Chapter 160: Regarding the Hong Kong Entertainment Industry

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Liu Qingshan’s expression grew serious. “When two sides clash, it’s a matter of their forces meeting and shifting. Put into practice, borrowing your opponent’s force means joining it to your own, then turning it back against them. You can change the line along which their force acts, make its point of contact ineffective, or do both at once. That is the principle: the movement begins with you, the force is borrowed from your opponent, and you lift them up by using their own strength!”

He casually repeated the movement he had just performed, this time slowly, explaining as he demonstrated.

“Seek straightness within a curve; store up strength before releasing it. That saying captures the essence of tai chi, and it’s also the heart of using an opponent’s force against them in grappling. Grappling is a technique for capturing an adversary. Combined with other fighting methods, it lets you twist their joints, separate their tendons, and break their bones until they can no longer resist and are forced to submit.”

“Could you go into more detail? Maybe show us some specific techniques?” Hung Da Bao asked eagerly.

Zhen Zijian was a little more clearheaded. “We’d better sit down and talk. Don’t you see people gathering around us?”

By then, Xia Shaosheng had already gotten up to hold back the growing crowd, and even Yam Ja-hwa was helping the shopkeeper persuade people to move along.

After they had finally settled things down, Liu Qingshan began his explanation.

“Some examples are groin kick and arm twist, block and hook, wrist capture, small and large entanglements, lifting the lantern, leading the sheep, leg sweep, wrist roll, and arm break. Grappling also includes escape techniques, of course. The old saying goes: ‘The bolder you are, the higher your skill; the higher your skill, the bolder you can be.’ That’s an extremely important lesson in real combat. All these methods depend first on your own ability, and then on your reflexes—the ability to close in and capture an opponent in an instant…”

It wasn’t appropriate to talk at length in public, but even so, the discussion lasted a good half hour.

Anyone else who overheard them would have made little of it. Only a few people present, with deep martial arts experience and an understanding of the finer points, could grasp some of it in such a short time.

The Indians couldn’t understand Cantonese, and even simple Mandarin was something they had to pick through carefully.

But they weren’t idle. They threw themselves into the honey-glazed barbecue pork buns, fresh shrimp rice rolls, and delicious turnip cakes.

Shi Hui chose soft custard buns and Cantonese-style molten cakes. As she nibbled, she tried hard to make sense of the conversation in Cantonese.

She was a few months older than Liu Qingshan, but after half a year of knowing him, she had seen more and more abilities in him that she would never have imagined.

Compared with the other men at the table, she admired Liu Qingshan’s business acumen and courage even more.

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She had even told Park Hye-jin that he had everything it took to build a business empire of his own, and wondered why he was so devoted to being an entertainer.

At first, Shi Hui had been rather dismissive of his skill in martial arts, writing it off as an excess of youthful energy.

But as she came to know more people in the film-fighting world, she realized that Liu Qingshan had earned an increasingly exceptional standing in martial arts circles, too.

She was eager to understand how he had trained himself to reach such a level.

Before long, Liu Qingshan noticed her watching him. He chuckled and asked, “What, have you taken an interest in martial arts? It’s not for you. You’re too old to start building a foundation now.”

Shi Hui rolled her eyes at him. She had never felt much like a junior assistant around her employer. “How could a pretty young woman like me be interested in the rough-and-tumble of men?”

Everyone at the table laughed. Shi Hui was certainly pretty, but she had a rather brash streak; the word “delicate” didn’t really suit her.

Yam Ja-hwa teased her. “Little girl, once you have a boyfriend, you won’t call us men rough anymore. Do you have one?”

Shi Hui blushed. “Even if I did, I’d have to break up with him now. Ever since I got this job, I haven’t spent two consecutive days at home. I’m always running off to film sets, and each time I’m gone for at least two months.”

“That’s what it’s like for actors. But you’ve seen so many stars, big and small. Never thought about finding a handsome actor, then working as his assistant? You wouldn’t have to worry about being apart.”

Shi Hui pursed her lips. “With Shan standing right in front of me as the standard, how exceptional would a man have to be before I’d even consider him?”

Hung Da Bao burst out laughing. “Fair enough. Compared with Shan, it really is hard to find anyone among the younger generation who measures up.”

At some point, he had stopped calling Liu Qingshan “Shan-zai.”

Zhen Zijian suddenly thought of Chen Zuming. “Why didn’t Jaycee come along? Brother Dragon said he was leaving his son in your care from now on.”

“His teacher, Li Zhongsheng, just moved his workshop to Beijing. Brother Zhongsheng is busy making guitars in seclusion at the moment, so he’s handed Jaycee a lot of the work involved in setting up the new place.”

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“Wasn’t Brother Zhongsheng’s Lee Guitars studio in Shanghai? Why move it?”

“I actually know a little about that. Right now, Beijing has China’s strongest internet culture and the best atmosphere for startups. The internet industry is growing by leaps and bounds, and it has a powerful draw for the entertainment world, too. That doesn’t mean Beijing has a more developed entertainment industry, though. Shanghai is a modern city, while Beijing is a city of resources. In fact, Hong Kong still has the most developed entertainment industry.”

“But Beijing is the cultural center. The big production companies, directors, and academies are all here. So are a lot of talent agencies. Even when stars are busy traveling around, they still have to spend a great deal of time in Beijing handling business. It’s well on its way to surpassing Hong Kong.”

Liu Qingshan shook his head. “It’ll take more than ten or twenty years to catch up. The mainland entertainment industry got a late start, and most of the works and stars with real name recognition are concentrated here. That’s cultural depth. It’s not so easy to surpass.”

Yam Ja-hwa nodded, then shook his head. “That may be true, but why did Zhongsheng choose Beijing instead of Hong Kong? Hong Kong’s industry may be the most developed, but future growth depends on emerging markets. Beijing is where the entertainment industry’s new forces are gathering. The market and talent resources here are starting to draw people like us from Hong Kong.”

He was three years older than Li Zhongsheng, so he could call him by name.

Xia Shaosheng offered an even more practical example. “Isn’t that why you brought Ah Kit to the mainland? Hong Kong’s entertainment scene is getting old. Look at the young people today—can any of them match the influence and drawing power of the Four Heavenly Kings, or Brother Fa and Brother Wah?”

At that, Liu Qingshan had no answer.

The Hong Kong entertainment industry of the seventies and eighties had enjoyed a glory that could never be replicated. A whole generation of stars, equally at home in film, television, and music, had shone across Asia.

Back then, almost any star could hold their own. The Hong Kong film market in particular had been hailed as the “Hollywood of the East.”

Yet somehow, the entertainment industries of Hong Kong and Taiwan had begun to decline. Veteran stars flocked to the mainland to make money, while the younger generation seemed unable to fill the gap. Why?

Of course, this wasn’t a question Liu Qingshan wanted to dwell on. He was more concerned with the development of the mainland entertainment industry.

But clearly, the few Hong Kongers at the table were full of melancholy on the subject. This was the very foundation of their livelihood.