Red Belt - 0 Tubs

Many years ago, I was very much into the martial arts. I studied Tae Kwon Do while stationed in Asmara, Ethiopia; though I only earned a yellow belt before moving on to more exciting things like hanging out at the club at night. The first night in class the instructor had the new guys punching the concrete walls. If you did it right, it hurt; if you did it wrong, you broke your hand. We did that for a couple of weeks before he started teaching us how to fall when struck. Our sensei struck us often. We learned how to fall for about a month before he decided it was time to start teaching us how to defend ourselves. By this time I was disenchanted with my skinny body and lack of upper body strength. Forget knuckle pushups, I was lucky to do them the normal way. Simultaneously with learning Tae Kwon Do, I started taking fencing classes because they were on alternating nights. After a few weeks my TKD instructor found out that I was doing both martial arts and told me I'd have to choose. Fencing develops the leg muscles differently than what is needed in TKD. Rather than lunging, TKD required flexibility and the ability to do high spinning back kicks. I decided to give up fencing because there wasn't much liklihood I'd be attacked by someone with a sword. The odds were much greater that I'd be attacked by a gang of Ethiopian street thugs on the way home at night, so TKD it was.

I saw the best of the best back then: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Joe Lewis - the US kick-boxing champ, Ed Parker, Dan Inosanto, Jhoon Rhee, and others. Of course most people have never heard of some of these fighters. The reason I enjoyed Red Belt is because it is the most realistic martial arts film I've ever seen. There are no floating kicks or punching someone through walls or getting back up when you're hit in the head with numchucks. Other than Bruce Lee, who was one of a kind, most martial arts fights I witnessed were more grappling and feinting, where one fighter wasn't able to strike whenever and wherever he wished. Often it is hard to keep up with the struggle and to determine why one opponent receives a point for striking the other opponent.

Red Belt is about a martial arts instructor who refuses to compete. He believes that competition weakens a person. He taught students to become fighters, not competitors. Although some of the scenes fail to connect to the plot of the story, and while it's obvious that this was a low budget film, even with stars like Tim Allen, Max Martini (from The Unit on CBS), Chiwetel Ejiofor - the jiu-jitsu master, and other recognizable character actors; the authenticity of this film is what makes it work. Even the filming of the fight scene at the end of the movie leaves the viewer wondering who is hitting whom. In the end, Ejiofor (Mike Terry) remains a fighter, not a competitor, and receives the highest honor from his mentor - the Professor.

I gave Red Belt zero tubs because no one is coming to see the movie; and that's unfortunate. I was the only person in the auditorium last night. Of course, it was Tuesday night and our week nights are very slow. At least the usher didn't have to clean up behind me. I took my trash, including any popcorn that had fallen onto the floor with me when I left the theater. I am Theater Usher.