Bullet Points: College Kickboxers

In the 1990’s the sport of kickboxing knew no bounds. Whether it was the middle of the desert or in Thailand or in every underground fighting circuit from New York City to Los Angeles, kickboxers were popping up anywhere and everywhere. Kickboxers even infiltrated the hallowed halls of academia in 1991’s College Kickboxers.

• Fast Enemies, Faster Friends: Our story begins with James Caulfield (played by Ken McLeod or as he was billed in this movie Ken Rendall Johnson). James has his jeep packed up and is on his way to his first day in college. James is roomed with an upperclassman named Mark Brown (played by Mark Williams, who you may remember as the fire eater in 1995’s Dragon Fury). Both James and Mark are martial artists, but this common ground quickly turns into a battleground for the ultra-competitive and machismo filled college students. It appears this is going to be a long freshman year for James… but before he and Mark can really come to blows they are united by a common enemy… Craig Tanner.

• Enter the Racist: Craig Tanner (Matthew Ray Cohen in his second and final film role) is the leader of a local gang known as The White Tigers. They are known as The White Tigers not because they are huge fans of the Gary Daniels film White Tiger, but because they are racist martial artists. When the White Tigers see the very white James Caulfield and the very black Mark Brown sparring in the quad (a space usually reserved for hacky sacking), Tanner and his cronies make some insensitive remarks in Brown’s direction. Our hero, James does not agree with the views and opinions of Tanner and The White Tigers and tells them as much. James even turns down their invitation to join their gang of karate chopping bigots. In just a matter of minutes the Caulfield/Brown relationship goes from rivalry to best friends forever. James even agrees to help Mark at the martial arts school he teaches at. #Bromance

• Tiger Rag: Did you think Craig Tanner and The White Tigers were going to just accept the fact that James did not want to join their hate group? Of course you didn’t… so Tanner and his boys run into James at his place of employment, the local Chinese restaurant. When they start talking trash to James, James puffs out his chest and invites the White Tigers to meet him out back… it is there where James falls victim to the numbers game and gets his ass handed to him. Things could have been worse if the chef at the restaurant did not come to James’ aid. We quickly realize the chef, Sifu Wing (played by Tak-Wing Tang) is not just a whiz in the kitchen, the man is a martial arts master. He chases off The White Tigers and even nurses James back to health with his mastery of acupuncture. For those of you unfamiliar with Tak-Wing Tang, I could best describe him as a poor man’s Sammo Hung. After the incident, James is all about Wing teaching him. But Wing is not all about sharing his knowledge. James is persistent, but you start to wonder what will happen to James first, Wing agreeing to teach him or the tree hugging, college activist Kimberly agreeing to sleep with him.

• The Tournament: Like many martial arts movies from this time, the film culminates with a tournament. James’ BFF Mark has entered the tournament and for a very noble reason. Mark’s teaching gig at the martial arts school is about to come to an end. The lease on the building is almost up and soon the building that houses the school will be torn down to make way for a strip mall. But Mark has a real passion for helping under privileged kids through martial arts, so he has a dream to open up his own school. This dream can be made possible if Mark is able to win the $25,000 prize the tournament winner receives. Master Wing forbids James from entering the tournament, as he believes that fighting for money is wrong. But a funny thing happens on the way to this tournament… Mark Brown is attacked by The White Tigers (who have representatives in the tournament as well), thus making Mark unable to compete and leaving James with the difficult decision, obey his Master and let The White Tigers take the prize and see the dream of his best friend go up in smoke or disobey his master, help his friend help the children and kick some White Tiger ass in the process.

College is supposed to be a time in a person’s life where they open their minds and fill them with new ideas. College Kickboxers doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. The plot is a tapestry of elements from countless other martial arts flicks that preceded it and none of the performances in the movie would be classified as memorable. Still, if you are a fan of the genre, College Kickboxers is worth a watch and a testament to the popularity of the kickboxing sub genre of action films in the 1990’s.

And just how popular were those kickboxing movies? They were even more popular than our beloved bonus Bullet Points…

• If You Ever: …wanted to see martial arts training conducted bare foot on an ice rink, then this is the movie for you.
• Decorating Disaster #1: Did nobody tell college students James and Mark that their dorm room required a poster of John Belushi from Animal House and not a bunch of martial arts trophies and certificates?
• AKA: College Kickboxers was also released as Trained to Fight.
• Time Warp: Two years after he was a college student in College Kickboxers, Ken McLeod would go on to play a high school student in the superior Showdown starring Billy Blanks and Kenn Scott.
• Montage Tease: The movie teases a couple of montages early on, but they never really get off the ground. But have no fear we get a couple of full length montages as the movie progresses including the obligatory training montage.
• Decorating Disaster #2: Sifu Wing has a room in his apartment devoted to his acupuncture hobby.
• Don’t Call it a Comeback: During one of their many arguments James gets in the last word on Kimberly when he says, “Why don’t you go save a whale!?”