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The Fearless Young Boxer (小子命大; Xiǎozi mìng dà), also known as Avenging Boxer and Method Man, is a 1979 Hong Kong martial arts film directed by Jimmy Shaw and starring Casanova Wong.

Plot

Wu Pa Feng (Casanova Wong) kills one of his former gang members, Li Tien Yen (Fei Lung), in a duel. Before the duel, Li Tien Yen gives his son, Shao Lung (Peter Chen) a gold plate that Wu Pa Feng is looking for. Shao Lung goes looking for his father and witnesses his death at the hands of Wu Pa Feng while hiding in the bushes.

The distraught Shao Lung joins his uncle Xiao Lung’s travelling kung-fu show. His uncle teaches him kung fu via various training montages to improve his fighting skills to get him to actively participate in the show and hopefully build up his self-esteem, he also receives training from his cousin, Xiao Ling (Hwa Ling).

During one of their performances, Shao Lung spots Wu Pa Feng in the audience and throws a sword at him. Wu Pa Feng doesn’t recognize Shao Lung, so he passes it off as an accident and hands him back his weapon. Everyone is shocked at Shao Lung's actions until he reveals that it was the man that killed his father. Xiao Lung tells his nephew that he’s not good enough to take revenge and not to get involved. Wu Pa Feng meets with the corrupt magistrate. He informs him that he’s killed Li Tien Yen but did not get the gold plate and has learned that Li Tien Yen has a son (who he obviously doesn’t recognize). He then mentioned that he was attacked at the performance he attended and simply wanted to ask his attacker some questions before he (Shao Lung) ran off.

Shao Lung, his uncle, and Xiao Ling arrive in a new town and settle down for another show. When Xiao Ling goes into town to shop, she is pursued by a (rather annoying) man who claims to be “descended from warriors”, who expresses his attraction to her, which she clearly doesn't reciprocate. After he touches her, she slaps him, and he assumes it means that she likes him, and proceeds to stalk her. Shao Lung intervenes and, after watching the man warm up with an odd martial arts display, proceeds to beat him up, and his accomplice. Shao Lung and Xiao Ling are reprimanded by Xiao Lung as he doesn’t want them attracting unwanted attention. Despite his uncle’s warning, Shao Lung again gets into a fight on a young, pickpocketing, beggar’s named Stumpy's behalf (who steals his gold plate). In the process, Shao Lung completely ruins someone’s business and when departing, runs into Wu Pa Feng again. Shao Lung pretends that he’s just a random bystander, then runs off when he notices that the gold plate given to him by his father is missing. Shao Lung pursues Stumpy, who refuses to return it. After a long pursuit, Stumpy escapes after he tricks Shao Lung when they get caught up in a wedding caravan. That evening, Shao Lung’s uncle is upset that he lost the gold plate as it’s the symbol of the chief of the gang and whoever possesses it controls them. Shao Lung vows to get the gold plate back.

Shao Lung gets into another altercation with the men who were harassing his cousin, who just so happen to be affiliated with one of Wu Pa Feng's henchmen. He informs him that the man who beat him up (again) is with the traveling show and they send men to wreck it, meanwhile, Wu Pa Feng watches in attendance to see if he can get a lead on Li Tien Yen's son. Fed up with Shao Lung getting into fights, uncle kicks him out of the show and sends him away. Shao Lung runs off and lives with an old monk that he met previously. Shao Lung tells the monk about his fathers murder and the monk teaches him more kung-fu to improve his current skills. While he’s training, Wu Pa Feng runs into Shao Lung again (still unaware of who he is) and the two have a friendly spar. Wu Pa Feng tells Shao Lung to meet him at the garden if he just so happens to run into the son of Li Tien Yen, who he believes is part of the traveling kung-fu show.

Stumpy comes and meets with the monk, who notices that Stumpy is carrying a gold plate. The monk scolds Stumpy and tells him to give Shao Lung back his gold plate. Wu Pa Feng finds Lu Yun Hai (one of Shao Lung’s uncles) and kills him. Stumpy stumbles upon the murder and is chased by Wu Pa Feng when he notices that Stumpy has the gold plate. The normally elusive Stumpy refuses to tell Wu Pa Feng where he got the plate and is killed while trying to escape. The somewhat annoyed magistrate tells Wu Pa Feng that Stumpy was just a poor beggar and that he killed the wrong person. Xiao Lung gets news of his dead brother, Lu Yun Hai. He sends a letter to Shao Lung telling him and his niece that he is going to confront Wu Pa Feng and not to get involved, but he is intercepted by one of Wu Pa Feng's henchmen. After he defeats the henchman, Xiao Lung and Wu Pa Feng fight, but Xiao Lung is no match for Wu Pa Feng and is killed.

The old monk tells Shao Lung and Xiao Ling not to be in a hurry to take revenge for their respective parents and to use their intelligence, since one-on-one, they are no match for Wu Pa Feng. Shao Lung meets with Wu Pa Feng and tells him that the man that he’s looking for is hiding out at an old barn where Shao Lung and Xiao Ling set a trap for him so they can finally take revenge.

Cast

• Peter Chen Lau as Shao Lung
• Chen Wai Lau as Uncle
• Fei Lung as Shao's father
• Casanova Wong as Wu Pa Fong

Reception

In their 1995 book The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies, authors Bill Palmer, Karen Palmer and Ric Meyers gave The Fearless Young Boxer a score of four out of four stars, writing: "The martial arts and choreography are absolutely wonderful, and the film has a slam-bang finish."

Influence

Rapper Method Man adapted his stage name from one of the film's alternate titles.

References

1. Palmer, Bill; Palmer, Karen; Meyers, Richard (1995). The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies. Scarecrow Press. pp. 113–114. ISBN 978-0810830271.
2. Valorose, Sam (2 March 2018). "10 Method Man Facts You Might Not Know". iHeartRadio. Retrieved 14 June 2022.

External links

• The Fearless Young Boxer at IMDb

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