Caustic Soda [Podcast logo]
Search
Close this search box.

Fisticuffs

Lisa Gemino joins the Caustic Soda crew to talk about “punchy kicky stuff”. The one-inch punch, MMA, Houdini, Tinku, Krav-Maga, Panantukan, “buttons” and more!

Music: “Ain’t That A Kick In The Head” by Dean Martin

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Images

Links

Videos

Movies

Fight Club
Toren: 8/10
Joe: 10/10
Kevin: 10/10

Grosse Pointe Blank
Toren: 8/10
Joe: 8/10
Kevin: 9/10

Girl Fight
Kevin: 6/10

Raging Bull
Toren: 7/10
Joe: 10/10
Kevin: 10/10

Snatch
Toren: 8/10
Joe: 9/10
Kevin: 7/10

Spider-Man
Toren: 7/10
Joe: 7/10
Kevin: 9/10

Lethal Weapon
Toren: 5/10
Joe: 7/10
Kevin: 8/10

Enter the Dragon
Joe: 7/10
Kevin: 8/10

Above the Law
Joe: 5/10
Kevin: 5/10

Hard to Kill
Joe: 5/10
Kevin: 7/10

Marked for Death
Joe: 5/10
Kevin: 7/10

Bourne Identity
Toren: 8/10
Joe: 9/10
Kevin: 9/10

Drunken Master
Toren: 7/10
Joe: 7/10

Blood Sport
Joe: 6/10
Kevin: 6/10

42 Responses

    1. I was told specifically that we were only talking about punchy/kicky stuff and those are all weapons heavy fight scenes.

      1. Mr. Ping has done plenty of fights without weapons. Kung Fu Hustle comes to mind right off the top.

  3. Speaking of Fight Club… I always thought that the craziest guy in the film isn’t our Narrator or Tyler Durden. It’s the FUCKING MANIAC who sees a crazy person fighting himself in a parking lot and says “can I be next?”.

    That dude should be the subject of Fight Club 2.

  4. Speaking of Fight Club… I always thought that the craziest guy in the film isn’t our Narrator or Tyler Durden. It’s the FUCKING MANIAC who sees a crazy person fighting himself in a parking lot and says “can I be next?”.

    That dude should be the subject of Fight Club 2.

  5. If you haven’t seen American Astronaut yet, you must find it and watch it. You guys would love it. Anyway, the title of this podcast reminded me of this song.

  6. Some real a-holes missed the point of Fight Club and decided to start one up in the Alleys of my suburb. I gotta tell you, listening to consenting adults beat the poops out of each other, right outside your bedroom window, is one of the creepier ways to wake up in the middle of the night.

    Also, fisticuffs are not really all that good for your teeth.
    I sport a set of falsies after an encounter with a dirty fighter and half a house brick.

  7. Hey, I really liked Ong Bak, the Muay Thai movie. It’s big selling point was “no wire work, no stunt doubles, no CG” and it was really wierd but interesting to see all the big stunts being shown from 3 different angles to prove it to you.

    1. Ong Bak is one of my favorite martial arts movies as well. If anyone out there hasn’t seen it, you need to go out and rent it now. Other top contenders for me include Ip Man and Jet Li’s Fist of Legend (only if you can find a subtitled version. The dubbed version makes Jesus want to send kittens through a wood chipper).

      If, on the other hand, you’re looking for something totally ridiculous, I recommend Master of the Flying Guillotine. Bad ’70s Kung Fu in all of its terrible, cheesy glory.

  8. Hey, I really liked Ong Bak, the Muay Thai movie. It’s big selling point was “no wire work, no stunt doubles, no CG” and it was really wierd but interesting to see all the big stunts being shown from 3 different angles to prove it to you.

  9. I am very happy with this week’s show notes. the last couple of episodes have had slim pickings.

  10. also, I really enjoyed lisa as a special guest, you soda guys should have her on more often!

  11. What about Chuck Norris, he of Walker, Texas Ranger fame?
    Wasn’t he like a pro at martial arts or something like that?

  12. What about Chuck Norris, he of Walker, Texas Ranger fame?
    Wasn’t he like a pro at martial arts or something like that?

  13. You do realize there are more horrible, horrible action films made every year than one human can watch?

    If I’d had the chance, I would have wanted to mention “Mad Foxes” — 1981, made in West Germany. For the big opening fight scene, they couldn’t afford enough “good guy” extras, so the redundant bad guys just run around in karate clothes, kicking air.

    And yes, Chuck Norris was a world Tae Kwon Do champion. His own personal meme is pretty popular, though. Doesn’t really need extra help.

  14. You do realize there are more horrible, horrible action films made every year than one human can watch?

    If I’d had the chance, I would have wanted to mention “Mad Foxes” — 1981, made in West Germany. For the big opening fight scene, they couldn’t afford enough “good guy” extras, so the redundant bad guys just run around in karate clothes, kicking air.

    And yes, Chuck Norris was a world Tae Kwon Do champion. His own personal meme is pretty popular, though. Doesn’t really need extra help.

  18. BTW, what was the second movie mentioned – the one with the 6 minute fight scene? I didn’t catch the name of it.

    1. They Live. It’s not a good movie, but that fight scene is EPIC in its badness.

      Link under the episode too.

      2. I actually like They Live a fair deal. While it has a lot of cheese, it also has some great subversive scenes in it, though they’ve been embraced and abused by some of the more questionable elements of the conspiracy theory world. The early |”reveal” scenes of our true reality, on a mythic if not literal sense, are awesome. Casting Roddy Piper did not help the film though, nor did its sub-Matrix storm the building ending.

  19. One fight scene that cannot go without mention is the restaurant scene from The Protector with its almost five minute long fight scene without a single cut away. It’s got great fight correography and it’s an amazing feat of cinematography.

  22. (I continue catching up on podcasts from before I found you guys…)

    In a bit of ancient pop culture, ‘The Aeneid’ includes a boxing scene that I found memorable. (If you’re unfamiliar with it, this is the Roman equivalent of The Iliad, written circa 19 B.C.E.)

    The gist is, upon revisiting Siciliy, Aeneas remembers its the one year anniversary of his father’s death. Hence, he calls for a nine day feast followed by a competition of athletic games. Among them, a boxing match between two men.

    Among the crew is a warrior named Dares, who steps right up. He has an incredible boxing reputation and is obviously expected to win. Nobody else wants to face him, but eventually an old man named Entellus is goaded into it. He used to be a champion boxer, but he’s past his prime.

    The two face off – Dares being young and fast, while Entellus is still much stronger, but kind of hobbling around in the match. He can’t keep up and keeps missing with his swings, and eventually falls on the ground from overswinging. But, when he gets up, he’s pissed off and loses all control. He gets his act together and is on the verge of beating Dares to death when Aeneas intercedes, giving the better prize to Entellus.

    They carry Dares off to get cleaned up, while Entellus remains in the boxing ring. The final bit with Entellus is what stuck with me over the years.

    ~~~~~
    Glorying in his courage and his prize,
    Spoke out:
    “Son of the goddess, Teucrians all,
    Now see what power was in me in my prime,
    And see the death from which you rescued Dares.”

    He set himself to face the bull that stood there,
    Prize of the battle, then drew back his right
    And from his full height lashed his hard glove out
    Between the horns. The impact smashed the skull
    And fragmented the brains. Down went the ox
    Aquiver to sprawl dying on the ground.
    The man stood over it and in deep tones
    Proclaimed:
    “Here is a better life in place of Dares,
    Eryx; here I lay down my gauntlets and my art.”
    ~~~~~

    I suppose boxers were just that much tougher in the ancient days. 😉

    Another interesting thing, they describe Entellus’ boxing gloves, which were supposed to be intimidating in of themselves. Maybe its a bit overblown, but I think its curious that metals were included.

    ~~~~~
    …A pair of gauntlets
    Monstrously heavy, which the fighter Eryx
    Used to bind on his forearms and hands,
    hard rawhide. And the crowd looked on amazed,
    So huge were they, of seven ox-hides, barred
    with lead and iron sewed to stiffen them.
    ~~~~~

    (From the Robert Fitzgerald translation.)
    The Aeneid by Virgil, Book V, Lines 464 – 627

  23. (I continue catching up on podcasts from before I found you guys…)

    In a bit of ancient pop culture, ‘The Aeneid’ includes a boxing scene that I found memorable. (If you’re unfamiliar with it, this is the Roman equivalent of The Iliad, written circa 19 B.C.E.)

    The gist is, upon revisiting Siciliy, Aeneas remembers its the one year anniversary of his father’s death. Hence, he calls for a nine day feast followed by a competition of athletic games. Among them, a boxing match between two men.

    Among the crew is a warrior named Dares, who steps right up. He has an incredible boxing reputation and is obviously expected to win. Nobody else wants to face him, but eventually an old man named Entellus is goaded into it. He used to be a champion boxer, but he’s past his prime.

    The two face off – Dares being young and fast, while Entellus is still much stronger, but kind of hobbling around in the match. He can’t keep up and keeps missing with his swings, and eventually falls on the ground from overswinging. But, when he gets up, he’s pissed off and loses all control. He gets his act together and is on the verge of beating Dares to death when Aeneas intercedes, giving the better prize to Entellus.

    They carry Dares off to get cleaned up, while Entellus remains in the boxing ring. The final bit with Entellus is what stuck with me over the years.

    ~~~~~
    Glorying in his courage and his prize,
    Spoke out:
    “Son of the goddess, Teucrians all,
    Now see what power was in me in my prime,
    And see the death from which you rescued Dares.”

    He set himself to face the bull that stood there,
    Prize of the battle, then drew back his right
    And from his full height lashed his hard glove out
    Between the horns. The impact smashed the skull
    And fragmented the brains. Down went the ox
    Aquiver to sprawl dying on the ground.
    The man stood over it and in deep tones
    Proclaimed:
    “Here is a better life in place of Dares,
    Eryx; here I lay down my gauntlets and my art.”
    ~~~~~

    I suppose boxers were just that much tougher in the ancient days. 😉

    Another interesting thing, they describe Entellus’ boxing gloves, which were supposed to be intimidating in of themselves. Maybe its a bit overblown, but I think its curious that metals were included.

    ~~~~~
    …A pair of gauntlets
    Monstrously heavy, which the fighter Eryx
    Used to bind on his forearms and hands,
    hard rawhide. And the crowd looked on amazed,
    So huge were they, of seven ox-hides, barred
    with lead and iron sewed to stiffen them.
    ~~~~~

    (From the Robert Fitzgerald translation.)
    The Aeneid by Virgil, Book V, Lines 464 – 627

  24. One of my favorite wrestling moves that I’ve seen in MMA is the “oil check” wherein one fighter fiddles the butthole of the other while they are both grappling on the ground.

  25. Not about fighting, but Spitting Image once made a humorous homage to Bob Deniro’s commitment to his roles.

  27. So I got a concussion on Sunday (not from a fight), and as I was being discharged from the hospital, the doctor warned me about second-impact syndrome. The first thing I thought was, “Oh hey, I learned about that on Caustic Soda!”

  28. So I got a concussion on Sunday (not from a fight), and as I was being discharged from the hospital, the doctor warned me about second-impact syndrome. The first thing I thought was, “Oh hey, I learned about that on Caustic Soda!”