The Foot Fist Way is a 2006 Black Comedy starring Danny McBride, Ben Best, and Jody Hill, produced by Gary Sanchez Productions, and directed by Jody Hill. Fred Simmons (McBride) is the head instructor of Concord Tae Kwon Do, a Taekwondo dojang in a small North Carolina town. A fourth degree black belt and a former United States sparring champion, Simmons acts like a big shot, driving a Ferrari and boasting of his fighting skills, but is shown to a mediocre teacher who is teaching his young students little beyond aggressive philosophy. And while he has the respect of the town, he does not have the respect of Suzie, his wife. After he discovers that his wife was unfaithful to him at an office party, he has a crisis of faith and starts to lose control of his professional and personal life. To regain his mojo, he takes a trip to a martial arts expo with his friend and fifth degree blackbelt, Mike McAlister (Hill), and two of his students. While there, he sees a demo by his hero, B-Movie star Chuck "The Truck" Wallace (Best), and convinces Wallace to attend the following month's testing. However, Simmons is soon to learn that there's more he has to do to get his life in order, and that some idols have feet of clay.
This film exhibits the following tropes:
- Brick Break: This is a big part of Simmons's demos. He fails at it a few times early in the film, covering it with bluster, but ultimately succeeds in his breaking demonstration against Wallace.
- Excrement Statement: Simmons uses this to indicate that his relationship with Suzie is over by urinating on his removed wedding ring.
- Feet of Clay: Wallace is drunk, undisciplined, and has sex with Simmons's wife.
- Neck Snap: Only appears in the alternate ending, where Simmons uses this to solve his marital problems.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- Simmons has a senior citizen student demonstrate a combination against a notably more muscular student, Rick. When Rick complains that he only lost because he had to follow the prearranged attack, Simmons proclaims that the technique would work even with resistance, and challenges Rick to fight back full-contact. One punch later, the senior citizen student is down.
- Simmons challenges Wallace to a fight over schtupping his wife and while he makes a decent showing, ultimately is beat down by Wallace, who is in better shape and hasn't been practicing point-fighting.
- Near the end of the film, Suzie apologizes for the horrible things she's done and said, and asks Simmons if they can just start from a fresh slate. He points out that she's done nothing to actually repair the harm she's done, and that clearing the slate will just absolve her of her transgressions so that she can do them again.
- Testosterone Poisoning: Presumably why Mike, a skilled fighter and an unsettlingly intense personality, refuses to wear seatbelts when he rides shotgun with Fred.
