Paper Tigers; For Every Martial Artist Who's Stepped Off the Path - by Mads Rud

Recently I watched Paper Tigers (2020), which follows three students long past their martial arts prime on their journey to avenge their Sifu. It's an open letter to every martial artist, and particularly those of us practicing in the modern world in our adulthood.

The film starts with clips that will be nostalgic for many of us—training in our Sifu's garage, his backyard, having things balanced on our head and the mischief we get into as younger students. It also paints the fantasy many of us indulge in: undeniably, victoriously, representing a lineage with pride.

Many of us never experience those daydreams, and even when we do they're fleeting, rarely following us into our long-term practice. Sometimes, we stop practicing altogether. We give up the ghost, get caught up in the "real" world and its demands. This is the situation that the Three Tigers find themselves in. Danny struggles to salvage his strained relationship with his son. Hing turns away from the school after feeling shame from chasing money over helping his Sifu. Jim severs ties after an ego wound. Their wake up call is the wrongful death of their Sifu—their teacher-father—which calls them to face their own failures and realities and recommit to their path.

The movie holds a mirror to us. Those of us who fell in love with martial arts. For those who have fond memories of their Sifu's garage and guilt about walking away. Kung fu is not light work. It can be grueling, sweaty, and sometimes involves blood and tears. When we stop practicing, we fear to look back at that path. We might not be skilled anymore, we might not handle the training. We might look foolish. We may have burned bridges. We may have failed to live up to our own values. We might have to concede all these things and more if we chose to look back.

Paper Tigers reminds us that we continuously choose who we want to be. Every day is a chance to recommit, no matter how much we have wandered. Kung fu has helped many of us become who we wanted to be, even for a moment. We worked through the blood and tears because we loved who we were choosing to be through our training. As Hing says, "kung fu means nothing without your word." Kung fu is both a crucible and an affirmation that allows us to keep our word even through hardship. Just like the Three Tigers, we have the ability to step back on this path even when it's hard.