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Where did the nickname "Beardy" originate?


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I've always been a big fan of Liang Chia Jen and while writing my review blog review Mantis Fist Fighter, it hit me that I still don't know exactly where the "Beardy" nickname came from. I always thought it was an affectionate fan term because I don't recall him ever being called by that name in any movie.

Also curious as to when that name was first used. My best guess is that it goes back to Sleeping Fist, but I'm not sure.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

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I always thought that it came about from the RickBaker Kung Fu show Scala era in London.

He had apparently termed "Heroic Bloodshed" also.

May pre-date that though, not sure. Either way, never tire of saying I miss those days :smile:

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ShaOW!linDude

Hmmm. This is an interesting question. I bet there'll be lots of answers.

I once saw this mentioned in either TOP FIGHTER or THE DEADLIEST ART (videos about MA stars). If I recall properly, it was the French who coined the nickname "Beardy". They were big fans of him and all his early releases there in France were apparently of his films in which he had a beard.

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TibetanWhiteCrane
Ric Meyers talks a little bit about on his (and Bobby Samuels) commentary for THE VICTIM. Believe what you want from his mouth, though.

What does he say??

That Leung Kar Yan was born with a full beard, and use to twirl it, while frolicking in the fields with his brothers, Leung Chiu Wai and Leung Siu Hung??

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Ric Meyers talks a little bit about on his (and Bobby Samuels) commentary for THE VICTIM. Believe what you want from his mouth, though.

What's kind of ironic is that the question was posed to me on Facebook by none other than Bill Connelly (who co founded M.A.M.A. with Ric). I didn't know it's origin either, so I figured I'd try my luck on this board. I also have Ric as a Facebook friend and he has yet to chime in with anything.

Maybe it was Baker as kurtz suggested...

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Interestingly, I see "Top Fighter" Documentary mentioned above ..It was Rick Baker (Eastern Heroes) and Toby Russell whom made it I believe..

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Hmmm. This is an interesting question. I bet there'll be lots of answers.

I once saw this mentioned in either TOP FIGHTER or THE DEADLIEST ART (videos about MA stars). If I recall properly, it was the French who coined the nickname "Beardy". They were big fans of him and all his early releases there in France were apparently of his films in which he had a beard.

Now that I think about it, it may very well have been Top Fighter that mentioned his popularity in France. Haven't watched that documentary in many years, but that suddenly sounded too familiar.

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Interesting to hear Bobby lived with Sammo for 2 years. Bobby also mentioned the racism in HK and even with Sammo in DON'T GIVE GIVE A DAMN. He seems to have some hostility towards Sammo now and doesn't seem to be on the friendliest terms. It's a shame Ric cuts the conversation short. Bobby also states that Chang Yi is from Indonesia?

Not to derail the thread, but Bobby also talks about living with Sammo in the special features for HKL's release of Winners and Sinners (I think?). He goes into some depth.

Celestial's biography for Chang Yi says he was born in Guangdong, and retired to Canada. I wonder how correct those bios are though.

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TibetanWhiteCrane

And I think that Don Wong Tao says on one of his commentaries that Chang Yi is taiwanese...... If only these people could get their facts straight!

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masterofoneinchpunch
Hmm, after rewatching THE VICTIM commentary, Ric doesn't really mention it. Other than saying most Asian men can't grow or maintain facial hair.

It's one of his better commentaries, though. Interesting to hear Bobby lived with Sammo for 2 years. Bobby also mentioned the racism in HK and even with Sammo in DON'T GIVE GIVE A DAMN. He seems to have some hostility towards Sammo now and doesn't seem to be on the friendliest terms. It's a shame Ric cuts the conversation short. Bobby also states that Chang Yi is from Indonesia?

It's a great commentary, but yeah the nickname they were discussing was Chan Lung's. I took detailed notes here.

Bobby is definitely not happy with Sammo. One thing I noticed was that Ric Meyer's in his latest book seems to take more of an anti-Sammo approach, not taking away from what he done, but stating that Sammo was his own worst enemy.

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masterofoneinchpunch

Beardy Strikes Back! by Mike Fury

I think it is probably impossible to figure the origin of his nickname and would question someone who stated they were the first. It is such a generic nickname (I like it) that it is easy to see anyone just call him that.

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Interesting thread.

I will call Rick Baker himself and put this question to him and get back to you all tomorrow. I'm sure he knows where the nickname started from.

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the nick name Beardy comes from the Brixton late night massive , Dave Sinkler, Roger Sinkler, Wing Chun Des, The Dread called Dettt!, Lance and a few others.in fact a lot of nick names for kung fu stars stem form there 1976-85ish

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Black.Dragon

The nickname was used to refer to him in the 70s by the West Indian community in New York City.

Got the info from Ground Zero version of " Shaolin Kingboxer" dvd under special features bios. Don't know how accurate ?

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The nickname was used to refer to him in the 70s by the West Indian community in New York City.

Got the info from Ground Zero version of " Shaolin Kingboxer" dvd under special features bios. Don't know how accurate ?

Bey Logan said in at least one commentary that he was nicknamed 'The Brigadier' by some Jamaican kung fu film fans. Maybe the West Indians in NY called him that as well.

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Great stuff Akuma!

Looks younger than he did back in the day!

Say hello to him from an original member of the "jcfc" ! :wink:

I will do mate...BTW - I'll be uploading more clips of Rick soon.

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