John Wick with Paul McDonald and Carla Hoch
This week on the Men at the Movies podcast, we break down the fighting skills of John Wick starring Keanu Reeves. When we are attacked in our vulnerability, we fall back into patterns from the past. And the more tense we are, the more power we give other people to control us. But it’s not the things we know that will get us in trouble, it’s the things we think we know that we don’t that will cause the greatest damage. Welcome to the Contintental, and lets discover God’s truth in this movie.
About Carla
Moments before the destruction of her home planet, Carla’s parents jettisoned her and her twin brother to earth. He was taken in by a kindly farmer in Kansas while she was embraced by a rather liberal clowder of feral cats in Houston, Texas.
While still a toddler, she bid farewell to her feline family and headed to Pace, Florida, a small hamlet just outside Pensacola. There, she raised herself in a hollowed-out tree trunk and taught herself to speak fluent Southern, ride out a hurricane like a pro and tell the difference between Coke and Pepsi by fizz alone.
As an adult, she fulfilled the dream of all feral cats and became a Spanish teacher and track coach. After nearly a decade in the classroom, she met a military cyborg who promptly married her and whisked her away to such exotic locations as Virginia and New Mexico. Now, a mother of twins herself, she and her husband have returned to the People’s Holy Republic of Texas and reside not far from where her pod originally landed.
Fight Training
Unlike her twin, Clark, Carla found her powers late in life. She was first introduced to them through a Hapkido-based self-defense class. From there she went on to train in MMA, Muay Thai style kickboxing, taekwondo, Brazilian jiujitsu in the gi, street defense, Filipino martial arts, judo, iaido and aikido. Carla is currently a student of no gi grappling and part of the writing team for Rolling Times Magazine.
Carla is also the author of the Writer’s Digest/Penguin/Random House book, Fight Write: How to Write Believable Fight Scenes. This fight scene reference guide teaches writers about writing fight scenes not only from the standpoint of craft but also the physical and biological factors of fighting. Fight Write also teaches what fighting style is best for your character, which weaponry suits them and how to fight from the back of a dragon. But, wait, there’s more! It also covers injuries, stages of decomposition and the legalities of your character defending himself. Carla is a FightWriting instructor and regularly teaches across the country. She is the host of the FightWrite Podcast and, as far as you know, not working with cats in their evil plot to overtake the world.
Carla’s website: fightwrite.net
Carlas’s classes with WDU:
What You Need to Know Before Writing Fight Scenes, Battles and Brawls
Picking a Fighting Style for Your Character
IG: @fightwritecarla #fightwrite
Quotes
Keanu Reeves is a national treasure.
John Wick 2 is a better story than John Wick.
When you do something with purpose, you become vulnerable.
You have to open yourself to criticism to create something worthwhile.
Why do I like John Wick and not Terminal List?
Batman is a bad guy who does good things.
When we are attacked in our vulnerability, we fall back into patterns from the past.
We resist where we are being led because it feels like somewhere we don’t want to go.
The more tense you are, the more power you give other people to control you.
It’s not the things we don’t know that will get us in trouble, it’s the things we think we know that we don’t that get us in trouble.
Themes
Life lessons from fighting:
In order to attack or engage, you have to become vulnerable.
You need to have someone watch your back.
If you aren’t afraid, you aren’t brave.
It’s the punch you don’t see coming that will lay you out.
Exhale before you pull the trigger so your aim will be true.
Difference between John Wick and Terminal List
“Be careful in your pursuit of evil so that you don’t become it.”
John Wick-pursues peace, values the gifts from his wife, he finds himself in the process, in control of his danger
James Reece-pursues revenge, throws away the picture from his daughter, he loses himself in the process, not in control of his dangerousness
The idea of Baba Yaga
“You will do nothing because you can do nothing.”
A person of focus, commitment, sheer will
You need to know who you’re messing with
Concepts of Japanese jujitsu that can be applied to our life
Use opponents momentum to attack points of vulnerability
Need to get close to opponent
Use what the opponent gives you
Maintain relaxation and breathing
If you are rigid, you can’t defend yourself and you telegraph what you’re going to do.
Resources
YouTube discussion on John Wick
Website: fightwrite.net
Fight Write : How to Write Believable Fight Scenes by Carla Hoch
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
The more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything. -Bill Murray
A harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very, very dangerous man who has that under voluntary control. -Dr. Jordan B. Peterson
Better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. -Bruce Lee
“Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” -Proverbs 16:18 (NIV)
Your ego is writing checks your body can’t cash. - Top Gun
Questions
What does it look like to be vulnerable?
How are you vulnerable when you engage in purpose? When you rest?
How do you respond to stress?
What do you think of the line, “If you aren’t afraid, you aren’t brave?”
How does tension give control to your opponent (whatever crisis you are facing)?
How has this line been true: “It’s not what you don’t know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you think you know that you don’t know that will get you in trouble?”
What do you think of this line: “A harmless man is not a good man. A good man is a very, very dangerous man who has that under voluntary control?”
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Edited and mixed by Grayson Foster
Logo and episode templates by Ian Johnston
Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).
Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock
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