Embarrassing question..."Black Sash"

[Mormegil]

I'm not much of a fan of these stupid WB teeny-bopper shows, but I saw a commercial for one premiering tonight about a martial arts school.

"Black Sash" starring Russell Wong. Anybody know anything about this? What styles may be employed? Etc?

 

[Matt Stone]

He plays, of all things, a Bagua teacher! Bagua has finally gone Prime Time!

Next thing you know, though, will be hordes of mini-mall Bagua schools claiming to teach "Black Sash Bagua."

God forbid...

Gambarimasu.
:asian: :tank: :asian:

 

[Kingston]

Ba Gua!!

lol, from what i hear its a pretty effective martial art. It would be sad to see it go the way of TKD or Karate strip mall mcdojo's

it will be intresting to see how much of bagua accualy translates into those flashy fights seen. from my limited knowledge im not aware of many bagua "masters" that live in north america (of cource i could just be missinterpreting my limited knowledge about bagua), i wonder what type of training the actors or fight co-ordinators went through while preparing for this show.

 

[michaeledward]

I'm still a rookie in Martial Arts. I always liked the mind and spirit parts of what I knew of martial arts. I was much less interested in the body part of the equation. <eating humble pie now>

After watching my step daughter train for a couple of years, I figure I should probably get off my butt. Two years later, I am studying much of the 'body'.

So, earlier today, I see the previews for this show ... I get pretty excited about it.

Well, obviously, this show is about the 'body' part .. how many things can be hit .. and how hard. Of course, very few of the students where I study have bodies like those students in Black Sash - entirely too many nose jobs and boob jobs in people that young.

It would be nice to see something a bit more toned down.

I'll be back next week ... and if the show is still around, I'll probably watch 3 weeks out.

Mike

 

[Kirk]

I liked it!

 

[Michael Billings]

Walking the circle brought back old memories. I still use some of it sparring. No need to worry about it being common like TKD, there are just not that many qualified instructors around. But there are some, usually affiliated with a Kung Fu school.

Way Cool,
-Michael

 

[Mormegil]

LMAO! The Cobra Kai guy from Karate Kid is in this, playing the abusive father! Too bad they didn't have him say anything about no mercy to the enemy!

 

[Kenpo Wolf]

I went into the show expecting to be dissapointed but I'm happy to say that I was mildly pleased. I don't think it's the best show on tv but it has my attention

Originally posted by Mormegil
LMAO! The Cobra Kai guy from Karate Kid is in this, playing the abusive father! Too bad they didn't have him say anything about no mercy to the enemy!

That was Richard Tyson, who worked in a lot of B movies, and he never was on one of the Karate Kid movies if that was what you're referring to

Edit
I just checked out the Karate Kid entry over at IMDB and the guy you're thinking is named Martin Kove

 

[cali_tkdbruin]

Originally posted by Kingston


lol, from what i hear its a pretty effective martial art. It would be sad to see it go the way of TKD or Karate strip mall mcdojo's

Like Rodney Dangerfield, we TKD practitioners never get respect. :shrug:

BTW, in case you hadn't heard not all of us practitioners train in Mc Dojangs... :mst:

 

[Matt Stone]

I really liked it. Hell, even my wife liked it, and she criticizes nearly every martial arts flick I watch... Except Jet Li stuff, but I think she has a crush on him...

Now we all have to hope and pray that the ratings are high enough to keep in on the air.

Gambarimasu.
:asian: :tank: :asian:

 

[chufeng]

You and Jet are spitting images of each other
chufeng

 

[brianhunter]

I really enjoyed it! I seldom find a show that myself, my wife, and my daughter can all sit down and enjoy. We all had a good time. If you go into something being a critic youll criticize...If you expect to have some decent martial arts fun with a little bit of drama I enjoyed it. Ill definately watch it again.

 

[Datu Tim Hartman]

:asian:

 

[streetwise]

I liked it. It is a silly show, not exactly great art, but it's fun and it has martial arts! They are even making some effort to put in some BaGua in the fight scenes, though I would love to do some of the fight choreography and make the fights all BaGua.

 

[Zepp]

Ok, I just saw the third episode of Black Sash tonight, so I figure it's time to ask this. For those of you who know something about Bagua or arts like it: How accurate is the Bagua in the show? Are the little snippets of training in the dojo that they portray anything like what any of you do?

Just curious. :asian:

I was kinda impressed when I noticed those tiger(?) hook swords on the wall in the backround of that one scene. Aren't those just the nastiest looking weapons?

 

[brianhunter]

This week had a lot more fighting in it, Im still enjoying it, besides having a hottie who can fight and ride a bike doesnt hurt it in my opinion one bit

 

[streetwise]

I am still watching, not a bad show. The BaGua training in th eKwoon is not bad, considering that you have to entertain the non-martial artist audience as well. Wish he would correct posture a little more, but hey it is a tv show!

 

[Crazy Chihuahua]

the fight scenes were mix and match, some i liked, some were hokey. from a dramatic standpoint however, it's a terrible show. they try to cram too many plots into a single episode, so none of them get developed at all. oh well, it's brain numbing time filler, so, we need some of that.

 

[YiLiJingLei]

Hi, folks,
I've heard rumors that the WB is cancelling Black
Sash. When I checked the WB website, I found the Black
Sash page had been deleted, and a rerun of an old
Charmed episode being slated instead this coming Sunday. What a disappointment.

While I enjoy the show, and I'm hoping that the series lasts, I feel like I'm rooting for an underdog. It's great to see the martail art I study on TV. Although my standards are high, and some of what they are doing on the show is technically a bit hollow/shallow, I'm grateful that they don't use goofy, overdone, tired flying-on-wires stunts!! Also, Black Sash is MUCH better than David Carradine pretending to be Chinese, and a martial arts master on top of that from the old "Kung Fu" series...

So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping the home team can survive the 6 episode trial they're signed to, but it looks like the WB has dropped the show after only the 4th episode has been aired?!? I hope they would at least try to air the show in a different time-slot before deciding to cancel it.

Even though no one on the show looked like masters performing, I feel it's realistic and a good thing that they aren't all bagua super-freaks. While there was a bit too much contemporary-wushu-flash-&-trash/posing for me, I realize it's TV, and glitz sells. Also, while it is traditinal Bagua someone is showing the actors, and thier
execution isn't perfect, I've seen "famous" instructors in person look worse. I've been looking forward to seeing the characters/actors
continue to improve...but if the show's already cancelled, what
a let down.

I do like some of the character development going on progressively on the show, and the emphasis on Wu-De (martial morality) is very refreshing. There's definately some potential, but to be fair, they are promoting Bagua & martial arts in general in a positive light, and they are making an honest effort. The show is a lot better than other popular programming on TV, so I'm asking anyone that is interested to email the programming contact at the WB, [email protected] , and ask them please don't drop Black Sash without giving the show an honest chance.

Sincerely,
Dennis Mace
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChengShiBaguaHui/
Seattle, WA
http://www.chengshibaguazhang.com/

 

[brianhunter]

I searched their website and I found nothing about it being cancelled but I did find this in a press release about the ratings improving because of it;

"BLACK SASH," "CHARMED," "THE JAMIE KENNEDY EXPERIMENT," "REBA" AND "GROUNDED FOR LIFE" ALL SHINE FOR THE WB, WHICH ACHIEVES GROWTH FOR THE WEEK AND SEASON COMPARED TO THE LAST SEASON
RATINGS HIGHLIGHTS National Highlights - Sunday, March 30, 2003

The premiere of BLACK SASH secured significant growth in the hour vs. the equivalent night a year ago, despite having to air against the theatrical martial arts film "Shanghai Noon" on CBS. Nevertheless, BLACK SASH defeated CBS in its time period across the 12-34 and teens demos, as well as adults 18-34 and women 18-34. The new drama improved the time period compared to the parallel week last year +46% in persons 12-34 (1.9/5), +64% in women 12-34 (2.3/6), +17% in men 12-34 (1.4/4), +50% in adults 18-34 (1.8/5), +85% in women 18-34 (2.4/6), +64% in adults 18-49 (1.8/4), +122% in women 18-49 (2.0/5) and +25% in men 18-49 (1.5/3). BLACK SASH averaged 4.1 million viewers for the hour, improving +53% over the parallel night a year ago

This was dated April 1st as a press release