Gun fu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section may contain original research or unattributed claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the talk page for details. |
 |
This article lacks information on the notability (importance) of the subject matter. Please help improve this article by providing context for a general audience, especially in the lead section. This article has been tagged since July 2006. (help, talk) |
Gun fu as a fictional martial art primarily exists in Hong Kong cinema and in Western movies influenced by it. The term is not usually used in the films themselves but is a common term used to describe the sophisticated gun-play that those films contain. It consists of a mixture of hand-to-hand and firearms manoeuvres performed at close quarters. The focus of Gun Fu is style, and the usage of firearms in ways that they were not designed to be used. Shooting a gun from each hand, shots from behind the back, as well as the use of guns as melee weapons are all common.
A classic Gun fu move consists of reloading two pistols 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. This move appeared in the video game Max Payne, along with dual-wielding various weapons, including Berettas, and machine pistols such as Uzis, and the Ingram MAC-10. Father Tres Iqus in the anime series Trinity Blood also demonstrates this technique, as does John Preston in Equilibrium. It should however be noted that Preston appears to have special devices mounted into his sleeves/wrists that feed the magazines smoothly into the weapon, provided they are positioned correctly.
Other moves can involve shotguns, Uzis, rocket launchers, duct tape, string, and just about anything else that can be worked into a cinematic shot.
Kurt Wimmer raised gun fu to a formal martial art in Equilibrium with the Gun Kata, and develops it further in UltraViolet.
Gun Fu is also the name of a series of comic books by Howard M. Shum and Joey Mason about a Hong Kong police officer in the 1930's who employs a combination of gun-play and martial arts.[1]
Arguably the most famous use of Gun Fu in video games is in the Devil May Cry game series, where the game's protagonist Dante incorporates the stylish use of akimbo pistols as well as other firearms, including a sawed-off shotgun and rocket/grenade launchers, in unrealistic yet visually stunning combat sequences which flow seamlessly between swordplay and gun-fu to create long-chain combos such as shooting in two different directions with his pistols, juggling/suspending opponents in the air via rapidly firing at them mid-fall, delaying/briefly suspending his descent by firing his guns whilst in mid-air and ricocheting shots off the walls of a room to strike multiple targets. In addition, in the video game Shadow Hearts: From the New World, the Native American character Natan (sic) uses gun fu for his primary attacks.
Gun fu has become a staple factor in modern action movies due to its visually appealing nature (regardless of its actual practicality in a real-life combat situation). This is a contrast to action movies of the 80's and early 90's which focused more on heavy weaponry and outright brute-force in firearm-based combat.
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.
The style is also featured (albeit in a small way and with the assistance of gadgets) in the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider movies starring Angelina Jolie.
