 We all know that the first two rules for Fight Club is that we don't talk about Fight Club. Well, we're gonna break both those rules today, and we're gonna talk about BeMo, in which Kung Fu practitioners put their skills to the test in secret illegal street fights. If you haven't seen it already, the new movie, The Paper Tigers, has just been released in theaters and simultaneous streaming. The movie kind of snuck up and popped out there, but it's a pleasantly charming, fun Kung Fu movie. It takes itself seriously with just enough dark comedy to balance it out. It also features everyone's favorite, undoubtedly most, complete martial arts master. Now, one of the main elements that the story rides on is the concept of BeMo, or challenges issued among the characters in the film. So, spoiler alert, we're gonna talk just a little bit about the movie for a moment. So, if you want to skip it and jump directly to where we talked about BeMo, you can click on the link in the description and skip ahead. The Paper Tigers is a story of three friends growing up training Kung Fu together under the private tutelage of their Sifu. Through the use of home video clips, we see their development as they come of age, develop and hone their skills and become known as the Three Tigers, the fiercest fighters in town. After a fallen out splits the group, they all go their own ways and they drift apart. 30 years later, they are reunited after the death of their Sifu in what progresses as a Kung Fu mystery with plenty of action, humor, and just enough reality about aging martial artists that it can hit pretty close to home. BeMo plays a pretty big role in the film. We see early on that Sifu does not approve of them using their training for vanity and local fights, but the Three Tigers continue to pursue it, going dojo-storming and challenging other martial arts disciplines. But, as the Tigers progress in life, the concept of BeMo goes from cocky, back alley fights for pride and escalates to more serious levels as the now grown men get closer to solving the mystery and fighting themselves and countering stronger and more dangerous threats. If you haven't seen the film, I definitely recommend giving it a watch. It's a surprisingly wholesome film that balances out action and character drama well enough. But what exactly is BeMo and is it a real thing? Well, BeMo absolutely is a real thing and it first saw an establishment in Hong Kong, specifically in the British colony in the 50s and 60s, for practitioners of various Chinese arts to test their arts in a street fighting setting with little to no rules. More accurately, Be, to compare, and Mao, martial, BeMo translates to comparing martial skills. These challenges often took place in back alleys, rooftops, parks, really any place of convenience where the fights could be carried out discreetly because they were often illegal. While there were typically no rules or time limits in these fights, there were sometimes unwritten codes such as, you know, trying not to kill your opponent. These fights were prohibited by the government and were often considerably dangerous. Environmental hazards, the lack of protective gear, full contact, and the goal of knocking out or incapacitating your opponent made BeMo something to take seriously. Another major notable note regarding the history of BeMo is that this was an opportunity for practitioners of Wing Chung to shine and bring more awareness to the art. Many notable Wing Chung practitioners were known or suspected to have participated, but you can't talk about BeMo and Wing Chung without mentioning Wang Seng-Ling, a well-known disciple under Wing Chung Grandmaster Ip Man. Wang carried the reputation of being a fierce and dominating opponent. Stories of his fights and victories earned him the nickname Gong Cao Wang or King of Talking Hands. Some witness accounts even go as far to claim that most of his fights ended with only a few moves. He is also often credited with being one of Bruce Lee's trainers as well as helping bring Wing Chung out of obscurity and helping it become an established Chinese martial art system. The unfortunate thing about BeMo was that since many of these fights were illegal and spontaneous and taking place in time before cameras were readily available, there was very little documented footage of such competitions. Snippets are out there including this famous clip that shows a rooftop challenge, but as a result, it is often difficult to know exactly what the outcomes were. Many fighters were quiet about their involvement, but many boasted about it. It was also not uncommon for the losing opponent to deny involvement or to also claim victory, so sometimes the history does get a little muddy. Regardless, Wang's name emerged as a fierce and reputable fighter and he went on to become a driving force behind the Art of Wing Chung. He was upfront about his involvement and challenges, once stating in an interview, When I competed, it was a secret. We went into a room and the door was shut and there were no rules. The government did not allow them. They were illegal, but we didn't care. We fought until the other guy was knocked out. Wang frowned upon taking part in fights with rules and he liked to practical application and the possibility of testing your art against a real opponent. While he had experience in a few different arts, he established his roots in Wing Chung and quite literally walked the talk. He became faithful to the art upon meeting It-Man for the first time. He also described his experience in the same interview. When I first joined, I sparred with two of his students and beat them even before It-Man had taught me anything. Then It-Man fought with me and I felt that the way he beat me was so smooth and so convincing that I wanted to learn from him. He controlled me without hitting me at all and stopped my punches. I immediately recognized that I had been bettered. Just like many martial arts out there, there are mixed opinions on Wing Chung and disputes among lineage and all of your standard politics. However, what I really respect about the scenario of Beemo is it wasn't about being showy, it wasn't about magic martial arts or smoking mirrors. It was about making your skills work in a real fight. So regardless of any opinions on the arts practice, the participants of Beemo in the 50s and 60s Hong Kong should get a little bit of respect for stepping up and pitting themselves in real fights for the integrity of effective martial arts training. So once again, if you haven't seen the film, I do recommend checking out the Paper Tigers and if you've already seen it, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments down below. But please be respectful and label any spoiler alerts. Thanks for watching and we'll face off next week.