“Shaolin Vs. Lama” – Perseverance, Friendship.

I have to say from the get-go that what caught my attention the most from this film was how the moves through the film are choreographed in comparison to the current time we are living in. I had not watched a movie from this time period in a while so it caught my attention again. It’s hard to explain, the moves are all extremely intricate yet they are all caught in action beautifully.

The plot of the movie was greatly significant, giving the watcher a story and lesson to hold on to while doing more than just watching intricate Kung Fu moves. What dominates the themes of this film are friendship, perseverance, and discipleship. Watching this movie you will see that hardships are to be endured in order to achieve. Achieving might sometimes seem senseless, however achieving can also take you to an important destination. Though not made easy by the constant attacks from the Sky Hawk clan and the disciplinary rigorous ways of Shaolin, their journey of perseverance pays off. In this case, achieving takes our main characters, Sung Li Ting and Shao Si Yer to develop a friendship and enough will, skill, and strength to protect the ones they love. In the meanwhile, they also learn important lessons of self-control and mercy from the Shaolin monks.

If you are wondering whether Shaolin vs. Lama is worth watching, the answer is yes. Not only will you catch some peculiar fight scenes, you will also learn about outstanding characters… and nasty ones, enjoy a laugh or two, and see what Kung Fu movies were like in the early 80s. More importantly you will get a taste of the hardships Shaolin students learn to overcome, how their will and reliance on each other are sometimes their most precious weapons, above any fighting skill they may or may not posses.

Before we jump into the themes the movie presents, let me give a brief summary of how we meet the main characters throughout the film. Not to get too much into detail, however, when we meet characters for the first time, it says a lot about where their story has the potential of going. There are 5 main characters in this story; Sung Li Ting, Shao Si Yer, Grandmaster, Ms. Hsu, and the despicable Yao Feng Lin.

Moving into the movie itself, it was a good start. The opening scene shows Sung Li Ting’s desire to improve his skill and find a notable teacher. I was going to say from the beginning that his desire was based on an egotistical purpose, however, you will see through the film that Sung Li Ting is actually a humble being to begin with. It seems more that he is truly interested in learning to defend what is his. What leads me to believe this is how well he treats everyone he encounters from the beginning of the film including the headmaster of the school he challenges, how he saves the monk from troubles and treats him to food without a question, how well he accepts defeat from the Grandmaster… instantly bowing to his exemplary skill, and finally how he goes out of his way to help princess Hsu.

In the opening scene Sung Li Ting challenges the master at a Kung Fu school. There’s quite an amount of ground techniques in this initial fight scene, and if you’re into studying each and every move into detail, well… It’s a joyous sight. Sung Li Ting beats the master at the school and then moves on for a walk through the city.

This is where we meet our second most important character in the film, that is Shao Si Yer, who is a student at the Shaolin temple. At this point in the movie though, we don’t know of his monk identity, because he is wearing a disguise. All we see is this comical scene in which Shao Si Yer storms a betting game, blows up some firecrackers, and runs away with the gamblers’ money. This is definitely funny, and it does also remind me of this part I read recently from the Works of Mencius in which one of his students asks him if it’s okay to accept stolen items as gifts. After this, Shao Si Yer runs away, and is chased by the angry gamblers.

After being chased down and evading some of the men chasing him with some of his initial maneuvers and skills we see in the film, the Shao Si Yer meets Sung Li Ting. Sung Li Ting helps out Shao Si Yer (who’s still in disguise) by getting him out of the scuffle. Basically Sung Li Ting gets Shao Si Yer to return the money, or at least a part of it… we don’t ever find out. We then find out that Shao Si Yer is only stealing to get his Grandmaster meat and wine, which is again pretty funny.

Shao Si Yer is quite bothered by Sung Li Ting for intervening, yet, still in disguise, he can’t hide his appreciation for him. Shao Si Yer follows Sung Li Ting around and they end up enjoying a meal together…. A meal which Sung Li Ting buys. At this point Shao Si Yer is still in disguise and learns Sung Li Ting is looking for a master that can beat him in Kung Fu, so that he can learn from such master.

After Sung Li Ting beats the Kung Fu tournament that Shao Si Yer takes him to, we get to see a really funny scene which is when Shao Si Yer reveals his true identity of a Shaolin Monk. In a split second, Shao Si Yer switches to his robes, removes his hat and wig, and we can see he is a Shaolin Monk for the first time in the movie. “I’m a Shaolin monk, who has a grandmaster, who likes his meat, and his wine…” Sung Li Ting does not believe Shao Si Yer a Shaolin Mink. At this point, Shao Si Yer performs a Shaolin form, and reveals to Sung Li Ting that his Greatmaster is better than him.

This is the part where Sung Li Ting and Shao Si Yer travel to the Shaolin monastery with a cut scene; “You son of a b***, stop yelling, here I’am!” exclaims the Grandmaster from atop a tree as the Shao Si Yer shouts around looking for him. The Grandmaster sees Sung Li Ting and starts reprimanding Shao Si Yer for bringing an uninvited guest to the monastery. The Grandmaster greets Sung Li Ting with some Kung Fu moves, and Shao Si Yer explains to the Grandmaster who Sung Li Ting is, a student looking for a new teacher.

This is where Sung Li Ting challenges the Grandmaster, and after the Grandmaster declines, Sung Li Ting accuses the Grandmaster of being afraid, to this the challenge begins and we are met with one of the funner fight scenes the movie provides. To make it short, Sung Li Ting surrenders after having the Grandmaster’s dirty stinking foot stuck in his mouth. Literally. This is also where Sung Li Ting learns the Grandmaster is not looking for any new students and is escorted out of the Grandmaster’s sight by Shao Si Yer. Shao Si Yer however assures Sung Li Ting that he knows a way to get the Grandmaster to accept him as a student.

Yao Feng Lin first appears when he kills everyone at a court. Quite the intro. From the very beginning you learn this guy is ruthless, he daggers one of the people in the court through the ribs as they’re raising a toast. We learn the person Yao Feng Lin stabs is Ms. Hsu’s, the princess’, father, which Yao Feng Lin ends up murdering as the fight continues. Yao Feng Lin, we learn, is the headchief of a ruthless group named the Sky Hawk Gang who is trying to take control over all the other fighting clans. Yao Feng Lin practices Lama Kung Fu, hence the name Shaolin vs. Lama. Yao Feng Lin we also learn that he was once a disciple of the Grandmaster and Shaolin. However, Yao Feng Lin is consumed by greed and steals a scroll from Shaolin. Geez, what a character.

As the meeting is happening when Yao Feng Lin and his Sky Hawk Gang murder everyone at court, the court’s host’s daughter storms out of a backroom yelling “Dad!!”. This is where we meet Ms. Hsu, who comes out of that back room guns blazing with a sword. She joins the fight and tries to help her father and company. However she is not successful, as Yao Feng Lin and his Sky Hawk clan win the fight and leave everyone dead. When Ms. Hsu escapes the palace, she is followed by more Lama Sky Hawk forces and fights them head on, like 1 vs 10… she is incredible. This is where Sung Li Ting meets Ms. Hsu and comes to her aid. The duo takes on their enemies and then retreat to a home or safe place near the monastery where Shao Si Yer studies.

The first act of perseverance we see in the film is Sung Li Ting’s determination to find a Kung Fu teacher that can teach him superior Kung Fu. First he walks into a school and challenges the master at the school. This alone takes enormous determination. As you can imagine, it’s not easy going around walking into schools and challenging masters. The second act of perseverance that we see in this film is when Shao Si Yer seeks to reassure Sung Li Ting that his Grandmaster will take him as a student. This happens after the Grandmaster declines Sung Li Ting to be his student. It shows perseverance from both characters for not taking “no” as an answer and seeking alternatives for the Grandmaster to teach Sung Li Ting Kung Fu.

I had a good laugh right after the Grandmaster comes to their rescue the first time they fight The Sky Hawk gang. Right after the Grandmaster rescues them both by fighting two Sky Hawk members, Shao Si Yer’s first words to the Grandmaster are “does that mean you have decided to take Sung Li Ting as your student?” That was comical, yet underneath the sheath of humor lies Shao Si Yer nature of friendship and perseverance.

To make this short, Shao Si Yer, Sung Li Ting, Ms. Hsu, and the Grandmaster go through a lot in order to beat the Sky Hawk clan. Grandmaster and Ms. Hsu even go as far as losing their own lives.

Shao Si Yer and Sung Li Ting display various acts of friendship throughout the movie. Sung Li Ting is first kind and courageous enough to get Shao Si Yer out of the scuffle after Shao Si Yer steals money from the gamblers and then allows Shao Si Yer to share a meal with him, without asking for a cent. Shao Si Yer returns the acts of friendship by trying to get Sung Li Ting a Kung Fu teacher, even going as far as bringing Sung Li Ting as an uninvited stranger into a Shaolin Monastery. Even after getting reprimanded initially by his Grandmaster, Shao Si Yer assures Sung Li Ting that he can get his Grandmaster to accept him as a teacher.

We can further see Sung Li Ting’s acts of friendship toward Shao Si Yeri when pleading the monastery’s abbots punish him instead of Shao Si Yer. Later on, Sung Li Ting shows more friendliness when he saves The Princess Ms. Hsu from the Sky Hawk gang, and takes her to a safe place where he attends to her wounds. When Sung Li Ting is seeking medicine from Shao Si Yer, we find out Shao Si Yer is being severely reprimanded by the Grandmaster after his unannounced introduction of a stranger, Sung Li Ting, to the Shaolin Monastery. Shao Si Yer’s punishment after the monastery finds out that he’s helping Sung Li Ting is unknown, however it must have been disciplinary. What definitely alleviated Shao Si Yer’s punishment is Sung Li Ting’s display of loyalty and friendship toward Shao Si Yer by pleading the punishment be delivered on him instead of his friend.

Even after all of this happens, when Sung Li Ting shows up to ask for medicine from Shao Si Yer in order to help The Princess Ms. Hsu, Shao Si Yer does not deny him, well he does at first, but after he sees how serious Sung Li Ting is after he sucker punches him in the face, Shao Si Yer decides to help him. I cannot imagine the repercussions of stealing medicine for a man who is banned from the temple and declared as someone to stay away from would bring Shao Si Yer, yet he decides to help Sung Li Ting anyways

Right after we see Shao Si Yer stealing medicine to give to Sung Li Ting, we see them fight the Sky Hawk clan together for the first time.I was going to make a section speaking about discipleship as well, however I’m personally not ready because I have never experienced it myself. However since friendship also relates to caring, I will add this on here. After Sung Li Ting, Shao Si Yer, and Ms. Hsu get cornered by the Sky Hawk clan after the first fight with them, the three of them seem defeated.

“Who taught you Kung Fu anyways? Your master must be an ignorant idiot as well” Says Yao Feng Lin, and in this moment, the Shaolin Grandmaster is watching from atop a tree and says “Who said that? So late at night, this is hardly the time for such ….” I found this moment relieving and inspirational. I hate breaking rules, and I hate upsetting my master. Every time I have done so I have felt horrible inside, for days, weeks, and months. There are moments when you wonder how hopeless one would be without a master.

Even then though, I remember that there is one thing he would never want me to do; and that is quitting. So I never quit. Do I re-adjust my strategy? Do I take the path of less resistance? Yes. I never quit though. So I found this moment awesome, because even though these two guys were breaking the rules in their own foolishness, the Grandmaster was watching over them and came to their aid when needed.

In the end, this movie depicts friendship and perseverance, that’s what it took to defeat the Sky Hawk gang. Perseverance and friendship are paid off and one of the first signs of perseverance paying off is when the Grandmaster accepts Sung Li Ting as his student against all the other abbot’s wishes. This was in my eyes a great scene. It’s nice to see that Shao Si Yer’s and Sung Li Ting’s hard work was recognized by the Grandmaster.

This acceptance by the Grandmaster, plus Shao Si Yer’s perseverance that Buddha teaches us to intervene where there is evil being done, makes the Grand Abbot accept that they must take in Sung Li Ting as a student. Here is a strict reminder about how Buddhism affects Kung Fu. How one must not resort to violence. It’s a clear reminder that violence is indeed not the answer and one must try every possible way before resorting to it. Think about it, imagine if we lived in a world where violence was the answer to every one of our problems, what would be of us then? Pretty much nothing.

Of course then, the acts of perseverance don’t end yet. After Sung Li Ting’s acceptance into Shaolin, Shao Si Yer and Sung Li Ting both undergo rigorous training. Training that will be necessary to beat the Sky Hawk clan. In one of my favorite scenes from the movie, the main character must face that his skills still need refinement, and you can see how much this hurts him. The main character always strikes the audience as a willing person, and one with a strong ego. In this particular scene, when Sung Li Ting is training with Shao Si Yer, his ego gets diminished. He is beaten by the Grandmaster while the grandmaster holds a jug of wine in one hand. He is beaten single handedly, literally. A test of his will to keep going.

After this however, the main character resumes his training rigidly. We see him beat a tree with his bare hands. Right at that moment is where the unthinkable happens and the Sky Hawk chief beats the Grandmaster. And so, we are left with a sad scene. However, the group then resumes its mission to take down the Sky Hawk clan, do right by their people, and avenge their master. Yet another sad moment arrives when Yao Feng Lin takes on Ms. Hsu and another Shaolin monk at the Phoenix temple.

At this point, Sung Li Ting and Shao Si Yer’s lives could not get worse. The Sky Hawk clan has claimed the lives of people they cherish and try to protect. Perseverance, thus why I picked this theme. Even then, when Sung Li Ting is the most anxious to end this feud, he is reminded by the Grand Abbot that he still has training to do. Sung Li Ting resumes his training learning a new powerful technique “Buddha finger” one of the grandmasters is teaching him. I would hate to be in Sung Li Ting’s and Shao Si Yer’s situation. Friend after friend getting killed. At least they still have each other. The importance of having someone to rely on when everything goes south.

Then toward the end when they face the Sky Hawk clan for one last time, their perseverance has paid off, not only that, we also see how Shaolin’s beliefs are instilled into the people who allow for them to be. After all the trauma and pain the Sly Hawk chief, Yao Feng Lin, has inflicted upon our main characters, Sung Li Ting comes real close to ending Yao Feng Lin’s life, only breaking his leg in half, almost stepping on his throat. It is a belief that people’s lives’ are not another man’s to take, only heaven may smite a man. And so, Sung Li Ting’s perseverance has paid off, in a big way. Not only is his Kung Fu 100x better, he learned a true lesson. That level of self control, to not smite a man when he has taken so much from you, that is Buddha’s way. I pray, even for those who’ve caused harm to me.

“Why don’t you just kill me?!?” This is a vital scene to the teachings of Buddha, a man’s life is only Heaven’s to take. One could completely obliterate the enemy, however, Buddha teaches us that there is always redemption. This scene does a great job at explaining that.

This one for me is a no brainer. Grandmaster humbles Sung Li Ting when the main character thought he was getting to expert mode. Sung Li Ting was showing off by attacking Shao Si Yer in the middle of a dril then he gets shot down by Grandmaster while Grandmaster sips on his wine with one hand. Marvelous.

This scene is one of the first humbling experiences throughout the movie that Sung Li Ting’s experiences, not only does he lose the fight, he also ends up with the Grandmaster’s dirty foot stuck in his mouth.