Martial Arts

Latest Articles

Fantasy camp

Where Lord of the Rings meets Lord of the Flies
Wizards & Warriors Camp is a living video game, putting kids in control of everything from plotline to character personality.
By ARIEL SHEARER | August 10, 2011

A woman takes charge and learns the art of the best defense

Going on offense
When the first attacker grabbed my wrist; I hammer-fisted his forearm and issued a sweep-kick to his groin.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | April 27, 2011

Review: The Karate Kid (2010)

Shouldn't it be "The Kung Fu Kid"?
What happens when Will Smith wants a franchise for his boy.
By BRETT MICHEL | June 11, 2010

New magazine tells Boston’s war stories

Crime Journal Dept.
It’s not too surprising that Kung-Fu Video owners James Bennett and Aaron Crawford are venturing into another retail niche that is largely considered commercially destitute.
By CHRIS FARAONE | April 26, 2010

Red Queens and White Knights

We’re not through with the Looking Glass, here, people
Four new DVD releases that capitalize on the latest Alice in Wonderland rush.
By SHAULA CLARK | March 10, 2010

There will be blood

Beacon Hill is green-lighting elbow smashes to the face, as Mass. officially welcomes mixed martial arts
This past Saturday, Dover-raised gladiator Kenny Florian beat the pretty out of long-haired Chicago carpenter-turned-ass kicker Clay Guida.
By CHRIS FARAONE | December 18, 2009

Super friends

Move over, Clark Kent. All over New England, mild-mannered citizens are suiting up and doing their part to play the hero.
THWAK! I swing with my right fist, trying to connect with my opponent's face. In a smooth motion, he deflects my punch with his forearm, which is protected with a black and metallic-plastic arm gauntlet. I swing with my left fist, and am again knocked away effortlessly. I can see my reflection in his sunglasses, framed in white.
By TEA KRULOS | December 11, 2009

Review: Ninja Assassin

A real bloodbath
So much blood splashes across the screen in James McTeigue’s martial-arts madness, you’d think the human body consisted of nothing but.
By TOM MEEK | November 25, 2009

Making masterpieces in 48 hours

Fast Films
The filmmakers scrambled upstairs Sunday night, spilling beers as they went, desperate to meet the deadline for the 48 Hour Film Project, an annual adventure in speedy cinematography.
By ABIGAIL CROCKER | July 22, 2009

Whodunit?

Art thief Myles Connor talks
Myles Connor: Mayflower descendant, Mensa member, master of disguise, black belt in karate, self-styled "President of Rock 'n' Roll." And probably the most notorious art thief in the history of the United States.
By MIKE MILIARD | March 18, 2009

Return of the big fatty

The sumos get stoned . . . again. Plus, an early leader in the 2009 Justin Miller-Award race.
It's nice to know that Michael Phelps isn't the only prominent athlete getting the shaft lately for sparking up.
By MATT TAIBBI | February 11, 2009

Bang bang

Misaki Kawai at LaMontagne, "Collision14: POV" and "LE:60 1-Minute Film Festival" at Axiom
Misaki Kawai's new solo show marks the Boston debut of her two-dimensional works and the first opportunity for New England audiences to see her as a bona fide painter. Opening February 21 at LaMontagne Gallery, " Misaki Kawai : Kung Fu Forest."
By EVAN J. GARZA | February 11, 2009

Review: Chandni Chowk to China

Unoriginal, even by Bollywood's standards
Director Nikhil Advani's quirky Chinese-Indian collaboration is the widest release ever of a Bollywood film, and the first ever kung fu Bollywood comedy.
By CHRIS WANGLER | January 13, 2009

Crossword: ''You can look it up''

Eight entries from eight decades of the OED.
Eight entries from eight decades of the OED.
By MATT JONES | October 01, 2008

Devil at the Gate

Giving voice to Red Heroine
The ensemble has spent the better part of a decade composing and performing soundtracks for silent films, creating their own brand of musical alchemy.
By BRETT MICHEL | September 05, 2008

Rebirth of a prince

Digging RZA in 36 steps
I recently took the Greyhound to Montreal for a RZA concert.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 19, 2008

Eight is enough

Olympians to watch
Sometimes we’d rather root for the unknowns, the underdogs, and the uniques than the professional jerks who are only competing to sweeten their endorsement deals.
By MIKE MILIARD | August 08, 2008

Eric Hofbauer and the Infared Band

Myth Understanding | Creative Nation Music
What’s likely to hit you first is Hofbauer’s flair for bluesy, riffing AABA melodies.
By JON GARELICK | July 01, 2008

Judgment night for Doomsday

Roxbury-born fighter John Howard is climbing the ranks of mixed martial arts, one chokehold at a time
Two men circle the middle of a 24-foot-wide, black chain-link cage in Allston’s Wai Kru gym.
By JONATHAN SEITZ | June 25, 2008

Gimme some truth

In praise of Ultimate Fighting
Can it be a coincidence, I ask rhetorically, that we have all of a sudden become very interested in watching highly trained men smack the shit out of each other?
By JAMES PARKER | June 25, 2008

The Foot Fist Way

A looser, less elegant translation
A mean-spirited, scrappy tragicomedy that was shot in 19 days –– and looks it.
By BRETT MICHEL | June 04, 2008

Kung Fu Panda

A colorful wuxia comedy
The thin script is light on length and surprise, heavy on tike-pleasing jokes and action.
By BRETT MICHEL | June 04, 2008

Shaw business

The HFA proves there’s more to Hong Kong than kung fu
The Shaw Brothers dominated Hong Kong film production in the ’60s and ’70s, and they produced not only martial-arts epics but also musicals, ghost stories, and melodramas.
By PETER KEOUGH | May 28, 2008

Mastering the masterpieces

Boston Ballet takes on Balanchine, Tudor, and Tharp
It’s not exactly a trip down Memory Lane, but this weekend Boston Ballet is revisiting some pieces and choreographers it hasn’t performed in the Mikko Nissinen era.
By JEFFREY GANTZ | May 21, 2008

Jazz hands

Geoff Farina’s new Glorytellers
There was a time when it was easy to hate Geoff Farina. Well, maybe hate is too strong a word.
By MATT ASHARE | May 19, 2008

Redbelt

Pleasingly nuts
Not quite a neo-noir, still less a martial-arts movie, David Mamet’s taut, dank drama has a foot in each camp.
By GRAHAM FULLER | May 07, 2008

The Forbidden Kingdom

Big screen fairy tale
Hong Kong action stars Jackie Chan and Jet Li don’t stray too far from type in this big-screen fairy tale: Chan plays a drunken kung fu master and Li’s a stoic monk with lethal reflexes.
By TOM MEEK | April 16, 2008

Planet B-Boy

Retire the breakdance, already
Breakdancing seemed over and done in the ’80s, but hip-hop culture has pumped it alive, combining the original head-spinning street maves with rap, gymnastics, kung fu, MTV, and Broadway.
By GERALD PEARY | April 02, 2008