Sing, however, clings to the old ways. He believes Shaolin Kung Fu can save the world. Or, at the very least, make it spin a little faster.
When Sing demonstrates a bicycle kick to retrieve a stray tin can—spinning so fast he creates a miniature dust devil—Fung doesn't see a monk. He sees a goal. A weapon.
But that is a story for End of Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 2, where we break down the physics of the "Banana Ball" and the emotional gut-punch of the penalty shootout. shaolin soccer part 1
And Sing, good-hearted, naive Sing, destroys the wall.
His first attempt? Street performance. It fails. His second? Teaching martial arts to overweight teenagers. That also fails. He is broke, starving, and standing on a crowded bus when fate—disguised as a bitter, has-been soccer player named "Golden Leg" Fung (Ng Man-tat)—intervenes. Sing, however, clings to the old ways
By Master Jin, Guest Columnist for Kung Fu Cinema Quarterly
Twenty years ago, a film premiered that broke more than just the box office. It broke the laws of physics, shattered the conventions of sports dramas, and introduced the world to a concept so absurd it could only be genius: combining the spiritual discipline of Shaolin Kung Fu with the sweaty, muddy, tactical warfare of professional football. When Sing demonstrates a bicycle kick to retrieve
The film opens not with a roaring stadium, but with a whisper. "The Sixth Brother," known simply as Sing (Stephen Chow), walks out of the Shaolin Monastery after decades of training. His five brothers have dispersed into the mundane world: one works as a janitor, another as a line cook, one as a toilet attendant. They have traded their Qi for quiet desperation.
We are, of course, talking about the 2001 cult masterpiece Shaolin Six —better known to Western audiences as Shaolin Soccer .
Fung is a wreck. Once the most accurate striker in Hong Kong, he was betrayed by his protégé, the villainous Team Evil captain, Hung. His knee was shattered. His career ended. Now he limps through life, drowning in cheap tea and regret.