David Carradine

Notes from the Barefoot Legend

19. Following the Tao Brings Success

Jul 21

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Written by David Carradine, August 2007

Okay, I’m back. I’ve been missing in action for a month. I had to take a breather. There’s a lot happening for me right now, and by association, with the martial arts world. Kill Bill, Volume 2 is finally about to be released (will have been by the time this is printed). Timed to coincide with that are the DVD releases of the first season of the original Kung Fu series, and three of my instructional videos. I’m up to my ears with interviews and photo shoots. Read the rest of this entry »

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18. Taking Stock

Jul 5

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(Originally written 14 January, 2004)

This will be my eighteenth of these columns. This has some significance in numerology. The number 18 is a 9. In The New Math (which has become old already), as in some numerology systems (there are many), one ‘casts out’ 9’s. They make no difference in the equation. 18 is followed by 19, a “1”. The beginning of a new cycle. This will not occur again until the number 36, another 9 in numerology. The ninth one of these columns I titled “The Debt I Can Never Repay”, dedicated to my Sifu, Kam Yuen, and how I learned to follow The Tao: a nice end for the cycle. The next column dealt with the childish game of kung fu for the movies. A small beginning. I didn’t plan any of this. Didn’t even notice it until just now. It just happened. Read the rest of this entry »

17. On Location with Bruce Lee’s Ghost

Jun 18

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It was probably early in 1976 or late in ’75 when John Drew Barrymore dropped a script by my house, The Silent Flute, A Martial Arts Fantasy, telling me to read it over the weekend and get it right back to him, so he could sneak it back into James Coburn’s library without him finding out that he’d sneaked it out. “And,” he said, “You can’t tell anyone you’ve seen it.” I didn’t understand the need for secrecy, but John Drew is a strange and secretive person. I read it, and immediately decided this movie absolutely had to be made. It could be the essential martial arts movie, and a living legacy for Bruce Lee. Read the rest of this entry »

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16. The Joy of Flying

Jun 4

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A few years back, I got into aerobatic flying, in preparation of a movie on the subject, called Cloud Dancer. When the producer first approached me, he said they had it all worked out, with special cameras and stuff, so that I wouldn’t actually have to do any of the flying.  I said, “That sounds really boring.  I don’t think I want to do it.”  He said (kind of amazed, I thought), “You mean, you want to learn how to do it?”  I said, “Well, yeah.  If you want me to do the movie, that’s what it will take.” Read the rest of this entry »

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15. Smell the Roses

May 20

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Anyone who has studied the history of martial arts knows the story of the student in the monastery who has to practice the horse stance for a year before being allowed to learn anything else. Sounds boring as hell. and it seems silly to most of us. And, the truth is, we are all in entirely too much of a hurry for that approach. We could all gain a lot as well, I’m sure, from sitting on a mountain top and meditating for a few years. However, most of us are not looking to give ourselves to a life of devotion. We just want to add these ingredients to our lives and go on with business better prepared and with clearer heads and sounder bodies. Read the rest of this entry »

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14. Gravity

May 8

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This may not have much to do with martial arts, but maybe it does. And Dave Cater told me I can write about anything I want to, so here goes.

Once, many years ago, Sifu Kam Yuen and I were in New York City to attend The Aaron Banks Martial Arts Expo at Madison Square Garden. That was an exciting moment. The Garden is the place where some of the greatest prizefights of all time took place. Read the rest of this entry »

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13. Walking Softly

Apr 23

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My son, who is a student of Kali (Why not kung fu, you say–? I guess he wanted to be his own man), was saying to me a while ago that it’s amazing how many people who call themselves “martial artists” can’t even throw an effective punch. I asked him why he thought that was, and he replied, “Well, I’m afraid it’s because of you, Dad. Your TV show gave people the idea that the martial arts were something to do with softness, having to do with a philosophy of peace and gentleness.” Well, that’s exactly what we were trying to do, the emphasis being on restraint more than anything. It seemed that Bruce Lee was getting the message of the gnarlier aspects of the arts across just fine without us. Still, one ought to be able to let loose when the time is right for it. Certainly, when we were off the set, working out, we didn’t hold back. On the contrary, just like anyone else, we got a big kick out of stuff like breaking things with our bare feet. Read the rest of this entry »

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12. The Tao Works in Mysterious Ways

Apr 8

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I’m continually amazed at the widespread influence the series Kung Fu has had on the world. Ed Spielman, a kung fu student in New York City, sold his script to Fred Weintraub, whom he met at a restaurant that Fred had won in a poker game. Back in Hollywood, Fred couldn’t figure out what to do with the script, so he let it gather dust on the shelf for six years, when Jerry Thorpe, a producer of TV movies and series (The Untouchables was one of his) while rummaging through the archives for a good script, found it in Jerry’s library and bought it for Warner Brothers TV. Read the rest of this entry »

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11. “THE MARTIAL ARTS RESURGENCE”

Mar 26

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Recently, I was asked to comment on the resurgence of martial arts in this country. I find that difficult to answer, as the question makes assumptions that don’t quite hold water for me.

Martial Arts is big time. Has been. Will be more so. It’s not really so much a “renewed interest” as it is, for the first time, a truly mainstream interest. While everything on this planet cycles in and out and up and down, the growth of martial arts and Asian philosophy has been evenly progressive in this country, as well as in Europe and the rest of the world, ever since the movement first began. I was there. At the very beginning, with the help of the folks at Warner Brothers, I was privileged to become an evangelist for the arts. Read the rest of this entry »

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10. THE DANCING CLOWN—Kung Fu Fighting For Movies

Mar 15

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Way back in the seventies, when we were doing the KUNG FU series, my favorite times were the “fight days”. When I knew one of those was coming up, I’d wake up in the morning supercharged with anticipation of the fun. The way we did it was David Chow, and later, Kam Yuen would get together in the morning with the fight team, including my stunt-double, usually Greg Walker, and they’d work out the choreography. Then, during the lunch break, I’d learn the routine. After lunch, we’d shoot the fight and the scene that went with it, in a couple of hours or so, maybe going on to something else to finish the day. Read the rest of this entry »

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