''Gun fu'', a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsgun'' and ''

kung fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to commo ...

'' (also known as gun kata, bullet ballet, and gymnastic gunplay), is a style of sophisticated close-quarters gunfight resembling a

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

battle that combines

firearms A firearm is any type of gun designed to be readily carried and used by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see Legal definitions). The first firearms originated in 10th-century China, when bamboo tubes ...

with

hand-to-hand combat Hand-to-hand combat (sometimes abbreviated as HTH or H2H) is a physical confrontation between two or more persons at short range (grappling distance or within the physical reach of a handheld weapon) that does not involve the use of weapons.Hun ...

and traditional

melee weapon A melee weapon, hand weapon or close combat weapon is any handheld weapon used in hand-to-hand combat, i.e. for use within the direct physical reach of the weapon itself, essentially functioning as an additional (and more impactful) extension of th ...

s in an approximately 50/50 ratio. It can be seen in

Hong Kong action cinema Hong Kong action cinema is the principal source of the Hong Kong film industry's global fame. Action films from Hong Kong have roots in Chinese culture, Chinese and Culture of Hong Kong, Hong Kong cultures including Chinese opera, storytelling an ...

, and in American

action films Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

influenced by it. The focus of ''gun fu'' is both artistic style and the usage of firearms in ways that they were not designed to be used. Shooting a gun from each hand (usually paired with jumping to the side at the same time),

dual wield Dual wielding is the technique of using two weapons, one in each hand for training or combat. It is not a common combat practice. Although historical records of dual wielding in war are limited, there are numerous Martial arts#Variation and scope, ...

ing, shots from behind the back, as well as the use of guns as melee weapons (usually

knife fight A knife fight is a violent physical confrontation between two or more combatants in which one or more participants is armed with a knife.MacYoung, Marc, ''Winning A Street Knife Fight'', (Digital format, 70 min.), Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, (J ...

s) are all common. Other moves can involve

submachine gun A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed, automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an autom ...

s, assault rifles,

combat shotgun A combat shotgun is a shotgun issued by militaries for warfare. The earliest shotguns specifically designed for combat were the trench guns or trench shotguns issued in World War I. While limited in range, the multiple projectiles typically ...

rocket launchers A rocket launcher is a weapon that launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile. History The earliest rocket launchers documented in imperial China consisted of arrows modified by the attachment of a rocket motor to the shaft a few in ...

, and just about anything else that can be worked into a cinematic shot. It is often mixed with

grappling Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a position or causing injury. Grappling ...

maneuvers. ''Gun fu'' has become a staple of modern action films due to its visual spectacle, a result of often impressive

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

and

stunt A stunt is an unusual and difficult physical feat or an act requiring a special skill, performed for artistic purposes usually on television, theaters, or cinema. Stunts are a feature of many action films. Before computer generated imagery sp ...

work, regardless of its unrealistic elements when compared to real-life gun warfare.

Hong Kong origins

As the name suggests, gun fu has roots in

martial arts films Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature numerous martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expres ...

from

, including ''

wuxia ( ), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. Although is traditionally a form of historical fiction, its popularity has caused it to be adapted ...

'' films and

kung fu films Kung fu film () is a subgenre of martial arts films and Hong Kong action cinema set in the contemporary period and featuring realistic martial arts. It lacks the fantasy elements seen in ''wuxia'', a related martial arts genre that uses historical ...

from the likes of

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines th ...

and

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

. These films typically involved

martial artists Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

fighting large numbers of enemies in stylized choreographed action set-pieces, with a fighting style that lay somewhere between

brawling Brawl or Brawling may refer to: * Brawl, a large-scale fist fight usually involving multiple participants *''Brawl Stars'', a game desarrollated by Supercell, created at 2018 * Brawl, Scotland, a crofting community on the north coast of Scotland * ...

and

dancing Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

. Hong Kong filmmaker

John Woo John Woo Yu-Sen SBS (; born September 22, 1946) is a Hong Kong filmmaker, known as a highly-influential figure in the action film genre. He was a pioneer of heroic bloodshed films (a crime action film genre involving Chinese triads) and the gun ...

, who began his career directing martial arts films, took the martial arts style of action and added

guns A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, ...

, combining the elegance and precision of

with the brutality and violence of

gangster films A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...

. John Woo originated the style that would later be called ''gun fu'' in the 1986 Hong Kong action film ''

A Better Tomorrow ''A Better Tomorrow'' () is a 1986 Hong Kong crime action film directed and co-written by John Woo, and starring Ti Lung, Leslie Cheung and Chow Yun-fat. The film had a profound influence on Hong Kong action cinema, and has been recognised as ...

''. The film launched the "

heroic bloodshed Heroic bloodshed is a genre invented by Hong Kong action cinema revolving around stylized action sequences and dramatic themes such as brotherhood, duty, honour, redemption and violence that has become a popular genre used by different directors wo ...

" genre in Hong Kong, and ''gun fu'' action sequences became a regular feature in many of the subsequent heroic bloodshed films, which combined the elegance and precision of kung fu with the brutality and violence of gangster movies. John Woo continued to make several classic heroic bloodshed films, all featuring gun fu, and all starring leading man

Chow Yun-fat Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor. He is perhaps best known for his collaborations with filmmaker John Woo in the five Hong Kong action heroic bloodshed films: '' A Better Tomorrow'', '' A ...

. Anthony Leong wrote of the gunfights in ''A Better Tomorrow'',

Stephen Hunter Stephen Hunter (born March 25, 1946, Kansas City, Missouri) is an American novelist, essayist, and film critic. Life and career Hunter was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and grew up in Evanston, Illinois. His father was Charles Francis Hunter, ...

, writing in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

'' wrote, Other Hong Kong directors also began using gun fu sequences in films that were not strictly heroic bloodshed films, such as

Wong Jing Wong Jing ( born 3 May 1955) is a Hong Kong film director, Film producer, producer, actor, News presenter, presenter, and screenwriter. A prolific filmmaker with strong instincts for crowd-pleasing and publicity, Wong Jing played a prominent ...

's ''

God of Gamblers ''God of Gamblers'' (; lit. ''God of Gambling'') is a 1989 Hong Kong action comedy-drama film written and directed by Wong Jing featuring an all-star cast led by Chow Yun-fat, Andy Lau, Joey Wong and Sharla Cheung. Plot Ko Chun is a world-fa ...

'' (1989) and its sequel ''

God of Gamblers Returns ''God of Gamblers Returns'' (), also known as ''God of Gamblers' Return'' and ''The Return of the God of Gamblers '', is a 1994 Hong Kong action-drama-comedy film written and directed by Wong Jing. It starred Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Ka-fai, Sh ...

'' (1994). There were several heroic bloodshed films that did not feature gun fu, but opted for more realistic combat, such as

Ringo Lam Ringo Lam Ling-Tung (, Cantonese: Lam Ling-tung, 8 December 1955 – 29 December 2018) was a Hong Kong film director, producer, and screenwriter. Born in Hong Kong in 1955, Lam initially went to acting school. After finding he preferred making f ...

's '' City on Fire'' (1987).

Spread to the United States

The popularity of

films, and the heroic bloodshed genre in general, in the U.S. helped give the gun fu style greater visibility. The success of ''

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in ''The Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantolia ...

'' helped to popularize and develop the style in the U.S. One classic gun fu move consists of reloading two

pistol A pistol is a handgun, more specifically one with the chamber integral to its gun barrel, though in common usage the two terms are often used interchangeably. The English word was introduced in , when early handguns were produced in Europe, a ...

s simultaneously by releasing the empty

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s, pointing the guns to the ground, dropping two fresh magazines out of one's jacket sleeves, or strapped to one's legs, into the guns, and then carrying on shooting. In '' Equilibrium'' (2002) the law enforcement responsible for handling "Sense Crime" are trained in ''gun kata'' to gain an advantage in their raids on armed opponents. In the film '' Bulletproof Monk'' (2003), The Monk With No Name (portrayed by

) empties two pistols, ejects the magazines and spins to kick the empty magazines at his assailants. This was parodied in an episode of ''

Brooklyn Nine-Nine ''Brooklyn Nine-Nine'' is an American police procedural comedy television series that aired on Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight seasons and 153 episodes. Created by Da ...

'' (Season 1, Episode 19 "Tactical Village"). The style is also featured (albeit in a small way and with the assistance of gadgets) in the '' Lara Croft: Tomb Raider'' movies. In ''

Wanted Wanted may refer to: Law enforcement * Fugitive, a person wanted by the authorities * Wanted poster, a poster put up to inform the public of one or more criminals whom authorities wish to apprehend Film * ''Wanted!'', a 1937 British comedy film ...

'' (2008), assassins belonging to The Fraternity possess the skill of "bending" bullets around obstacles; in a gunfight early in the film, one assassin knocks another bullet out of the air with his own round. In '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2009),

Agent Zero David North (Christoph Nord) is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He was originally known as Maverick, and more recently as Agent Zero. The character first appeared in ''X-Men'' #5 and was created by writ ...

(

Daniel Henney Daniel Phillip Henney (born November 28, 1979) is an American actor and model. He first came into international prominence with his television debut as Dr. Henry Kim on the Korean drama '' My Lovely Sam Soon'' (2005). He has gone on to star in ...

) reloads his handguns by throwing them into the air and catching them with the magazines he's holding in his hands. In the 2010 film '' Kick-Ass'', the character

Hit Girl Hit-Girl (Mindy McCreadySpelled Macready in the films.) is a fictional antihero appearing in the comic series '' Kick-Ass: The Dave Lizewski Years'' series, published by Marvel Comics under the company's imprint Icon Comics and later Image Comi ...

, played by

Chloë Grace Moretz Chloë Grace Moretz (; born February 10, 1997) is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including four MTV Movie & TV Awards, two People's Choice Awards, two Saturn Awards, and two Young Artist Awards. She began acti ...

, frequently uses gun fu. In the 2012 film ''

Django Unchained ''Django Unchained'' () is a 2012 American revisionist Western film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Walton Goggins, Dennis C ...

'', the climactic shootout in Candieland is inspired by John Woo, replicating scenes from '' The Killer'' shot-by-shot. The 2013 '' G.I. Joe: Retaliation'' also featured gun fu in the climactic fight between

Roadblock A roadblock is a temporary installation set up to control or block traffic along a road. The reasons for one could be: *Roadworks *Temporary road closure during special events *Police chase *Robbery * Sobriety checkpoint In peaceful circumstances ...

and

Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...

. Gun fu is also heavily featured in the ''

John Wick ''John Wick'' is an American action thriller media franchise created by Derek Kolstad and centering around John Wick, a former hitman who is forced back into the criminal underworld he had abandoned. The franchise began with the release of '' ...

'' franchise, as well as the 2015 film '' Kingsman: The Secret Service''. A gun fu sequence involving Chris Redfield and Glenn Arias is also featured in the 2017 CGI film '' Resident Evil: Vendetta''. Although produced in Japan, the ''Resident Evil'' franchise takes the majority of its inspiration from American horror and action cinema.

Other media

Video games

Video games, particularly in the

shooter Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles can ...

and

shoot 'em up Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs ) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charac ...

genres, have implemented gun fu-like gameplay. Below are some examples of video games and video game series which have been specifically compared to or described as gun fu: * The "

bullet time Bullet time (also known as frozen moment, dead time, flow motion or time slice) is a visual effect or visual impression of detaching the time and space of a camera (or viewer) from those of its visible subject. It is a depth enhanced simulation of ...

" gameplay of the ''

Max Payne ''Max Payne'' is a neo-noir third-person shooter video game series developed by Remedy Entertainment (''Max Payne'' and ''Max Payne 2'') and Rockstar Studios (''Max Payne 3''). The series is named after its protagonist, Max Payne, a New York C ...

'' series has been described as gun fu. * The "CQC" fighting style in the

Metal Gear is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operativ ...

video game series integrates the use of firearms into martial arts. * The 2007

third-person shooter Third-person shooter (TPS) is a subgenre of 3D shooter games in which the gameplay consists primarily of shooting. It is closely related to first-person shooters, but with the player character visible on-screen during play. While 2D shoot 'e ...

game '' Stranglehold'', which serves as a sequel to John Woo's 1992 film '' Hard Boiled'', features gun fu gameplay elements. * The 2008 fighting game series,

BlazBlue ''BlazBlue'' is a fighting video game series developed and published in Japan by Arc System Works, and later localized in North America by Aksys Games and in Europe by Zen United. An anime adaptation aired in Autumn 2013. The series has sold 1. ...

, features a fighter who specializes in this fighting style in Noel Vermillion. * The 2015

action role-playing game An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre. Definition The games emphasize real-time combat where the player ...

Fallout 4 ''Fallout 4'' is a 2015 action role-playing game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is the fourth main game in the ''Fallout'' series and was released worldwide on November 10, 2015, for PlayStation 4, ...

'' features an ability, or perk, called "Gun Fu", which awards bonus points to the player for targeting multiple enemies while in the gameplay feature known as the Vault-Tec Assisted Targeting System (V.A.T.S.). * The 2019 shoot 'em up game '' My Friend Pedro'' features gameplay elements that have been referred to as gun fu.

Comic books

''Gun Fu'' is also the name of a series of

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...

by Howard M. Shum and Joey Mason, about a Hong Kong police officer in the 1930s who employs a combination of gun-play and martial arts.

Pen-and-paper games

It is not certain where or when the actual term "''gun fu''" was invented. One of the earliest written records exists in the

tabletop role-playing game A tabletop role-playing game (typically abbreviated as TRPG or TTRPG), also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a form of role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech. Participa ...

Cyberpunk 2020 ''Cyberpunk'' is a tabletop role-playing game in the dystopian science fiction genre, written by Mike Pondsmith and first published by R. Talsorian Games in 1988. It is typically referred to by its second or fourth edition names, ''Cyberpunk 2 ...

'' which was first published in 1988. ''Gun fu'' is a form of specialized martial arts usable in the game and is described as, ''

Conspiracy X ''Conspiracy X'' is a role-playing game (RPG) originally released by New Millennium Entertainment in 1996, and since revised and released by several publishers including Steve Jackson Games and Eden Studios, Inc. In all versions, the setting p ...

'', another tabletop RPG first published in 1996, also included the combat style as a usable skill. In this game, gun fu allowed players' characters to use firearms in close combat and skilled martial artists to string together combinations of moves. In the

Buffyverse role-playing games The ''Buffyverse role-playing games'' - the ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and ''Angel'' role-playing games - are complementary, officially licensed role-playing games (RPGs) published by Eden Studios, Inc. The ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer Core Rule ...

, gun fu is the name for the firearms skill, but this is more likely meant to be humorous rather than to imply characters practice an actual firearm-based martial art. In the '' Ninjas and Superspies'' supplement ''Mystic China'', gun fu is the

Triad Triad or triade may refer to: * a group of three Businesses and organisations * Triad (American fraternities), certain historic groupings of seminal college fraternities in North America * Triad (organized crime), a Chinese transnational orga ...

assassin training, and is a martial arts skill that can be available to player characters. It primarily emphasizes the use of paired 9mm pistols. In "Run and Gun", a expansion of the fifth-edition of the pen-and-paper

role-playing game A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

Shadowrun ''Shadowrun'' is a science fantasy tabletop role-playing game set in an alternate future in which cybernetics, magic in fiction, magic and fantasy creatures co-exist. It combines genres of cyberpunk, urban fantasy and crime fiction, crime, with ...

'', gun fu is a combat style available. The ''

GURPS The ''Generic Universal RolePlaying System'', or ''GURPS'', is a tabletop role-playing game system designed to allow for play in any game setting. It was created by Steve Jackson Games and first published in 1986 at a time when most such systems ...

'' roleplaying system has a ''Gun-Fu'' supplement, written by S.A. Fisher, Sean Punch, and Hans-Christian Vortisch.

Television

In the Japanese series ''

Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger is the twenty-eighth production of the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries produced by Toei. It aired as a part of TV Asahi's 2004 Super Hero Time block with '' Kamen Rider Blade''. The action footage from the show was used for the American series, ' ...

'', Banban "Ban" Akaza a.k.a. DekaRed is specifically mentioned as a master of gun fu technique, which in the series is called as "''Juu Kun Do''" ( is the Japanese word for 'gun', and the name of the style is a play on

Jeet Kune Do Jeet Kune Do is a primarily wing chun kung fu inspired eclectic martial arts philosophy heavily influenced and adapted by the Taoist personal life philosophy and experiences of martial artist Bruce Lee. Overview and philosophy Jeet Kune Do ...

). As a result, the mecha for the series, Dekaranger Robo, is also sometimes shown using gun fu. The American adaptation of the series, ''

Power Rangers S.P.D. ''Power Rangers S.P.D.'' is the thirteenth season of the television series, ''Power Rangers'', and is based on the 28th Super Sentai series ''Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger''. The season shares its title with the Korean dub of ''Dekaranger'' in South ...

'', also shows the Red Ranger Jack Landors and the Delta Squad Megazord using the same technique, though that was more because of the source material – Jack is not specifically mentioned as being a master of gun fu. In the anime ''

Mazinkaizer SKL is a Japanese OVA sequel to Go Nagai's ''Mazinkaiser'', which was in itself a spinoff of ''Mazinger Z''. The first episode of the OVA was first screened on and was released on . It also has a novel adaptation serialized in ASCII Media Work ...

'', Ryou Magami (one of the two pilots of the titular Mazinkaiser) uses gun fu as his primary style of combat as he wields the Breast Triggers, a pair of handguns which store on Mazinkaiser's chest. Magami's fight scenes contain several visual homages to the film '' Equilibrium'', including a scene in the first episode where Mazinkaiser performs the signature pose of the Grammaton Clerics.

References

{{martial arts Theatrical combat Action films by genre Cinema of Hong Kong Fictional martial arts Firearms Firearm techniques