Come in my house; and if you open the closet door in the bedroom hallway, you'll see a row of diverse albums at the very bottom shelf.
Take out the tattered, white album with the gold bands on it, and flip it open. You'll see a photo of my uncles and father with puffy bowl-cuts, in ripped denim-vests, and skinny jeans. They're in poses way too familiar to any young Asian-immigrant boys of the 1980's. My scrawny uncle, who looked no different from now, was posed sidekicking my uncle Michael, who still thinks he's bad-ass. Both of their mouths were open wide, no doubt saying "WoOoooAH~" And then in the next photo, we see a couple more of my uncles and dad in famous Bruce Lee poses.
Back in the day, Hong Kong movies were a hit. Jackie Chan
is the shit, but back then, he was the shit-shit-shit. Hong Kong gangsters in long jackets, with slick hair (kind of like yakuza) and denim jackets were idolized by young Asian-Americans. Anything that could make the kids feel like kung-fu fighters, they took on.
My dad's friend from his workplace was once sporting the yakuza look and leading a group of young Asian Americans in committing petty-crimes. I'm not boasting- it sounds silly to me too, since I can't imagine the now silly, middle-aged man to be a rebel at all. He started out by finding a place for young Asian boys who migrated to America, so that they'd have a place to live. They were pretty much orphans in a sense. Anyway, they were always on missions to steal a trunk load of cassettes.
I'm getting off track: I'm supposed to explain how they always got into fights among other Asian men out of the silly inspiration to be "kung-fu fighters."
And my uncles and their friends often found themselves in fights with racist folks. Usually, they'd have a pack of little Asian men backing up one Asian man after one, big Caucasian guy starts calling him "gook" and "chink". So it's not exactly a fair fight, but I'm not going there.
Albums are keepsakes that you hold onto, and one day, your kids are going to flip them open, and ask you questions. There's a story behind every photo. Your chance to shine for the next generation to see, is just an album away.
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Comments (11)
Kungfu is amazing...Love love love
HAHA "Jackie Chan is the shit, but back then, he was the shit-shit-shit."
good way to put it
:P
I love how graceful the forms are but still filled with power. Fighting ballerina haha :)
I love Jackie Chan when he was in his prime. Doing all sorts of stunts and kungfu was just mind-boggling. That's a great story
Too bad Jackie Chan is a douche of a actual person.
@AznFier@xanga - really?! =\ that's disappointing
denim vests and cassette tapes.. wow. brings back a ton of memories hahaha
@AznFier@xanga -
Whaa? That's news to me, how do you know that?
That's because a marital artist was the only masculine role an Asian man was allowed to have in Hollywood. It was the only role a White guy couldn't do, that is until Chuck Norris and "Wire-Fu." Every other Asian male role is an exaggerated nerd or some angry guy with buck teeth, wide rimmed glasses, taped back eyes, and a bowl cut. So of course we're going to opt for idolizing the Kung Fu masters.
I was such a fan of martial arts movies, especially Jackie Chan. He was the nice guy who could kick anyone's ass. Bruce Lee seemed like an asshole, but a bad-ass asshole, and Jet Li just seemed like an asshole to me.
Anyways, I found a photo of my uncle who I guess studied martial arts, he was always in fighting stances and poses. I wish I took some sort of martial art, to at least learn to protect myself.
Masters of martial arts like Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li..and of course, many others that are remembered by those who truly respect the arts.
I've seen people keep saying that Bruce Lee seemened an asshole and Jackie Chan a douchebag. It's really sad to see this. It means they cannot see with their minds what is beneath the water.
Good post, miss! I rather enjoyed it even though I am not asian nor do I have asian roots. But memories are always a good thing to share with those who can listen!
I want to learn it when I was young