THE FLASH POINT GUIDE TO MMA : Kea Wong goes to the mat.
The upcoming Dragon Dynasty release of the Donnie Yen actioner Flash Point sees Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) hit the screen with a whole new impact. In planning our bonus features for the disc, I thought it would be fun to go to Def Boxing, the same gym seen at the start of the film, and shoot a light-hearted beginner’s guide to the art.
We got capoeira and MAA devotee Zen Berimbau, who plays a boxing trainer in Flash Point, to put out own Kea Wong through her paces.
The multi-talented Kea played the mutant heroine Jubilee in the 2nd and 3rd X-Men movies, is currently producing her first film and is also my indispensable sidekick. I take great pleasure in throwing different challenges at my personal Jubilee action figure. For our Killer location guide, she narrowly avoided being run over by tram. For Flash Point, I sent her into the ring to learn the grueling MMA groundwork. (I can’t wait ‘til we one day release Project A, so I can dangle her from the arms of the Kowloon clock tower…)
The only time available to shoot in the gym was Saturday evening. I was worried about getting enough ‘mixed’ combatants to show their stuff. Fortunately Hong Kong remains a hotbed of talented martial artists. Alex Shum is a long-time friend of Donnie and Cici Yen, and also a proficient Brazilian jujitsu exponent in the Gracie lineage. He kindly volunteered to serve as Kea’s ‘opponent’ after her MAA boot camp under Zen. I especially appreciate him taking part, proving that being a real deal jujitsuka does not preclude you having a sense of humour. (Like everyone in Hong Kong, Alex is master of many arenas, whose entrepreneurial enterprises extend to co-ownership of Racks a Central-based Hong Kong pool hall.)
A native of Vancouver, Zen Berimbau owes his exotic looks to his Japanese-Canadian parentage. A former club DJ, he had an earlier exposure to film-making when he worked on the Stargate Atlantis TV series. Though he has a solid MMA background, Zen’s primary art is Capoeira, which he has studied since the age of 21. He is a disciple of Mestre Barrao, founder of Grupo Axe Capoeira. (I actually took a few months of classes with him to experience the Capoeira flavour.)
Also on hand were Taekwondoist and entrepreneur Min Yoo (who previously worked with the Rhee brothers on the ‘Best of the Best’ films, remember them), Thai boxer Boon Khoo (creative director of Alivenotdead.com), Wu Shu exponent Patrick Lee (co-founder of the Rotten Tomatoes website) and lady kickboxing champion Stephanie Au. Rounding out our cast were British MMA exponent Damian Green and boxing actor/model Damon Howe, both of whom appeared in the actual Flash Point opening. (Damian’s further claim to fame is that he interviewed John Woo for our Hard-Boiled and, forthcoming, Killer DVDs, not bad going for a guy from Hartlepool!)
Just to show that basic MMA training can be undertaken at any age, I threw in my eldest son, Ryan, who was also on hand when we shot the actual opening scene for Flash Point. Back then, Donnie had taken one look at Ryan’s lightning fast round kick/spinning kick combo and observed “Bey, he’s better than you ever were!” (And handsomer, too, damn it…)
Considering that everyone (presumably!) had more fun ways to spend their Saturday evening, I very grateful that our eclectic team of warriors turned up with such great energy and enthusiasm. Given that we only had one evening in the gym, though, the clock was ticking, so I asked Zen and Alex to put Kea through her paces, while I shot cutaways of the different martial arts exponents doing their thing. Once that was handled, most of the other fighters could leave while we focused on Kea’s introduction to the wild world of ground fighting.
In summing up the salient points of MMA for a featurette length piece, Zen focused on three specific techniques that are also used in the Flash Point fight choreography. Kea herself was surprised how quickly she could take to them, and how little physical strength was needed to make them effective. For the training segment, Zen demonstrated the techniques on Alex, then Kea practiced them on Zen.
Kea currently teaches yoga and studies Wu Shu / Tai Chi, as well as some Hung Kuen with my instructor, the long-suffering Sifu Mak Chi-kong. After this brief exposure to MMA, the 25-hour party girl wants to do some real deal no-holds-barred training.
For the wrap up, I must admit, we wanted to go out on a light note, with Kea executing a ‘Wong Jing’ worthy move to finish off her foe. (You’ll see what we mean when you watch the DVD). Our mission done, team Flash Point headed down to Racks for a beer (or twelve), and Kea proved that her mutant powers extend to clearing a pool table super fast…
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