Bullet Points: My 12 Kung Fu Kicks

Real talk… when it comes to being a Bruce Lee clone, Bruce Leung leaves a lot to be desired. If you asked fans of the Bruceploitation genre who their favorite Bruce Lee clone was you are going to get one of three answers… Bruce Li, Dragon Lee or Bruce Le. There’s no way anybody is picking Bruce Leung as their favorite clone. 

But after watching 1979’s My 12 Kung Fu Kicks, I found that if you let Bruce Leung do his own thing and take him out of the Bruceploitation world, you have yourself a dynamite action star. Leung could probably be more fairly compared to Jackie Chan thanks to his ability to mix humor and action into his performance. 

• The Odd Couple: Ta Pien (Bruce Leung) and Wu (Ku Feng) are roommates who live in an abandoned temple and they couldn’t be more different. Ta Pien is young and impetuous with a piss poor work ethic. Wu is wiser and mature. Wu works as a rickshaw driver, actually earning a living and not getting by as a pick pocket like his roommate Ta Pien. But it is Ta Pien’s pick pocketing that starts the chain reaction of events in My 12 Kung Fu Kicks…

• Pick You Poison: Ta Pien gets himself jammed up when he unwittingly picks the pocket of the local casino owner… when the gambling guru realizes what has happened, he and his bodyguard kick the crap out of Ta Pien while most of the town watches on… when the beatdown is over a battered Ta Pien is left laying in the street as everyone goes about their business, everyone except the goofy looking Ai Chi (Han Kwok-Choi). Ta Pien and Ai Chi become fast friends and when Ta Pien expresses his interest in getting revenge on the casino owner, Ai Chi tells him about a school nearby that is run by three kung fu masters… 

• Master of Disaster: When Ta Pien and Ai Chi go over to the school to talk to the three masters, they witness Ta Pien’s would be teachers  getting destroyed by a new evil force in town, Master Kwai (Lee Hoi-Sang)! Kwai, master of the iron skin technique, seems almost invincible as he systematically dismantles his three opponents… breaking legs, poking out eyes, etc. Ta Pien and Ai Chi take the wounded martial arts instructors back to the abandoned temple Ta Pien calls home, there the three masters will be safe and have time to heal. 

• Revenge by Proxy: The three masters are so thankful for what Ta Pien did for them, they decide to impart all their fighting knowledge to him, so he can eventually take down Master Kwai… this seemed like a bad idea from the start. These three skilled masters could not defeat Kwai with the odds in their favor, how is one guy supposed to take down Kwai!? This is something Ta Pien’s roomie, Wu, happily points out… because when Wu wasn’t driving his rickshaw, he spent his free time busting Ta Pien’s balls at every available opportunity.  But to Wu’s credit he isn’t one of those people who shits on an idea while not having a better one to replace it… Wu reveals that he is a master of Tan Tui, the ultimate martial art technique AND the ONLY technique that can defeat Kwai’s iron skin. Next thing you know, Sifu Wu is out of retirement… 

The third act of My 12 Kung Fu Kicks has everything a chopsocky fan could want… There are some quality training montages (that include paper punching and cotton kicking)… There is plenty of humor filled interaction between Ta Pien and Sifu Wu, with Ta Pien slowly but surely earning Wu’s respect and proving he is not the good for nothing guy Wu perceived him to be… And last but not least, the final confrontation between Ta Pien and Master Kwai! 

My 12 Kung Fu Kicks will forever be known as the movie that made me a true blue Bruce Leung fan… this one was a fun one to watch and Leung’s character development and amiable personality are the main reason.

Now check out My 3 Bonus Bullet Points…  

• AKA: My 12 Kung Fu Kicks is also known as My Kung Fu 12 Kicks and Twelve Kung Fu Kicks. The movie was released as Incredible Master Beggars in Italy. 
• If You Ever: …wanted to see Bruce Leung piss in a guy’s mouth, then this is the movie for you. 
• Reunited: Bruce Leung and Ku Feng also worked together in the Bruce Li flick, Bruce Against Iron Hand.