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Film / The Young Vagabond

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Drunken Master... Gordon Liu style!

The Young Vagabond is a 1985 Shaw Brothers Martial Arts Movie based on the life of Su Qi-er a.k.a Beggar So Chan, the legendary Beggar Lord-kung fu master of the late Qing Dynasty, with a young Gordon Liu portraying the life of Su in his early years.

A Prequel of sorts to the character's backstory, Su Qi-er - then named Su Chan - is depicted as the spoiled eldest son of Master Su, a wealthy lord, who in a twist of fate, ends up learning the skills of Tiger's Fist from his teacher, Drunken Tiger, an ex-outlaw who had gone into hiding. While training himself to be the new Master of Tiger's Fist, an old enemy from Drunken Tiger's past re-emerges for a challenge.

See also True Legend (2010), a modern take on the character's backstory.


Contains examples of:

  • Animal Motifs: Played straight for the film's Big Good and Big Bad: Su Qi-er's teacher, Master Hu, uses the Tiger Fist as his preferred style of kung fu, while the villain, Master Wu Gong, uses a centipede motif. Their teachings to their disciples plays it completely straight as well.
  • Arch-Enemy: Master Tiger and Master Wu Gong, who both used to be sworn brothers until Master Wu turns out to be far too despicable for his brethren.
  • Badass Teacher: Master Hu; not only is he a schoolteacher who educates youngsters, but he turns out to be an expert in the Tiger Fist kung fu, and willingly passes his skills to Su Qi-er as well!
  • Chairman of the Brawl: The argument in a classroom between Su Qi-er and various of his classmates leads to punches being thrown, and Su promptly grabs a stool. He ends up using the stool in hitting his class teacher on the noggin' instead, who walked in at the wrong time.
  • Drunken Master: Master Hu, the Drunk Tiger, who is Su Chan's Badass Teacher whose kung fu skills improves with the amount of wine he chugs. By the end of the movie, protagonist Su Qi-er had taken over Drunken Tiger's mantle as another drunken master.
  • Defector from Decadence: Master Tiger Hu and Master Wu Gong used to be sworn brothers and outlaws, robbing from the rich. But Master Wu's thirst for power and wealth got the better of him, and Master Tiger decides to bail after witnessing Master Wu ordering his minions to restrain a woman while he rapes her.
  • Elite Mook: Master Wu Gong's acolytes, a legion of black-clad thugs. There are less than ten of them, but they can put up a fierce battle on their own.
  • Good Old Fisticuffs: Most of Su Qi-er's fights have him taking on enemies with his fists alone, and he's darn good at it.
  • Groin Attack: Master Tiger Hu does this a lot, even during the Training Montage on his protégé, Su Qi-er. In a flashback scene, he squares off against his Arch-Enemy, Master Wu Gong, who sic seven Elite Mooks on Tiger. Tiger defeats them by hitting seven groins in a row.
  • Language Barrier: Early in the film, Su Qi-er unintentionally gets himself into trouble for assaulting his father's guest, a white man, when he mistake the guest for making a racist remark on the Chinese. Turns out the unfortunate foreigner was only complimenting their kitchen's seafood.
  • Man Bites Man: In the final battle, when it all comes down to Su Qi-er and Master Wu dueling one-on-one, Su Qi-er eventually defeats the villain by chewing his throat out. The film even ends with a lovely freeze-frame of Su roaring with blood all over his lips.
  • Meaningful Name: Master ''Wu Gong" - literally translates to Centipede in Mandarin, and he's an expert in the centipede fist kung fu. His disciples trains using the same style of kung fu as him, too.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: Master Hu ends up being betrayed, and then ambushed by his sworn enemy, Master Wu Gong, and ends up getting killed by the latter's centipede fist.
  • Oh, Crap!: When Su accidentally whacks the priest with a stool.
  • Surpassed the Teacher: Su Qi-er's skills ultimately goes beyond the level of his mentor, Master Tiger Hu, to the point of defeating Master Wu Gong's acolytes and ultimately killing Master Wu, which Master Tiger fails.
  • Talk to the Fist: This is how Su Qi-er responds to literally anything... by lashing out. Punks, bullies, challengers, everyone. This actually gets him into trouble early in the film when Su punches out a business partner of his father, a foreigner, for mistaking the foreigner at making a racist remark on the Chinese when said foreigner is only complimenting Chinese food.
  • Training Montage: For Su Qi-er to develop his skills in kung fu.
  • Wild Hair: Su Qi-er had his hair become completely unkempt and wild after Master Hu's death, and remains in this state for the rest of the film, including the final battle against Master Wu Gong.

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