2/2 Cinematic martial arts The Billy Jack movies and the introduction of Hapkido Tom Laughlin (1931—2013) youtu.be/aVX-voqWuwY By most accounts, the single-minded, loner-idealist tough guy at the center of the Billy Jack franchise was based on an amalgam of cowboy archetypes, Asian martial-arts film archetypes and Mr. Laughlin’s image of himself. Colleagues and family members described him as driven, stubborn, uncompromising and intensely attracted to quixotic endeavors. After a succession of small film and television roles during his first decade in Hollywood, he and his wife, Delores Taylor — who later co-starred in the Billy Jack films — opened a Montessori school to keep their children out of what they considered the mediocre public schools of Southern California. A half-dozen years later Mr. Laughlin decided to return to the movie business, but on his own terms. He wrote his script and raised money for the motorcycle movie “Born Losers” (1967), the first to feature Billy Jack. He later became an outspoken environmentalist and antinuclear activist and sought the Democratic nomination for president on several state primary ballots in 1992, 2004 and 2008. nytimes/2013/12/17/movies/tom-laughlin-82-star-of-billy-jack-movie-series-dies.html?_r=0 About the scene Tom Laughlin was a long-time student of the martial art hapkido, and he performed many of his own fighting moves in the movie. But in one particular scene he was forced to use a stunt double—his teacher, Master Bong Soo Han. The scene in question was where Billy Jack smacked Sheriff Posner upside the head with his foot; Laughlin was able to perform the kick in question, but not with the precision necessary to stop his foot just millimeters away from actor Bert Freed’s face. mentalfloss/article/54248/6-things-you-might-not-have-known-about-billy-jack
Posted on: Thu, 01 Jan 2015 08:10:00 +0000
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