A few months ago, the TNT cable channel broadcast the Masters of the Martial Arts special. One of the many great martial artists honored was Cynthia Rothrock. I had planned on doing a spotlight on the event but circumstances beyond my control(aka accidentally taping over the event the next night) prevented me. Luckily, on December 30th, TNT rebroadcast the event, much to the delight of CR fans everywhere. And what better way to kick off the 1999 Spotlight than with the Masters of the Martial Arts Special. I wanted to do something different this time so instead of a normal review, this is more of a flow of consciousness type paper. It was pretty much written as I watched it. So it might stray from the subject matter from time to time.

Although Wesley Snipes was listed as the host, he only showed up at the beginning and end of the show. Unless you count the numerous 'Blade' segments promoting his film. Wesley was actually the producer of the special and should get a lot of credit for putting this together.

The show hits a nice stride, but all of a sudden, Doug E Fresh shows up to perform. Now, I'm as big a fan of old school hip hop as the next guy, but this seems more than a little out of place. It was like MTV Jams suddenly took over the show for five minutes. The audience seemed to dig it though ( I think I even saw Cynthia Rothrock doing the Cabbage Patch. Which proves CR is a lot cooler than you thought. Just try picturing Steven Seagal doing the Cabbage Patch. I thought so.)

Cynthia Rothrock gave a speech about women in the martial arts which led into a retrospective about women in the martial arts. The clips featured Angela Mao, Pam Grier, and of course, Ms. Rothrock. Scenes from Righting Wrongs and Guardian Angel made up a lot of the film clips.

The show's main push was recognizing masters in different fields and styles of martial arts. Many of the masters on stage were in their 60's and 70's. Even so, once you heard their stats (10th degree black belt, 15 different styles, etc.) you just know they could still kick your ass if they felt like it. More than a few looked like they would fit in perfectly as the evil villain in a MA flick. One Master actually had a cane with a golden handle. Sweet.

Suddenly, Foxy Brown and Spinderella come to the stage. Both are looking good, really good. A little too good. Now that I think about it, maybe a tight tube top and a leather micro mini-skirt isn't the right attire for a formal event honoring the greatest martial artists alive today. To be fair, they did look a little surprised to be there. Maybe Wesley told them it would be a video shoot with karate masters and they just misunderstood what he meant.

Before I could even finish my thought on how inappropriate some of the segments were, a very moving tribute to martial artists that have died over the years is shown. Go figure.

The demonstrations were very well done, but somewhat hampered by the overuse of slo-motion. And you have to wonder how impressed the audience was with the brick breaking demonstration. I mean, 90% of the audience could probably break 3 times the number of bricks with one hand tied behind their back, blindfolded, and fighting a bad cold.

Watching some of the great forms demonstrations got me thinking. It really would've been great to see Cynthia Rothrock demoing forms. In fact, now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen CR doing forms in a film at all. Bummer.

Great Bruce Lee retrospective showcasing a lost interview and scenes from Enter the Dragon. Damn that guy was fast. Oh my god, I think Bruce Lee just killed a guy with that kick! When was the last time you saw a movie and really thought that someone got hurt during a fight scene. The only time I can remember is the last fight scene in Lady Dragon.

The camera takes a quick shot of Robert Carradine.(CR kicked his ass in Martial Law.)

By the way, I don't see Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Renee Russo in the area anywhere. You know why not? Because if they were there CR would've been forced to wipe the floor with them for ever pretending to throw a roundhouse kick.

Benny 'The Jet' Uriquidez (ass kicked by CR in Martial Law 2) is recognized as a master in Kickboxing. Don 'The Dragon' Wilson(it's only a matter of time before CR kicks his ass on film) is also deemed a Master. Both guys have more than earned the honor with exteremly impressive fight records.

The scene shifts to clips of a competition held earlier in the day. It looked like a full contact competition in the same vein as the Kung Fu Championships that were televised on pay per view. I can only hope that TNT broadcasts this event in it's entirety someday, because it looked really good. I think I saw a glimpse of Kathy Long (ass kicked in Rage and Honor) as a spectator.

Another Promo for Blade is shown. Blade was a fun movie. It featured great HK swordplay style action in a summer full of explosion flicks. (If you really want your head to spin, go see 'The Blade' directed by Tsui Hark. It makes Blade look like an episode of Saved by the Bell.)

Wesley Snipes closes the show. It seems that Wesley is a 5th degree black belt himself! No kidding? Wow. He gives a great speech thanking and acknowledging the Masters at the event for all they have accomplished and what they have inspired others to accomplish.

Without warning, KRS-One hits the stage to close the show with a rap performance. Why? Closing with Wesley's speech would've been perfect. Oh well, life ain't all perfect.

The show was a little uneven with all of the rappers showing up unexpectedly, but overall it was great. I hope they do something like this every year.