Killing Machine

[jonboy]

Hi,

You might have discussed this already but in my very quick scan I couldn't see it.

I have seen it before, but just got hold of The Killing Machine on DVD starring Sonny Chiba. Do I take it that lots of you know about this film?

My question is 'Did Hombu endorse this film?' I am guessing they did, it's just that I wouldn't have thought they would have. It's not quite the image of SK that I am often told about.

jon

[tony leith]

I don't know whether Honbu endorsed the movie as such, or had editorial input re. the narrative (one suspects not..), but the film does start with massed ranks of kenshi at Honbu performing kata. I believe that Kaiso himself did have some involvement in the filming, despite his apparent initial severe reservations about the project, though I don't know if this was confined to technical input (quite a lot of the fighting in the film is recognisably Kempo, although it tends to culminate in crunching/splintering bone).

The film is very violent, and the 'Doshin So' of the movie does come across more as a Western anti hero of the man with no name school (Exhibit A - where he massacres his superiors with a machine gun concealed under his poncho in the opening scene). I once heard Rupert Cox, who's an academic expert on aspects of Japanese popular culture, say that the movie fits within the context of a recognised genre of japanese action movies with this kind of theme. That being said, Kempo philosophy does get some kind of an airing, and the disaffected and nihilistic nature of Japanese society immediately post WWII does come acoss quite strongly. The movie's climax is a bloodbath familiar to anybody who has sat through almost any martial arts/action movie of the 'they killed my mother/father/entire family/ favourite hamster and now they have to pay' ilk - which is pretty much any martial arts movie I've ever seen, come to think of it...

Tony leith

[luar]

From the Swedish web site (http://www.shorinji-kempo.org)

Completion of Shorinji Kempo movie version of half of Kalso's life.

At the January 1975 Kagami Biraki celebration of the New Year, 1 500 kenshi joined in a group embu for the filming of the movie, Shorinji Kempo. (Editor's note: The film was called "Killing Machine" in the US.)

The movie was produced by a Japanese film company and presented a story based on Kaiso's life around the time he founded Shorinji Kempo. Kaiso expressed his lack of enthusiasm for the project in the planning stages, saying, "What's the idea of a biographical movie when I'm still alive?" But once the filming began he was spared no assistance, saying, "If they're going to make it, it may as well be a good one."The completed movie was a hit in Japan, and Shorinji Kempo's teachings and techniques were publicized throughout the country for a time.

There is also a photo of Kaiso advising Sonny Chiba during the making of the film.

[Tripitaka of AA]

Nope, 'never seen it!

Kinda wish I had tho'.:cool:

[Kikazaru]

I've got a copy of The Killing Machine. It's pretty entertaining... Doshin So is a kind of Clint Eastwood, Bruce Lee messiah of martial arts doom. He spends a lot of time breaking poor Yakuza asses, snapping elbows, dodging bullets, saving fallen women, rescuing lost children and re-invigorating people's lives with the Shorinji way. I also heard he was pretty enthusiastic about it, trained Sonny Chiba himself, and choreographed the fights.

I see it as part of the great Shorinji Kempo propaganda campaign Doshin So waged on the nation. This included appearances on TV quiz shows, interviews, Shorinji Kempo newspapers and magazines, books and comics. There's a regular newspaper and magazine in Japan now. I think they are both monthly. Some of the books Doshin So wrote look a lot like Hare Krshna propaganda with images of the mighty Doshin holding truth in one hand and the sword of justice in the other, or meditating in the image of Daruma, guiding lost souls to the path of spiritual development and so on, modeling himself in the image of a modern day Daruma. I got a nice book aimed at kids with a proper ass-kicking manga about Doshin so in the land of the ancient Chinese masters, facing life's hardships with a stout heart and devoting himself to the mastery of Budo before returning to Japan on a crusade of righteousness.

A lot of this stuff is pretty embarrassing... the Killing Machine, the religious cult books and the Marvel/Tintin-esque manga... it all adds up to a huge propaganda assault in the name of Shorinji Kempo. I think Doshin So knew exactly what he was doing when he produced it, and that's why Kempo has expanded so hugely since it was founded. Kempo is deliberately tied to religion, philosophy, sport, mysticism, and heroism. Its no wonder it has expanded as a cultural force.

Doshin So makes no secret of it either, the text in the Fukudoku-hon describes how he used the techniques of Kempo as a lure to bait young people so that he could teach them the philosophy of Kongo Zen. Shorinji Kempo IS a lure, and continues as a force drawing together a huge number of people with a common purpose in their physical training and self-improvement. That's one of the fantastic things about Kempo -drawing together so many different people and providing an environment for physical, emotional and intellectual self-motivated development.

[luar]

Originally posted by Kikazaru
Doshin So makes no secret of it either, the text in the Fukudoku-hon describes how he used the techniques of Kempo as a lure to bait young people so that he could teach them the philosophy of Kongo Zen. Shorinji Kempo IS a lure, and continues as a force drawing together a huge number of people with a common purpose in their physical training and self-improvement.

Damn, I hate when I get taken

[Tripitaka of AA]

Originally posted by luar


Damn, I hate when I get taken


"taken"? So he may be acting on behalf of an Alien race ;) , determined to take our brightest and best, teaching them a higher purpose. Perhaps Kenshi are destined to populate the world with an evolved species of caring, determined, enthusiastic "good people" :) . We may be part of the new generation of this higher species :D . Perhaps Tony Kehoe is at the front of the queue after all (have you seen his mammoth thread on the E-Budo Member's Lounge forum, "Tony Kehoe for World Dictator"!!!!!).:eek:


I hope I included enough smileys to convey my tongue-in-cheek posture (imagine Taiki-gamae with a clown's red nose). With luck, no-one will draw the wrong conclusion and drift onto a "master-race" debate on the merits of propaganda, cults and eugenics.

[luar]

Thank you Mulder :p

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by luar
Thank you Mulder :p
Would you mind getting the scullery mold and moldy skulls out of my kitchen, please? You'll find them easily; after all, X marks the spot...
Hey, look ma, I'm a Man In Black. :cool:

[Tripitaka of AA]

I'm looking forward to the Biopic of Tony K "The Blonde Bombshell". Who do you want in the leading role Tony?

Which genre would you like it to borrow from?I'm thinking a cross beteen Old-Style Hammer Horror and Woody Allen. Titled something like "Nosferatu and I", or perhaps "Frock, Smock and Ladies' Apparel"...

I wonder if Sonny Chiba would be available?...

[Kimpatsu]

Originally posted by Tripitaka of AA
I'm looking forward to the Biopic of Tony K "The Blonde Bombshell". Who do you want in the leading role Tony?
I shall play myself, of course. Nobody does it better. Harvey Darth Moul will be the villain, and the movie will feature a cast of thousands. David will be cast in the role of Jar-Jar Binks.

[Tripitaka of AA]

"jar-Jar Binks"... Ouch :( !!

That hurts more than a Mae-yubi Gatame with a broken thumb.