#life gamble

[venomsreviews]

I feel like I post a lot of gifs highlighting Lu Feng's weapons skills or fight skills. So, I wanted to make this set to show off some of his other talents!

[venomous-five]

Life Gamble (1979)

[venom-mob-network]

What weapon does Simon Lee use in Life Combat?

Hello! Thank you so much for this ask! I didn’t know the answer right off the top of my head, so this was really fun to research.

So right off the bat, these are pretty unique in that they’re dual-wielded hand weapons. I searched through quite a lot of lists and through numerous images, and this was the first lead I got.

But of course this wasn’t right, seeing as how that’s a single weapon and a spear. But, the blades looked similar! So I felt that I was on the right track. I made sure to note that that polearm is called a Ji.

Then I found something called a Ji Zhua Gou, and it’s a lot like what Li Yi-Min is holding in the picture above... but like, if he was holding them upside down.

I felt like the spear was a lot closer to what I was actually looking for, so I started searching deeper into the Ji weapon. Eventually I as led to the Fan Tian Hua Ji 方天畫戟, shown below.

And I think that this is as close as I’m gonna get! The length is still a little too long in the images above (except for that last one), but at the very least, the weapon that Li Yi-Min uses is definitely inspired by these.

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if this is basically an original weapon designed for the purpose of the film. Shaw Brothers had invented new weapons solely for use in their movies before, like the flags used in Flag of Iron (1980).

Those flags weren’t based on any actual weapons, they were just an idea that those involved thought would be an interesting narrative and action tool to work with. And they were right! So I think more often than not, some of the weapons used in these movies were made with the intent of “what is most interesting”, rather than “what is most accurate”. Again, it’s always possible that I just didn’t search deep enough, and Li Yi-Min is using an actual weapon type that exists (in which case, please do correct me!), but if it’s not then I think that a Fan Tian Hua Ji is as close as we’re gonna get.

[venomsreviews]

Life Gamble (1979)

Directed by Chang Cheh

Featuring: Lu Feng, Bruce Tong Yim-Chaan, Kuo Chui, Lin Chen-Chi, Lo Mang, Shirley Yu Sha-Li, and Chiang Sheng

[venomous-five]

Life Gamble (1979)

[venomous-five]

Life Gamble (1979)

[venomous-five]

Life Gamble (1979)

[venomsreviews]

Chiang Sheng as Xiao Tang, ❝The Deadly Whip❞, in Life Gamble (1979)