I watched Forbidden Kingdom recently and have renewed my love for Jet Li. Although the movie itself was not so impressive, I found myself searching for Jet Li’s movies afterward. And so I got copies of Unleashed, Kiss of the Dragon, Hero, Romeo Must Die, and Cradle 2 The Grave. Of these I like Unleashed and Hero best.
In Unleashed, Jet Li plays Danny, raised as a “dog” by a gangster and trained to kill this man’s enemies. He is ferocious when unleashed from his collar but is as gentle as a child when not. He is rescued by a blind piano tuner and his daughter, a pianist. In Hero, before Jet Li’s character battles with Sky, he asks an old musician to continue playing his instrument as they fight to the death. And the old man obliges, plucking haunting notes from his strings as the battle ensues in the rain. In Forbidden Kingdom, it is said that a musician also has gong fu, in that he also tries to attain that perfection of uniting the mind with the body and the soul.
Martial arts and music share a common ground in this: the unity of mind, body, and spirit. I long to attain the same goal through both streams (as well as others) but, although I have found my music, I have not found my martial art.
There is something in me that longs to reach the heavens. I think that journey will begin by mastering the body and will end with mastering my music.
