''Gun fu'', a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsgun'' and '' kung fu'' (also known as gun kata, bullet ballet, and gymnastic gunplay), is a style of sophisticated close-quarters gunfight resembling a martial arts battle that combines firearms 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.Hu ...

and traditional melee weapons in an approximately 50/50 ratio. It can be seen in Hong Kong action cinema, and in American action films 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 weapon-based martial arts th ...

ing, shots from behind the back, as well as the use of guns as melee weapons (usually knife fights) are all common. Other moves can involve submachine guns, assault rifles, combat shotguns, rocket launchers, 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 is ...

maneuvers. ''Gun fu'' has become a staple of modern

action film 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 lif ...

s due to its visual spectacle, a result of often impressive choreography 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 from Hong Kong action cinema, 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 f ...

'' films and

kung fu films Kung fu film () is a subgenre of martial arts films and 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 and Hong Kong cultu ...

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

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

. Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo, who began his career directing martial arts films, took the martial arts style of action and added guns, combining the elegance and precision of kung fu with the brutality and violence of gangster films. John Woo originated the style that would later be called ''gun fu'' in the 1986 Hong Kong action film '' A Better Tomorrow''. The film launched the " heroic bloodshed" 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. Anthony Leong wrote of the gunfights in ''A Better Tomorrow'', Stephen 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's '' God of Gamblers'' (1989) and its sequel '' God of Gamblers Returns'' (1994). There were several heroic bloodshed films that did not feature gun fu, but opted for more realistic combat, such as Ringo Lam's '' City on Fire'' (1987).

Spread to the United States

The popularity of John Woo 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'' 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, ...

s simultaneously by releasing the empty magazines, 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 Chow Yun-fat) 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 Television comedy, comedy television series that aired on Fox Television Network, Fox, and later on NBC. The show aired from September 17, 2013, to September 16, 2021, for a total of eight ...

'' (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'' (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 ( Daniel Henney) 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, played by Chloë Grace Moretz, frequently uses gun fu. In the 2012 film '' Django Unchained'', 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 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'' 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 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 chara ...

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" gameplay of the '' Max Payne'' series has been described as gun fu. * The "CQC" fighting style in the Metal Gear video game series integrates the use of firearms into martial arts. * The 2007 third-person shooter 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, 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 playe ...

'' Fallout 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 ''My Friend Pedro'' is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Swedish developer DeadToast Entertainment and published by Devolver Digital. The game was released for Nintendo Switch and Windows on 20 June 2019 and for Xbox One on 5 December 2019. ...

'' 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 of ...

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 '' Cyberpunk 2020'' 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'', another tabletop

RPG RPG may refer to: Military * Rocket-propelled grenade, a shoulder-launched anti-tank weapon **''Ruchnoi Protivotankoviy Granatomyot'' (Russian: ''Ручной Противотанковый Гранатомёт''), hand-held anti-tank grenade laun ...

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, 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 ''Ninjas & Superspies'' is a modern-day espionage role-playing game published in 1988 by Palladium Books. Contents ''Ninjas & Superspies'', written by Erick Wujcik, is designed around espionage and martial arts action in the modern world, simil ...

'' 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 Paper-and-pencil games or paper-and-pen games (or some variation on those terms) are games that can be played solely with paper and pencils (or other writing implements), usually without erasing. They may be played to pass the time, as icebreak ...

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

'' Shadowrun'', gun fu is a combat style available. The '' GURPS'' 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'', 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). 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.'', 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'', 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