I was watching some martial arts fight scene clips off of Youtube earlier today when I stumbled across this fight from Fearless (warning for violence, of course). It was interesting and I was enjoying it in a sort of detached way, but then the person Jet Li's character is fighting pulled off a vaguely familiar move at around 1:11 that hit me with the thought, 'Hm, that looks like Hung Gar.' In case you don't know, Hung Gar is the real-life martial art that earthbending is based on, with the exception of Toph, whose style is based on Southern Praying Mantis.

As the opponent demonstrated more of his moves, the more I was reminded of Hung Gar, and the thought stuck until eventually I just had to find out if it was Hung Gar or not. So I went digging around the Internet for more info.

I couldn't locate sources I have my solid trust in, but I did see Hung Gar mentioned here (under Film). If it's true, I'm happy (and slightly worried) that my Avatar fanism was caught by something random like that. If it's not true, it's certainly very earthbenderesque. Strong blows, firm stance--I find it awesome how Jet Li's character would kick his opponent's legs in an attempt to break his root and he'd barely budge an inch.

Anybody know for sure what style the opponent is using here? Anybody study Hung Gar? And maybe, in a little plea to make me feel less like a geek, does the opponent in that fight remind you of earthbending from the first viewing, as it did me? XD