How William Shatner Turned Captain Kirk Into The Bruce Lee of Starfleet
Kirk Fu? Yes, The Shat Is The Shit of Future Hand to Hand Combat
Star Trek fans happily celebrate this futuristic combat fact: Captain Kirk can fight. And fight he does on so many memorable occasions and in shocking, complex situations. Nothing and no one is spared Kirk’s putrefying pugilistic power. He gladly fights humans, Klingons, robots, androids, horny Vulcans, Andorians and those sneaky kissing cousins of loopy logical Vulcans, the unpredictable Romulans.
James T. Kirk also regularly beats up non humanoids. His fight card includes super destructive alien probes and naughty, misbehaving sentient computers. He confidently tells them what they can go do with themselves. Kirk doesn’t discriminate against a potential opponent because it happens to be alien constructed tech. Often, he doesn’t lift a finger to best an adversary, he simply talks it into self destruct submission.
Yeah, Captain Kirk can fight.
Consult Starship Enterprise’s Computer, for reference, it’ll dutifully report; Working. Future Fact: Captain Kirk is kickass.
Kirk’s such an accomplished space ace combatant, he practices Kirk Fu - his own martial art! Can you say the same Buck Rogers? Hello, Han Solo!? Yoo Hoo, Flash Gordon? We’re waiting! Nah, didn’t think so!
Bruce Lee’s Kato On TV Same Year As Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek
Despite the famous Hollywood fantasy factory trying to convince us that what we see onscreen is real, actors don’t usually fight the bad guys. There are, of course, exceptions. The reality is that back in the day, William Shatner was a fit, athletic guy who did much of his own stunt work, and certainly did much of his own stage/stunt fighting while wearing his Captain’s uniform.
A historic, television connection is while William Shatner’s Kirk was karate and kung-fu fighting magnificently on NBC, over on another channel, ABC, a real kung-fu genius, Bruce Lee, did much the same on his own TV show, the Adam West and Burt Ward starring Batman spin-off, The Green Hornet.
In today’s ultra, action packed cinematic world, actors are basically expected to be part stunt person as well as leading man or lady. Back then, not so much.
Not only are A list actors expected to do a lot of their own stunt fighting, but in our action oriented movie landscape, there’s tons more movies and TV shows loaded with complex throw downs. Shit, even in sitcoms you’ll be treated to more than a few knockdowns.
Before sitting his toned Captain’s buns down on center seat on his Starship Enterprise bridge, Shatner had an authentic history of his own real martial arts mastery. He studied American Kenpo Karate under black belt teacher, Tom Bleecker, who trained under the founder, Ed Parker himself. This connects back to Bruce Lee, in that Lee’s introduction to the martial arts world and general public came when he competed in Ed Parker’s first Long Beach International Karate Championship in 1964 - 2 years before Star Trek premiered on NBC. In 1968, Lee returned to the contest to thrill spectators with an electric showcase of his insanely proficient skills.
The Gorn Was Born To The Arena Fight
So many episodes, so many fights, how can you pick the best or most outrageous?
How’s about trading blows with a seven foot bipedal lizard?
Arena remains one of the best, most action packed, bizarre and just downright fun original series Treks. Kirk is forced to fight another ship’s captain. His luck, this isn’t a scrawny humanoid or even a tough Klingon. This guy’s a dinosaur on two legs.
Fans know it well. They know the Gorn captain as well as genetic superman Khan or the Klingon Kang. Yes, the Gorn rubber suit which an actor inhabits may be looked upon today as cheesy or even cheaply fake, since we’re all spoiled by digital trickery, but for the time, and looking at it through yesterday’s simpler lens, that lizard man really ain’t so bad. His look and costume along with great voice acting - from actor Ted Cassidy - save it from being a more mockable moment.
What makes the whole thing fun and even scary is the slithering, hissing sounds coming from Kirk’s reptilian opponent. Marvel Comics The Lizard from Spider-Man couldn’t summon anything even half as spine tingling.
In Space Seed, Kirk and Khan (Ricardo Montalban) mix it up in the end, and it’s not bad at all, but woefully too short. Kirk manages a few flashy moves though, and since Khan remains one of his most important adversaries, it’s definitely one for the list.
We must mention Kirk vs Finnegan in Shore Leave. Like most fans, I can watch this fight again and again. Gold stars for its fun factor given to actor, Bruce Mars, who plays the mighty Finnegan. This guy was so torturously irritating, he’d taunt the Pope into kicking his crazy ass. These days, Mr. Mars is a real life Monk, known as Brother Paramananda Guess he’s atoning for all his violent Jimmy Boy taunting.
Ancient Vulcan Combat Run Amuck In Amok Time
Face it fans, no analysis of Kirk as super sci-fi fighter can be complete without including his emotionally charged fight with first officer and best friend, Mister Spock. Amok Time pits a super strong Vulcan - suffering from his alien race’s version of lusty heat - against his super skilled martial artist Starfleet Captain, all against the rugged backdrop of Planet Vulcan. It would be the first time Trekkers got to see Spock’s home fabled, sun drenched world.
As Spock, Nimoy was also no slouch making hand to hand fights appear realistic. Of course he’d fall back on his handy Vulcan neck pinch. It was Nimoy who came up with the famed pinch, arguing that an advanced alien such as a Vulcan would employ a more civilized way of subduing an opponent. In this balls to the wall contest, it’s only Spock and Kirk knocking the shit out of each other with ancient Vulcan weaponry.
Cool weapons are also the fantastic prop allure for this gotta see to believe match-up. The Lirpa and Ahn-woon. The Lirpa is basically a Shaolin Kung-Fu type staff with a can opener style blade tip, while the Ahn-woon is a simple long cloth with stone weights attached on the bottom of each end. Spock slices open his friend’s chest and opens up a hole in Captain’s Starfleet uniform shirt with the Lirpa, then finishes things up nicely with the older Vulcan weapon, the deceptively simple, though deadly Ahn-woon.
Wanna own that moment in vintage television time? The match remains a landmark moment for so many outrageously cool reasons, and has not only been depicted in comic books, novels and in fan tributes, but made into action figures and Star Trek Hallmark Christmas Ornaments.
What else can you say about Enterprise’s fist flying and high kicking commander? Here’s my emphatic, though perhaps ultimately controversial opinion on JTK’s combat coolness. I think he could literally take on nearly every major sci-fi character. This includes Han Solo, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon - and most of his Starfleet colleagues. Worf, Sisko and Chakotay presenting the most difficult to defeat. But remember, Kirk’s the Kobayashi Maru marauder, he’s the miracle man with the plan to thwart Khan or the Klingon Captain in The Search For Spock. Like a Starfleet spanning Bruce Lee armed with a phaser - though he doesn’t seem to need it much - Kirk’s ass kicking rates right on up there with his legendary romancing.