When I was a younger lad, I can remember crisp autumn days in Northeast Texas when my breath was white and heavy in front of my face and the oak leaves still clinging to branches took on a rather macabre, paper-bag brown. The overcast sky demanded nothing more that a quick glimpse upward, a stray thought of possibly taking a walk over the dead oak leaves that littered the ground like haphazard pieces from a puzzle in the sky. Daydreams–nothing more. My hands were cold on the way to the houses of my childhood friends. In those places, scattered around the neighborhood, I found an amusement to captivate my young, intelligible mind for hours on end. Although it was no noble pursuit or sportsmanlike endeavor,  it was fun for the time being.

Mortal Kombat II, or MKII as many of the game’s lifelong fans have come to call it, was a great cause of concern among middle class mothers and fathers for it’s portrayal of serious amounts of gore back in the mid-90s when there was no regulation for such civil abandon in the video game industry. People were surprised at the gratuitous nature of MKII and it’s reluctance to withhold any scenes of violence for the sake of the childrens’ minds. They were out for shock value, aiming to  produce the maximum amount of entertainment per punch like they were just trying to piss people off. Despite derision in the early years, the game went on to become wildly popular, eventually spawning countless spin-offs on several different platforms, and a movie with a descent soundtrack that is often the punchline for campy film humor.

The idea of placing two characters in a ring and letting them beat the hell out of each other with punches, kicks, special moves (such as Scorpion’s “Get Over Here!” Harpoon), and not to mention the coveted Fatalities after a KO was ingenious. Before the ultra-desensitized culture emerged later on, this type of game-play was a big deal for the youth. That’s it’s a little bit surprising to learn that a game which went for such cheap thrills like a bad horror movie actually has a considerable amount of truth backing its game-play.

Shaolin Kung Fu, which originated thousands of years ago by a group of Shaolin Monks, has become a household name, famous for its animal variations on traditional Kung Fu. Portrayed most sympathetically in the Mortal Kombat games (by real people and not computer graphics, I might add) was the Dragon style of Kung Fu, called Dragon Kung Fu. The characters and their various fighting styles didn’t differ much in their earliest incarnations. Their capabilities were limited to punches, kicks, and a couple of special moves. Liu Kang, the protagonist of much of the Mortal Kombat lore, is himself a Shaolin Monk, well practiced in the art of Kung Fu. His corresponding animal spirit is the dragon, which gives me reasonable evidence to believe that his school of fighting was most likely Dragon Style, although the producers of the video game, Acclaim Entertainment and Midway Games, have not come forward endorsing that fact. Further investigation lends even more reason to believe that every character in the original Mortal Kombat games had some roots in Dragon Kung Fu by the simple fact that the logo is a dragon’s silhouette. All of the ninja assassins (Sub-Zero, Scorpion, Reptile, Noob Saibot, Smoke, Rain, and Ermac) employed certain elements of Kung Fu. What is for certain (and this is the best evidence that I could draw up about characters’ specific fighting styles) is that Sub-Zero’s  innate fighting style, arms akimbo, weight back in his stance, ready to attack his opponent at a 45 degree stance, is that of Dragon Kung Fu. (This is according to his Wikipedia page. Eh…)

While I was perusing the TotalVid titles, I ran across a martial arts video that managed to stand out among the litany of other titles–quiet in some ways, dynamic in others by demonstrating a real power, the real serenity of martial arts and artists. Master Qu’s expose on Kung Fu, which mirrors many of the same principles of Dragon Kung Fu, seemed eerily familiar–so I did my research. It brought me back to my childhood and those endless days spent in my buddy’s living room, literally memorizing screen shots and players’ poses and moves. “Master Qu’s Elementary Long Boxing” instructional is in some ways a play-by-play of many characters’ moves in the Mortal Kombat video games: Sub-Zero and Scorpion’s ground slide and Lui Kang’s iconic Flying Kick are all echoed on the video’s cover of Master Qu posturing a wide-legged stance. The parallels run deep between the Mortal Kombat story and Shaolin Kung Fu. In later generations of the game, there is even a title called Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks.

If you closely watch Master Qu’s supremely-authentic seminars on Shaolin Kung Fu, and the art of what is called “Long Form” or “Changquan”, you can see the same element of power, the same demonstration of body extensions which hold true to teachings of Dragon Kung Fu and the stylized maneuvers seen in Mortal Kombat. Sure there are some clerical differences between Master Qu and the Mortal Kombat characters–after all, one is a dedicated master of his art and the others are 16-bit holograms over a 2-D background–but the gist of it is there.

The Dragon Style of Kung Fu, while it is a traditional and sacred martial art, is widely known in western culture. Think about the countless parodies in movies–of a fighter imitating the “dragon style” or “crane style”. Think about the wildly popular TV show, “Kung Fu” that pits a martial arts master in the middle of the Wild West. Think about the Kung Fu Panda movies or the fact that a song called “Kung Fu Fighting” was a major US and UK hit. Think of Sub-Zero, Lui Kang, and all the other rotunda of memorable characters from the Mortal Kombat game that helped Kung Fu become one of the most popular misconceptions of Eastern martial arts in Western popular culture. But lastly, think of Master Qu and his dedication to what is a powerful and graceful artform: Kung Fu.

For a complete list of Totalvid.com’s martial arts titles, click below.

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