''Hapkido'' (), released as ''Lady Kung Fu'' in North America, is a 1972

Hong Kong martial arts film Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese culture, Chinese and Culture of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling an ...

directed by

Huang Feng Huang Feng (黃楓) (born 7 January 1919) is a Chinese-born Hong Kong-based film director, screenwriter and actor. Huang was a native of Hefei, Anhui, China. He started his career as an actor, then became a screenwriter and assistant director ...

and starring

Angela Mao use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinates ...

. The film co-stars

Carter Wong Carter Wong (born Wong Chia-ta on March 22, 1947) is a Chinese actor and martial artist, who is mainly known for roles in Kung Fu action movies. The biggest movies he was featured in are ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (1986), and ''Yong zheng ...

and

Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and Film director, director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreog ...

, and has early cameo appearances from

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

Yuen Biao Yuen Biao (born Ha Lingchun; 26 July 1957) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist and stuntman. He specialises in acrobatics and Chinese martial arts and has also worked on over 80 films as actor, stuntman and action choreographer. He was one ...

and

Corey Yuen Corey Yuen (; born Ying Gang-ming (殷元奎); 15 February 1951) is a Hong Kong director, film director, producer, action choreographer, and former actor. Yuen was a member of the Peking Opera Schools and one of the Seven Little Fortunes. As a ...

. It was released by Golden Harvest.

Plot

It is 1934, in Japanese occupied Korea. Yu Ying, Kao Chang and Fan Wei are sitting and talking in a park when they are approached by a group of Japanese toughs. The leader of the Japanese begins to make unwelcome advances, and Yu Ying tries her best to ignore him. Fan Wei loses his temper and a melee ensues. These three have just graduated, learning the art of

Hapkido Hapkido ( , , also spelled ''hap ki do'' or ''hapki-do''; from Korean 합기도 ''hapgido'' ) is a hybrid Korean martial art. It is a form of self-defense that employs joint locks, grappling, throwing techniques, kicks, punches, and other stri ...

and they return to China in the hopes of setting up their own school, which they do. The Japanese, who consider it an inferior martial art, try to run them out of town with some traitorous Chinese, including Chou Ba-tien. Yu Ying, Kao Chang and Fan Wei don't want any trouble as it goes against the wishes of their master and his teachings. It is Fan Wei who finally loses it after being insulted by some Japanese. This doesn't go down well and Fan Wei becomes a wanted man, having to hide out while Yu Ying and Kao Chang try to reason with The Black Bear Gang without much luck. Finally the Japanese go too far, killing both Kao Chang and Fan Wei, which forces Yu Ying to fight back along with her Hapkido Elder Brother, killing the leaders of the Black Bear Gang.

Cast

as Yu Ying *

as Kao Chang *

as Fan Wei * Wong In Sik as Elder classmate * Ji Han Jae as Teacher Shih Kung-chan * Pai Ying as Chou Ba-tien *

Nancy Sit Nancy Sit Ka-yin ( zh, 薛家燕; born 30 March 1950) is a Hong Kong actress on the TVB network. Her acting career dated back to the 1960s, when she was a popular teen idol alongside Connie Chan Po-chu, and Josephine Siao. Sit recorded many ...

as Hsiao Hsiu * Goro Kumon as Toyoda Yaguma (

Nihongo is spoken natively by about 128 million people, primarily by Japanese people and primarily in Japan, the only country where it is the national language. Japanese belongs to the Japonic or Japanese- Ryukyuan language family. There have been m ...

: やぐま豊田, ''Yaguma Toyota'') * Ping-Ao Wei as Chang Pu-tse * Lan Sun as Sung Chung * Di Chin as Hsiao Lao-fu *

Wei Yang Yang Wei or Wei Yang may refer to: *Shang Yang or Wei Yang (Chinese: 衞鞅; c. 390–338 BCE), ancient Chinese philosopher and politician *Yang Longyan (897–920) or Yang Wei (楊渭), King of Wu of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period *Yan ...

as Traitor *

Leung Siu-lung Bruce Leung Siu-lung (born Leung Choi-sang; 28 April 1948) is a Hong Kong martial artist and actor who has appeared in many Hong Kong martial arts movies. He often appeared billed as "Bruce Leung", "Bruce Liang", "Bruce Leong", or "Bruce Leung Siu ...

as Hu Chia * Ka Ting Lee as Chief disciple

Cameos/Extras

* Hsu Hsia as Black Bear Student with a sword *

Billy Chan Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a young ...

as Marketplace fighter *

Ching-Ying Lam Lam Ching-ying (; born Lam Gun-bo (); 27 December 1947 – 8 November 1997) was a Hong Kong stuntman, actor, and action director. As a practitioner of martial arts Lam starred in a number of notable films that found recognition outside Hong Kong ...

as Marketplace fighter *

Ching Siu-tung Ching Siu-tung (Chinese: 程小東, born October 31st, 1953), also known as Tony Ching, is a Hong Kong action choreographer, actor, film director and producer, who has directed over 20 films, including the critically acclaimed supernatural fantas ...

as Black Bear Student *

Alan Chui Chung-San Chui Chung-San (often known as Shu Zhong Xin, Hsu Zhong-Xin or Alan Hsu; 16 August 1952 – 2 November 2022) was a Hong Kong actor, director, choreographer, martial artist and stuntman. He was known for being an action director and stuntman. Ch ...

as Black Bear/Hapkido student *

Yuen Wah Yuen Wah (born Yung Kai-chi; 2 September 1952) is a Hong Kong action film actor, action choreographer, stuntman and martial artist who has appeared in over 160 films and over 20 television series. Early life Born Yung Kai-chi on 2 September 195 ...

as Black Bear/Hapkido Student *

as Black Bear student *

as Hapkido student *

Peter Chan Peter Ho-sun Chan (born 28 November 1962) is a film director and producer. Early life Chan was born in British Hong Kong to parents China. He and his family moved to Thailand when he was 12, where he grew up amongst the international Chine ...

as Hapkido student

Reception

In September 1973, the film topped the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

box office, briefly overtaking the Bruce Lee blockbuster ''

Enter the Dragon ''Enter the Dragon'' ( zh, t=龍爭虎鬥) is a 1973 martial arts film directed by Robert Clouse and written by Michael Allin. The film stars Bruce Lee, John Saxon and Jim Kelly. It was Lee's final completed film appearance before his death o ...

'', which eventually regained the top spot several weeks later. It was digitally re-mastered and restored by

Hong Kong Legends Hong Kong Legends was a United Kingdom DVD distribution company, based in Hertfordshire and operating from the UK and Australia between 1999 and 2007. Hong Kong Legends was initially part of Medusa Communications, who, along with Soulblade bought ...

in 2006.

References

External links

* 1972 films 1970s martial arts films Hong Kong martial arts films 1970s Cantonese-language films Girls with guns films Kung fu films Hapkido films Films set in Korea under Japanese rule Second Sino-Japanese War films Japan in non-Japanese culture 1970s Hong Kong films {{martialart-film-stub