
And that... I mean, you can see where he intentionally didn't hit him but that wasn't a bad roundhouse kick.
Josh Blum:
Yeah, roundhouse kick over the counter there. It definitely is.
Josh Blum:
I think one of the things I'm most impressed with is Dolph Lundgren's technique is not what I would've expected.
Josh Blum:
He's a big guy right, you know. He's like 6'5" or something. He's just like...
James Lesniak:
But he got some skill.
Josh Blum:
He does.
James Lesniak:
You can tell that whoever choreographed this knows what they're doing. There's that arm bar over the shoulder. Brandon Lee is trying to figure out what's going on, sneaking up on a very loud fight for some reason.
Josh Blum:
Coming in...
James Lesniak:
Most [08:11:20] with the vertical punch, the thumb on top.
Josh Blum:
Right.
James Lesniak:
And a hook kick from his waist to that guy's face...
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
There's quite the height discrepancy there.
Josh Blum:
Yeah, and then so, Brandon Lee comes then he's like, “Oh my god. What is going on?".
James Lesniak:
And he's Asian so there's the assumption that...
Josh Blum:
It could be...
James Lesniak:
...he's another enemy.
Josh Blum:
Right, another one. He's like, put it down. So if he's a [08:43:25] just grab the knife. One of the knives which is waving around.
James Lesniak:
With no facial expression whatsoever.
Josh Blum:
Right. So Brandon is in this sort of like getting his hand out. He's like, "Hey." You know, hands out to the side and this is one of the things that I would not recommend anybody doing. He just runs in...
James Lesniak:
Attack the hand with the knife.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
Yeah, not advisable in the self defense situation. You must stay away from the knife.
Josh Blum:
So, because he could've kicked the knife out of his hands like he just does.
James Lesniak:
Right.
Josh Blum:
Right.
James Lesniak:
That was a beautiful kick.
Josh Blum:
Yeah. The next part...also one of those things that probably best works only in the movies - the backhand spring kick.
James Lesniak:
Not a lot of power in that technique.
Josh Blum:
Well, if you hit an arm or something, you'd probably just gonna fall on your head and then the leg gets catched and then of course [09:42:05]...
James Lesniak:
It should go over the head.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
Really nice and just resorting to, "Hey, we're gonna choke you until the gunshots come."
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
And I like how they're in broad daylight. They're just...they're not trying to cover their faces.
Josh Blum:
Oh no.
James Lesniak:
They're just unloading into the street.
Josh Blum:
[09:59:10], right? You've heard it all. Brandon goes waltzing over the counter as the papers and bullets and stuff fly. So, I guess it's better than nothing. I mean, so Dolph goes diving behind a wooden table but man, Brandon got the better of those two choices when he picked that.
James Lesniak:
Absolutely.
Josh Blum:
You know, as several bullets hit that wooden table. I mean, you take what you can, I guess. But I mean...
James Lesniak:
Better than nothing, yeah.
Josh Blum:
Better than nothing, right? But...and off they go in there like low rider.
James Lesniak:
It's a beautiful car.
Josh Blum:
It is, yeah.
James Lesniak:
And somehow that car, that Mitsubishi Galant, that was pulling up didn't seem to notice that gunfire or care and they don't put the brakes on until the last possible second. That's not a car that I want to tailgate.
Josh Blum:
No. And of course, Dolph. As the sort of bad guy cop, he cares.
James Lesniak:
Right and he finally pulls that out at the end.
Josh Blum:
Right. You know, please. He puts shoulder badges. Not now they show their shoulder badges.
James Lesniak:
Oh wait. You are also a police officer? Man, maybe we shouldn't have been fighting.
Josh Blum:
Oops.
James Lesniak:
And still. Like no facial expression whatsoever out of Dolph. It's like he's playing his best version of a stroke victim. Like that's what his face reminds me of. There's no expression through any of these. He's just like *makes sound*.
Josh Blum:
It's all that Kyokushin training. He's like something.
James Lesniak:
There's something going on there. I mean, he's...everything else about what he does in this film for the time, I think it's really solid. You know, one of my least favorite things in fight scenes is you either can't follow it or that it doesn't make any sense.
Josh Blum:
Right.
James Lesniak:
And you're able to do both. You're able to pick out, oh he did this, and that would work. And that choreography's great and he executes incredibly well. Far better that I ever would've given him credit for.
Josh Blum:
Yeah. I think... I'm wondering this is Brandon's sort of like first Hollywood picture. He did a TV movie for like Kung Fu like I don't know if this is like a television movie. So, I'm not really sure this counts as quite the same way but I'm wondering for this first on-screen fight kind of thing where they decide it to go like all out let's just see how acrobatic or however, we can make this with a backhand spring or a jumping roundhouse kick. And all these other things that are like wildly implausible. This is a go for broke. They're in a very bright, tight space. You know, they're in an entryway. I wouldn't even call it a foyer of a restaurant but there's like a counter. There's like a couple feet separating the door from the area from where he's screwing us. It's fairly impressive that they did that in that little space. I think...and I wonder if they just decided to go for both and say like, let's make this intro wildly implausible but also like an impressive thing for someone who's watching it.
James Lesniak:
It is. I mean, if this is his first Hollywood picture which you know Brandon Lee's career better than I do. If it is, it's impossible that in the promotion of this movie, it wasn't gonna be a [13:33:20].
Josh Blum:
Right.
James Lesniak:
You know, you've gotta make that initial impression a big splash.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
Dolph Lundgren is kinda riding high in his career at this point. You know, so it's a great match up or face off, however you want to think of it.
Josh Blum:
The lady, this clip is still rolling and he's like, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, stop arguing." And...
James Lesniak:
Stop arguing. My livelihood has been completely destroyed but could you please stop...
Josh Blum:
Right.
James Lesniak:
...your arguments.
Josh Blum:
So, they utterly destroyed that little restaurant. But uh...
James Lesniak:
Actually, completely trash.
Josh Blum:
Man. It's a really fun film if you haven't seen it. I don't know if it got a lot of press at that time you know, when it came out. I think Brandon Lee's often known for The Crow. Of course which, you know, he passed away tragically.
James Lesniak:
True.
Josh Blum:
And Rapid Fire which came out right beforehand. They're both good movies and this one is too...It have a lot of really famous people in it so if you like to watch movies from that particular era, you'll notice a lot of familiar faces. El Young who is, he's kinda hard to describe but he has this like this [14:56:06] mustache, long hair. He's been in tons of things like, you know, Die Hard and so forth. He squares up...Brandon Lee squares off against him in one scene. So there's like... a lot of like you could find little clips of them floating around YouTube. Watching the full thing is a good one because the roles are kind of reverse in some. Brandon Lee plays someone who is supposed to be like Japanese descent who is more Western. And then Dolph Lundgren plays someone who is our Western but you know, probably has a Japanese thinking, I guess. Everyone is built a little like a Japanese-style sort of retreat out of woods which is really cool. I mean, of course it gets eventually destroyed but I’ll leave you to watch the film if you haven’t seen it.
James Lesniak:
When did you first see this? You said this was a picture you really liked.
Josh Blum:
I don't remember. It must've been... I don't think I watched this like as a kid. I was probably you know like 18 or 19 or something like that. You know at that age, you just, no offense to anybody...your level for what's implausible versus not is like...there's the world of fantasy implants much more easily, much better into day-to-day life, I guess. So, I remember liking it at that time and you know, I still enjoy the film now. Although, I think there's elements of it which is definitely like, this is not a kid's movie.
James Lesniak:
Right.
Josh Blum:
We'll leave it at that. It's not a kid's movie. It's very violent. You know, it has some not great things in there but with the cast and everything like that...all the different pieces together, it is like sort of an early 80's, 90's videogame come to life.
James Lesniak:
That's a great description about that.
Josh Blum:
Wave after wave after wave of [17:09:28] of invincibility, totally implausible kind of situations... I mean, Dolph Lundgren gets shot to the chest at one point. He keeps on fighting.
James Lesniak:
That's Dolph Lundgren.
Josh Blum:
Yeah. It is.
James Lesniak:
You look at his body work and that's the only possible response that I could imagine.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
You know, I'm just gonna keep going.
Josh Blum:
Yeah. Other thoughts, Jeremy, in head?
James Lesniak:
You know, I don't remember if I've seen the whole movie. I'm not sure. This came out at one of those points where I was just watching a lot of "martial arts" films so it's entirely possible that I went to the local video store and grabbed this and I don't recall it. They blur together. You know, I was 12 when this came out so it kind of blurs together but I think I'm gonna have to watch it again because this clip alone, has enough difference versus a lot of movies from this era.
Josh Blum:
True.
James Lesniak:
Then it stands out to me and you know, let's unpack the rest.
Josh Blum:
In the little clip that you saw, what there a favorite technique or part of it that you're like, " I really like how they did that, choreographed that you know, that sort of thing?
James Lesniak:
It's when one of the bad guys ends up with the arm bar over his shoulder - Dolph Lundgren's elbow his shoulder. Because it's a movement that I see available in a lot of self-defense that nobody goes to.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
Especially you know, I'm a smaller guy and so most people that I'm working with are taller than me.
Josh Blum:
Sure.
James Lesniak:
That arm's there frequently. You know, grab that wrist or pop that shoulder up and to a certain degree, the taller they are, the more leverage I've got.
Josh Blum:
Sure. Yeah, and I think that is the case in this particular clip, right? The guy he's squaring off against is shorter. I mean, I think...
James Lesniak:
Yeah, that was the same guy that when the hook kicked him pretty much off his hip, he hit the guy's head. There's quite height disparity there.
Josh Blum:
Yeah. That's yeah... I think my favorite was the elbow to the leg. I don't know if I necessarily would've done it exactly like that. You'd have to be pretty quick to do the downward elbow at the same time the leg is coming up. But I think as you pointed out, we've all had that half and [19:32:28]. You know, you mean to do something else but then you catch your foot, particularly like an instep or something like that, on an elbow. And man!
James Lesniak:
Yeah.
Josh Blum:
We're not wearing shoes. In case you're in the dojo, you're not. Man...
James Lesniak:
It's a movement that in self-defense, you're probably not getting kicked too often.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
But if you do and I think most of us trained this out of us because you know, we spend time training with people that we care about we don't want to hurt. But if you, you know, try to demo this in video but you know, if my hands are up, if I'm guarded, it doesn't take a lot of movement from the way most people hold their hands to drop that elbow. You know, Dolph had his arms like up. I mean, they were up quite a bit. So yeah, they move a lot but most of us just to make that minor elbow correction to cover that kicks coming, you know the elbow's pretty strong. It's unlikely that someone's shin is gonna break your elbow. I mean, it could happen, I guess. You know, it feels like a pretty safe and brutal defense.
Josh Blum:
Yeah. I think more likely the opposite where you know that elbow is probably gonna break those small bones in your foot or something like that.
James Lesniak:
Yeah.
Josh Blum:
Yeah.
James Lesniak:
Good stuff.
Josh Blum:
Good stuff. Yeah, maybe not. Although it's visually impressive, I can't imagine ever trying the backhand spring kick thing. I think...
James Lesniak:
...not something I'd every go to unless maybe I was falling. No, I still think I'd still roll.
Josh Blum:
Yeah, 'cause I really think like if you ever like...you know, I did gymnastics in high school and like that. I definitely kick things while doing backhand springs. To invert, you kick something like you know that happens to be there. It often goes through but sometimes, I mean if it's really a big thing like if you happen to catch his legs on Dolph's arms for example, you're just gonna kind of fold. So, you'll end up like in a handstand under coming down on your head. Now, you're on the ground, crumpled on the ground.
James Lesniak:
Right, stepped on.
Josh Blum:
Stepped on...
James Lesniak:
It's all momentum. Yeah, to those of you watching or listening out there, we are... I think it's safe to say that neither Josh or I recommend a backhand spring as a defense maneuver at any time.
Josh Blum:
Yeah. Particularly in a self defense situation.
James Lesniak:
I mean, if that's like the best thing to do and you know then you're probably not looking at it right.
Josh Blum:
You know, but...
James Lesniak:
One in a million?
Josh Blum:
Yeah, one in a million. Yeah, we never know but as far as Brandon Lee's screen entrance, it made a splash.
James Lesniak:
Made a splash. That was the goal. Anything else you want to say about this?
Josh Blum:
I don't think so. You can comment.
James Lesniak:
Yeah, we want to know what you think.
Josh Blum:
Send us a message if you have something that you would've done in this situation. You know, and you want to comment on it so it's gonna find a fewer people.
James Lesniak:
For sure, alright.
Josh Blum:
Thanks, Jeremy.
James Lesniak:
Was it fun? I had a good time. I always have a good time talking with Josh. Working with Josh...he's a consummate professional. I appreciate his time, his friendship, his support and if you're not checking on his show, The $13 Podcast, you really should. Just some great stuff over there and if you've got a movie fight scene you want the two of us to talk about, offer some comment, let us know! Shoot me an email - jeremy@whistlekick.com. I'll make sure that I connect Josh in and we'll see if we can put it together. If you enjoyed this episode, help us out. Leave us a review somewhere. Tell a friend or follow us on social media or you know, you can make a purchase or support Patreon. So, until next time, train hard, smile, and have a great day!