The Martial Artist

It is easy to lose sight of the spiritual aspect of martial arts in a steel cage. Consequently, when an up-and-coming MMA fighter loses his way, he must reconnect with his heritage and the transcendent spirit of martial arts practice to regain his mojo. Of course, nobody wants to watch a long meditation session, but a few seconds can help round out a training montage. Regardless, Ibby “The Prince” Barkan’s path to MMA glory takes a detour through the mountains of Pakistan in Shaz Khan’s The Martial Artist, which had its release bumped to April 4th.

After years of training and many questionably sanctioned matches, Barkan finally signs with a major mixed martial arts promoter. However, he lets success go to his head, before he fully attains it. He starts drinking, partying, and making enemies. Soon, the violence of his needless grudges spills-over onto his family. Barkan’s resulting guilt, compounds his anger, leading to a self-destructive cycle.

To save Barkan from his demons, his mother sends him to Pakistan, to learn about his late father from the Dada, the grandfather he never met. Nestled in the rugged mountains, Dada’s retreat trains disciples to be warriors, both physically and spiritually. It is exactly the kind of discipline Barkan needs, but he must come to that realization for himself, before he can reap the benefits of Dada’s teachings.

Although Khan emphasizes the loftier ideas underpinning martials arts, as the director, co-screenwriter, and star, he often showcases the practice at its most brutal. Much of the action consists of gritty, no-holds-barred street-fighting. Barkan’s two MMA showcases are impressively staged, against strikingly cinematic backdrops, while still featuring absolutely ferocious fight choreography.

Indeed, the fight scenes are far and away the best aspect of The Martial Artist. In contrast, the family melodrama is clunky and cliched. Frankly, some business with Barkan’s brother-trainer Ali will elicits groans from many viewers. Admittedly, Barkan’s quest for re-centering also travels a well-trod thematic path, but it is nicely executed and the Pakistani setting adds a distinctive vibe.

Catching Lightning, on Showtime

How was MMA cage-fighter Lee “Lightning” Murray a lot like George Soros? They both nearly broke the Bank of England. At least Murray wasn’t trying to do so. His gang just stole a princely amount of cash from one of the BoE’s private currency depots, purely for the sake of the money. Yet, the takings and the resulting closure of the Securitas facility took so much cash out of the economy, it put a system-threatening strain on the BoE. In fact, it remains the largest cash robbery in British history and one still one of the world’s biggest hard currency heists ever. The irony-laden true-crime sports story unfolds in director Pat Kondelis’s four-part documentary, Catching Lightning, which starts streaming on Showtime tomorrow.

As Elia Kazan would say, Lee Murray could have been a contender. He was nicknamed Lightning because his fists were dangerously fast. He would have been the UFC’s first international breakout star were it not for his visa problems. Even Brazilian champion Anderson Silva speaks highly of his skills, as one of the docuseries’ onscreen commentators.

However, cage fighting was not Murray’s only line of work. He still served as an active member of the Buttmarsh Boys gang, which is how he came to know the shady characters involved in the Securitas depot robbery in quiet Kent, England. It was not a caper in the gentlemanly Raffles/Rififi tradition. It involved the kidnapping of a shift-manager’s wife and young son as well as holding about a dozen depot employees at gunpoint, which is probably why Murray and his accomplices have yet to become folk heroes, like Murf the Surf.

Murray also is not super-available for interviews, but Catching Lightning incorporates previously unheard prison recordings of Murray, wherein he tries to finally speak for himself. Do not make assumptions regarding those prison tapes, because the Kent police’s mission to bring Murray to justice took on some wild legal and jurisdictional twists.

A four-parter chronicling the Securitas heist might sound like overkill (especially since the concluding episode is well over one and a quarter hours long), but Kondelis and company make surprisingly economical use of viewers’ time. The first part establishes Murray’s rise and fall in the MMA world, including his notorious street brawl with then-champion Tito Ortiz. The second part provides a step-by-step account of the hostage-taking and robbery, the third follows the investigation, and the capper covers the prosecutions, which is probably where the greatest ironies come into play.

Fuel-TV Goes Jeet Kune Do: Bruce Lee Lives!

He was an icon of cool who could take out a brawling gang of dozens. The continuing fascination with the life and teachings of Bruce Lee eclipses James Dean’s cult following and rivals that of Charlie Parker for the mystical devotion they inspired. Continuing their commitment to cinematic martial arts begun with Late Night Kung Fu, Fuel-TV examines the man and his legacy through the eyes of his admirers in the six-part Bruce Lee Lives!, which kicks off this Wednesday.

As a home of mixed martial arts (MMA) and extreme sports, Fuel TV draws on many of their up-and-coming competitors for commentary. However, this is quite apt in the case of MMA, considering Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do is considered the original form of pragmatically selected mixed martial arts disciplines, as Lives! lucidly explains. Kenny Florian, the only fighter to compete in four of the UFC’s seven weight divisions, is particularly eloquent describing Lee as a personal source of motivation and a continuing influence for most of his colleagues. The BMX’ers and the like might not be of as much interest to Lee’s followers or his film fans, but everyone is entitled to take inspiration from Bruce Lee.

Perhaps the best sequences of the first episode feature his god-daughter Diana Inosanto, who convincingly positions Lee as a pioneer of independent filmmaking as well as a martial arts innovator. In fact, his self-produced Hong Kong films arguably blazed a trail for current HK action auteurs and festival favorites, like Wong Kar-wai and Johnnie To. Not surprisingly, Lives! will spur many viewers to revisit Lee’s signature films as well as the surprisingly good bio-drama Dragon: the Bruce Lee Story, whose director Rob Cohen also appears as a talking head.

At least in its first episode, Bruce Lee Lives’ combination of action-driven clips, colorful anecdotes, and caffeinated attitude is pretty compulsively watchable. Of course, it is ultimately due to the charisma and mystical significance of its subject. Frankly, the series would be perfect weekend afternoon hangover TV, but for now, it airs Wednesday nights at 10:00 PM EST, starting this week (7/13) on Fuel-TV.