Yet these fantastical abilities were commonly featured in Chinese literature and films dating back to the 1950s. In Chinese films, they also use xi wu da fa “suction” abilities to pull opponents or objects toward them, and they apply ching gong to leap high, run atop trees and land on their feet after jumping down from tremendous heights.īefore 1977, Japanese films didn't use these techniques, and indeed they don't exist in samurai folklore.

Instead, during Jedi duels, the force falls in line with Chinese literature and kung fu cinema, where swordsmen use fa jing chi strikes to send opponents flying backward without touching them. While the philosophy of the force ties in with Native American culture (see Part One), the combative nature of the force does not. With Luke Skywalker using telekinesis in The Empire Strikes Back, it begged the question, Was this the force? My 'yes' answer was revealed in that blog, and my 'no' answer will be expounded here. Studying the evolution of the lightsaber duels throughout the original trilogy served as a basis for determining the extent of kendo's real and fake influence. Fans of the films claim that because of executive producer George Lucas' love of early Japanese chanbara films, the lightsaber duels, the force and the amazing fighting skills of the Jedi - which were based on kendo, ki (chi in Chinese) and samurai/Errol Flynn films, respectively - were emphasized. In Part One of this blog, I noted that the sword fights from the first six Star Wars films were superior to those of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens.

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