Karate Kid in China?

I'e got some mail recently asking about the new Karate Kid movie.  Some people want to know, "Is kung-fu in China just like the movie?"

Uh, maybe.

First let me say after a decade or so of disappointing Jackie Chan movies, it's nice to see one where he actually acts. In fact he only does kung-fu in one short scene.

Ok, so kung-fu in China. Yeah, you can get really lucky and find amazing masters who are willing to take the time to make sure you understand and can do things well. I did.

Will you your maintenance man come from a long line of masters?  Mmmm.... doubtful but you never know. I was at a hotel in Kai-feng with the Brazilian kung-fu master, Bruno Waldir, when was joking around about fighting the bellhop. Turns out the bellhop spent ten years studying at the Shaolin Temple!

Are kung-fu classes like the ones the kids who pick on Dre take? I've never heard of any like that.  The thing you have to realize about wushu in China is that most Chinese people don't really see the connection to fighting anymore.  Yeah, sure, you see it in the movies but in real life 95% of the classes are all about doing routines called, taolu. This is all about performance. Sure you'll learn to jump higher, do the splits and 720º spins, but if you ever try to use it you'll get your butt kicked pretty quick.

The only exception to this Sanda. Sanda looks a lot like Muyi Thai but less cool. Sanda can be effective though. All the police and military in China train it. The problem is that many targets are off limits and so are many ways of striking

Then there's the tournament. As a white guy I get invited to tons of these here. They always want foreigners to go so they can say the tournament is international. At the tournaments it's almost all performances, very little fighting. I've never heard of let alone seen something the Karate Kid movie where you can just use whatever fighting styles you want, especially without any safety gear.