''Heroes of the East'' (), also known as ''Challenge of the Ninja'', ''Shaolin vs. Ninja'' and ''Shaolin Challenges Ninja'' is a

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

film produced in 1978. It starred

Gordon Liu Gordon Liu (Lau Kar-fai ); born Sin Kam-hei () August 22, 1951) is a Chinese martial arts film actor and martial artist. He played the lead role of San Te in ''The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (1978) and its sequels, and later played two roles in Qu ...

and was directed by

Lau Kar-Leung Lau Kar-leung (28 July 1934 – 25 June 2013), was a Chinese actor, filmmaker, choreographer, and martial artist from Hong Kong. Lau is best known for the films he made in the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio. His most famous wo ...

. Lau Kar-Leung has a cameo role as

So Chan So Chan (Su Can), also known by his nickname Beggar So (So Fa-tsz or So Hut-yee), was a Chinese martial artist and folk hero who lived during the late Qing dynasty. One of the Ten Tigers of Canton, he was best known for his drunken boxing. Bac ...

, a master of

Zui Quan Drunken boxing () also known as Drunken Fist, is a general name for all styles of Chinese martial arts that imitate the movements of a drunk person. It is an ancient style and its origins are mainly traced back to the Buddhist and Daoist reli ...

. It's notable for portraying Japanese martial arts alongside the more typical

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

used in most Hong Kong martial arts films.

Plot

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

about the 1930s, Ho Tao (Gordon Liu) is a

student. His rich father has set up an

arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures a professional matchmaker may be us ...

for him with the daughter of a

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese business associate. Ho Tao initially objects and feigns illness, but soon thereafter agrees to the marriage when he finds bride to be, Yumiko Kōda ("Kung Zi" in

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

), is attractive. After the wedding, he finds out that she is also a martial artist. Ho Tao finds her style of

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

to be violent, unladylike, and potentially immodest and tries to persuade her to learn feminine but also effectual styles of Chinese kung fu. She is later offended during an argument over which nation has the superior martial arts styles and eventually goes back to Japan. When he travels to Japan to entreat Kung Zi to be reconciled with her husband, Ho Tao's father finds Kung Zi in training by her childhood friend and rather too attentive martial arts

sensei Sensei, Seonsaeng, Tiên sinh or Xiansheng, corresponding to Chinese characters , is an East Asian honorific term shared in Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese; it is literally translated as "person born before another" or "one who c ...

Takeno. As a ruse to bring her back to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, Ho Tao sends her a letter challenging Japanese martial arts and their inferiority to their Chinese roots. He hopes that the letter will infuriate Kung Zi enough to return to prove that her Japanese styles are as good as the Chinese ones. Once she is back in China, Ho Tao hopes to reconcile with her. But the plan backfires when Takeno reads the letter instead of Kung Zi. Takeno reads the challenge as an affront to Japanese martial arts and declares its contents with other Japanese martial arts masters who travels to China to take up Ho Tao's challenge. Takeno informs Ho Tao that he will face a different martial arts expert every day. In the first duel, Ho Tao misinterprets a respectful gesture from the Japanese fighter and thus further antagonizes the Japanese contingent. Due to this cultural misunderstanding, the Japanese no longer treat the subsequent duels as exhibitions of their styles but rather as all-out fights. Kung Zi, seeing the gravity of the situation, helps Ho Tao by warning him of Takeno's mastery of

ninjutsu , sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some trad ...

. A series of duels follows, as Ho Tao comes up with a way to counter each Japanese martial artist’s specialist expertise. In a final showdown, Ho Tao faces Takeno. Chow Kan (Cheng Hong-Yip), Ho Tao's servant, provides a lot of the comedic relief for the film through various schemes that often bring unintended consequences for Ho Tao.

Martial arts

The film is noted for the exhibitions of various martial-arts styles and weapons: * Japanese

Samurai Sword A is a Japanese sword characterized by a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands. Developed later than the ''tachi'', it was used by samurai in feudal Japan and worn with the edge fa ...

vs. Chinese Straight Sword (double-edged long sword) * Sino-Okinawan

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

vs. Chinese

Drunken Fist Drunken boxing () also known as Drunken Fist, is a general name for all styles of Chinese martial arts that imitate the movements of a drunk person. It is an ancient style and its origins are mainly traced back to the Buddhist and Daoist relig ...

* Okinawan Bruce Lee's Nunchucks &

Tonfa The ''tonfa'' ( Okinawan: , lit. ''old man's staff'' / ''"crutch"''), also spelled as ''tongfa'' or ''tuifa'', also known as T-baton is a melee weapon with its origins in the armed component of Okinawan martial arts. It consists of a stic ...

vs. Chinese

Three sectional staff The three-section staff, triple staff, three-part staff, originally sanjiegun (, or ) or sansetsukon in Japanese, is a Chinese flail weapon that consists of three wooden or metal staffs connected by metal rings or rope. The weapon is also known as ...

(

melee weapons A melee weapon, hand weapon or close combat weapon is any handheld weapon used in hand-to-hand combat, i.e. for use within the direct physical reach of the weapon itself, essentially functioning as an additional (and more impactful) extension of th ...

) * Japanese Long Spear vs. Chinese Qiang (spears) * Okinawan Tekpis vs. Chinese Wing Chun Butterfly Swords (short swords) * Japanese

Judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

vs. peanut oil (a comedic duel) * Japanese ninja skills Hensojutsu, Shinobi-iri vs.

peanut The peanut (''Arachis hypogaea''), also known as the groundnut, goober (US), pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible Seed, seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics, important to both small ...

shells (another comedic duel) * Japanese Ninja Star Darts, Darts vs. Chinese Needles, Sleeve Arrows (throwing weapons) * Japanese Sickles as compared to Chinese Long Rope Dart (chained/roped weapons) * Japanese Ninja Short Sword vs. Chinese

Broadsword The basket-hilted sword is a sword type of the early modern era characterised by a basket-shaped guard that protects the hand. The basket hilt is a development of the quillons added to swords' crossguards since the Late Middle Ages. In m ...

(single-edged broadsword/saber) * Japanese Crab-style vs. Chinese Crane Fist In a departure from the norm for a

Hong Kong film The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of pol ...

of that time, instead of stereotyping the Japanese characters as villains, the film portrays both the Japanese characters and their fighting skills with respect. Another unusual aspect of the film is that director Lau insisted that none of the fights ended in death. It is consistent with Lau's insistence on no characters being killed when in the film, Ho Tao criticizes the lethal technique of Ninjitsu as being dishonorable. He refers to it as an "ambush" only used by "treacherous criminals", and by contrast "the way of (Chinese) kung fu emphasizes on being fair and open". (All quotes were taken from the subtitle translation used on the

Celestial Pictures Celestial Pictures is a diversified entertainment company focusing on Asian-language film and television content including production, aggregation, distribution and the operation of TV channels. Headquartered in Hong Kong, the company owns th ...

/IVL DVD release. The English dubbed version, usually titled ''Shaolin Challenges Ninja'', is even more harsh in its assessment of Ninjutsu, with Ho Tao referring to it as "murder" instead of "ambush".)

Cast

- Ho Tao, the main protagonist, Yumiko Kōda's husband and

Kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

fighter * Yuka Mizuno - Yumiko "Kung Zi" Kōda, the female protagonist, Ho Tao's japanese wife from

Kyoto, Japan Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the city ...

and Japanese martial arts fighter *

Yasuaki Kurata is a Japanese martial artist and actor, best known for his work in Hong Kong action films. He holds dan ranks in Karate (7th degree), Judo (3rd degree), and Aikido (2nd degree). Biography Kurata was born and raised in Sakura-mura, Niihari Dis ...

- Takeno, Japanese

expert * Naozō Katō - Japanese Master * Riki Harada (English credits say Takeshi Yamamoto) - Japanese

Iaido , abbreviated , is a Japanese martial art that emphasizes being aware and capable of quickly drawing the sword and responding to sudden attacks.Christensen, Karen and Allen Guttmann et.al (2001) ''International Encyclopedia of Women and Spor ...

expert * Yūjirō Sumi (English credits say Tetsu Sumi) -

expert * Hayato Ryūzaki (English credits say Manabu Shirai) -

Nunchaku is a traditional Okinawan martial arts weapon consisting of two sticks (traditionally made of wood), connected to each other at their ends by a short metal chain or a rope. It is approximately 30 cm (sticks) and 1 inch (rope). A person w ...

expert * Yasutaka Nakazaki - Japanese Sai expert * Hitoshi Ōmae - Japanese

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...

expert * Nobuo Yana - Japanese

Sōjutsu , meaning "art of the spear", is the Japanese martial art of fighting with a . Origins Although the spear had a profound role in early Japanese mythology, where the islands of Japan themselves were said to be created by salt water dripping fro ...

expert *

Lau Kar-leung Lau Kar-leung (28 July 1934 – 25 June 2013), was a Chinese actor, filmmaker, choreographer, and martial artist from Hong Kong. Lau is best known for the films he made in the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio. His most famous wo ...

- Drunken master So * Cheng Hong-Yip - Chow Kan *

Ching Miao Ching Miao (March 15, 1913 – 1989) was a Taiwanese actor born in Shandong, China. He had appeared in over 190 films, mostly in Hong Kong for the Shaw Brothers Studio. He won the Best Supporting Actor for Golden Horse Awards The Taipei Go ...

- Ho Tao's father *

Norman Chui Norman Chui Siu-keung (; born 16 October 1950) is a Hong Kong actor. He was best known for portraying heroic protagonists in many martial arts films from the 1970s to 1980s and later portraying villainous roles in the 1990s. Chui was contracted wi ...

- Chang *

Hoi Sang Lee Lee Hoi-sang (born April 15, 1941) is a Hong Kong martial arts film actor and martial artist, known for his roles in '' The 36th Chamber of Shaolin'' (as Abbot Li Hai Sheng) (1978), '' Shaolin Challenges Ninja'' (1978), ''The Incredible Kung Fu ...

- Bald pupil * Yuen Siu Tien - Ho Tao's teacher

Home media

Dragon Dynasty Dragon Dynasty is a joint venture started by The Weinstein Company and Genius Products. The company was created on May 23, 2006 for the sole purpose of distributing East Asian films on DVD in the U.S., whose licenses are held by, or will be acqui ...

released the

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

North America 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 Car ...

on 27 May 2008. Paramount Pictures released the

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

in Japan on 7 June 2013.

References

External links