Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster

Perhaps it's cheating having Netflix and some time to myself because I was able to watch the second movie, Ip Man 2. If you enjoy boxing movies, this one is right up your alley. See, while the first one cast those vile Japanese as the ultimate villains, when they are overcome and Ip Man has moved to Hong Kong, who's the foreign devil now? Why, the British of course!

In terms of casting a nemesis, there are a few ways to do it. Some of the most common involve creating someone who is equal to the character, built along similar lines as the character. For Ip Man, this often means fighting martial artist who are masters of their trade and craft. They may dress similar, may have similar builds and may have their own outlooks and attitudes that aren't that different from the main character.

In others, they go the exact opposite. For example, Superman, the alien, the man from tomorrow, the individual with incredible innate powers, has a normal human as his main enemy; Lex Luthor. While its obviously more complicated then that, as Lex uses high tech equipment and henchmen and other bits to make himself Superman's physical equal, the idea, that the native born, Earth first, Lex Luthor, could ever stand up to someone like Superman, is where the contrast comes in.

In a similar manner, when Twister, the world champion British Boxer is introduced here, he is an excellent study in contrast. The actor sports a massive build, impressive height, and a wild mane of hair. His outfit, that of the traditional boxer, showcases this musculature, while Ip Man and other martial artist, often wear lose fitting garb. There might also be an age difference going on here, but it's difficult for me to say. I mention this because Ip Man mentions his age as a factor in the decline of martial abilities.

In making foes for the characters, try to keep the differences, as well as the potential similarities in mind. The drow against the elves, the derro against the dwarves, the tielflings and the devas. The lists go on and on.

Another thing that struck me, was the quick use of rivals turned allies here. The first master to perhaps be able to challenge Ip Man, Hung Chun-nam, uses a different style but the two come together when they realize that their own differences are petty when compared to the threat against all Chinese Martial Arts from the British.

Does that sound familiar? How about Rocky IV? How about most of the heroes of Dragonball Z, who originally started off as enemies of Goku ranging from Vegeta to Piccolo to Yamcha to Tien Shinhan.

In role playing games though, this can be a difficult feat not because its not something to look into, but rather, because unless you're playing something like a martial arts tournament, or something like a Super Hero setting, most fantasy combats don't stop until the death of one character or the other. This is another problem when trying to have recurring characters that are meant to challenge the players outside of the realm of politics and the social arena.

Ip Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster is well worth a viewing for those who enjoy the fight scenes.

LP Man

I am way behind the times when it concerns movies, even action packed movies of the Kung Fu style that I so enjoy. For example, my friends have been telling me about LP Man for many moons. They've been telling me about it for so long that it already has a sequel.

In some ways, LP Man uses a lot of the old tricks that come up in many forms of media, including animation and super hero comics.

Showcasing the villain's strength is done through showcasing the villain defeat another opponent that has some establishment as a powerful figure. This one happens in anime like Dragon Ball Z all the time, but it also happens in comics. Usually in comics, some modifcation is made to another villain to bring them out of their C list status and people think, "wow, this guy is awesome now" but alas, it's all a trick to showcase how dreadful the person who takes out the C lister is.

In other aspects, it reminded me of the movie, Cinderella Man. Here, two champions of hand to hand combat, who are hailed for being some of the best, if not the best in their field, find out that regardless of personal strength, regardless of personal holdings, that the events of the world can bypass all of those benefits.

In the case of Cinderella Man, it's a fall of the stock markets that destroys all of his personal wealth. In LP Man's instance, it's an invasion of his home country by Japan. Both men discover that they have hidden reservers and that their value on family is important as they are forced to take jobs that pay for food and shelter. Something like this might be hard to acheive in a role playing session for a number of reasons.

First off, and this is all just in my experience of course, players don't often like to be tied down to the setting with a wife and children. Second off, players would rather take deseperate chances and gambles because  the characters can be replaced. If you have players who are interested in these fields though, in these tests and trials, don't be afraid to use them. After all, in GURPS and Hero, those DNPC (dependent NPC) are providing points to the player for a reason.

LP Man also provides some nice contrast in terms of the foes he faces. For instance, in the occupying army, the enemy general is fairly honorable. When he makes a promise, he delivers on it. He is also shown as being a formidable enemy. On the other hand, his aide is a perfect example of a scheming weasel who will stop at nothing to ensure that no disgrace hits the Rising Sun flags of Japan regardless of how vile or petty it is. On the other hand, there are divisions within the people of China itself. The northern people practice a different style of martial art and seek to proof their superiority. When that fails and the country is occupied, they then become bandits.

The ravages of war make strange bedfellows of your enemies. Those who you may simply have not gotten along with in the past, may become your staunchest allies or they may seek to use the upheaveal for their own benefit and bring about your downfall. It is often the doom of a people that regardless of the horror being inflected upon them, that they cannot pull together as a single people with a single purpose and overcome adversity. There will always be opportunist and cowards who seek only to augment their own forces or merely provide for their own survival.

LP Man packs in numerous action scenes and anyone playing a Monk in any edition of Dungeons and Dragons, should give it a view.