For those who practice martial arts, there are two worlds; one with their training suit, the other without. They are not perfect in their daily lives, but in their training suit, they aim to be the best. Imagine a martial arts forum where practitioners of various martial arts come to discuss technique and practice, the latest MMA fights and fighters. Imagine that posters gather to actual test their skills against each other, rather than just hiding behind a keyboard. Nowadays, if you aren't Internet savvy, you can't even practice martial arts. In the past, one had to endure rigorous training from the master to learn martial arts. However, time has changed since the advent of the Internet. Almost anything about martial arts is available on the Internet...including the fellowship... South Korea has perhaps the greatest concentration of Internet use around the world. Martial arts forums abound, some with memberships and discussions that rival even ours. It perhaps this reason why Kyuktooki and other Korean MMA have taken off so much in the past decade, while Korean TMAs struggle to keep up. Korea, one of the largest bastions of bullshido MA, may be turning the corner. Geochilmaru concerns one such fictional KMA forum, mulimjizone.com. Discussions take place on the nature of martial arts, street versus sport, theory, etc. One poster, Geochilmaru, is controversial in his views, to the point where many consider him to be a liar or a fake. No one knows who he is, but if the things he says are true, then he is the best fighter in Korea. If they are false, then he is a liar. In response to all of the criticism against him, Geochilmaru issues a personal challenge to the top posters of Murimjizone.com. Come and fight him. The movie then concerns itself with the events of the Murimjizone throwdown. There are no stuntmen in this movie. No wireworks. No CG. No actors playing martial artists. All of the fighting characters are real martial artists, in some cases, playing themselves. The Taegyun fighter, is an actual Taegyun instructor. The Yudoin (Judoka), is actually a collegiate Yudo competitor. The kickboxer, is a Korean Muay Thai fighter. Everyone is introduced by their screen name, and for most of the charas, we never find out their real name. The fights are all raw, well-choreographed (if not well-filmed) excebitions of various martial arts. What is also a pleasure, is that the fights do not just exist to show of some moves, but that each addresses a particular discussion in the modern day martial arts. Combat versus sport, weapons versus unarmed. The uselessness of MA in the modern world (as well as a specific address to Korean culture, where many still consider martial artists to be no better than thugs). The pointlessness of being able to win an unarmed fight when a gun can end it all. The necessity of cross-training. The reality of movie fighting versus real fighting is also addressed (the "stuntman" gets the crap kicked out of him...often). Is there BS in this movie? Yes, Bruce Lee's one inch punch is discussed, though notably, not as a skill for fighting, but a theory of power generation for martial artists to consider. The fight between the two wushu players is...well...wushu (and it looks better than half the crap coming out of the US and Hong Kong right now). But even things like this are just an enjoyable metaphor for some topic in martial arts. With the exception of one badly performed arm bar (with the obligatory ankle biting), there is no real skilled groundfighting to speak of. There are certainly things to criticize in the movie, especially given the subject nature, but I will still say for a low-budget, independent Korean film... This is the best martial arts movie in a long time. Bruce Lee wanted Game of Death to have been a homage to his martial philosophy. Geochilmaru is better than Game of Death ever would have been. I won't give away the twist ending, but if you see this film, pick it up. Here's some pics. This is the cover of my DVD, so if you this, buy it! Northern style meets Southern style. Flying kicks are nothing compared to the real Korean martial technique...flying clinch to headbutt. There were some nice Judo throws. Yes, that is Mashimaru on the Judoka's back. That's Korean Muay Thai champ Yoo Yungrae. And a couple more of the future Mrs. Monk, O Mijung.
