Trailer
Plot summary
Yi-Lang studies martial arts at a Shaolin Temple. A thief steals a book from the temple library, and the fighting style it teaches can be fatal. Yi-Lang and five other monks are punished because they did not stop the thief. He then volunteers to guard a part of the school that is said to be haunted. There he finds ghosts: five blue figures with bright red hair, who dance. They know a lost style of fighting called the Five Style Fists. Yi-Lang asks to become their student.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Spiritual Kung Fu (1978)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Lo Wei's studio ran out of money after shooting Spiritual Kung Fu and Dragon Fist in early 1978, so both films were shelved and Jackie Chan was loaned to Seasonal Films for a two-picture deal. There he made Snake in the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master with Yuen Woo-ping, and their success pushed Lo to release both shelved films.
- The film's "Five Style Fists" kung fu style is based on the Five Fists (Animal) Pattern, an early martial art practiced at the Shaolin Temple and discussed in Qiu Yue Chan Shi's book The Essence of the Five Fists. That system covers Dragon, Tiger, Snake, Crane and Leopard/Panther styles.
