history that a specific nationality was targeted by a law.
In short, it throttled immigration and prevented Chi-
nese nationals already living here from becoming U.S.
citizens. Originally meant to last 10 years, the CEA was
enforced for 60.
“The CEA was something my father wanted to touch
upon,” Shannon said. “In casually talking to people dur-
ing working on this, most ask, ‘What is CEA?’ This Chi-
nese experience isn’t taught in school as part of Ameri-
can history.
“We’re in a time when immigration is a huge topic at the
forefront of conversation. This history that contains CEA
— it’s one place to look at and not be repeated. We began
this project prior to the current administration, [and] it
moved in a direction where immigration and xenophobia
has become a bigger part of the mind, unfortunately.”Fights of Warrior
Because Tropper is known for scripting battles blow by
blow, I asked him if he was ever on the Warrior set to
monitor the action. “Absolutely,” he exclaimed. “I felt
pressure to deliver great fights because when Bruce Lee’s
name is on your show, you cannot disappoint. My two
levels of expertise are 20 years of martial arts experience
and 40 years of watching martial arts films.
“A lot of time was spent developing the spirit and tone
of the fights. Our fight coordinator had to understand
martial arts and Bruce Lee — Brett Chan was our man!
When I scripted each fight, I’d give Brett the film refer-
ence of what I was talking about. So when I wrote ‘four
very fast roundhouse kicks into a guy’s ribs,’ I’d write in,
‘Moment in Way of the Dragon when Bruce kicks Norris.’
Brett always knew what I meant.
“There’s a lot of blood-and-guts set pieces in old kung
fu films that I also wanted to incorporate into some
fights. We found moments to sparingly insert Bruce Lee
quotes and moves because it’s about paying homage. Yet
the show had to stand on its own, so we were careful not
to overdo it — to a certain degree.”
Knowing the evolution of the choreography Lee used
in the films he made from 1971 to 1973, it’s obvious that
Warrior mirrors what he did. Since each Lee fight featured
a formidable villain, it necessitated the creation of magi-
cal moments of combat that caught audiences off-guard,
and it was all done without wires, fancy camerawork and
snappy edits. When Lee created art, his essence — what
Shannon calls his energy signature — shone through. It’s
the same with Warrior.
With Tropper and Chan resisting the urge to do styl-
ized fights in the new show, they make sure Ah Sahm’s
abilities grow, and we see how the hero adapts to differ-
ent opponents in different ways at different times. It’s a
tribute to the genius of Lee’s combat philosophy. And
when they strategically place Bruce Lee-isms at various
points in the fights, it generates heartfelt emotion.
Other things make the fights of Warrior stand out. The
choreography is different for each one-on-one duel and
each group fight. Regardless of who’s battling, especially
when non-martial artists are involved, the action just
works. And when weapons are added to the mix, there’s
no loss of rhythm or continuity.was against tong members, and the action seemed like a
re-enactment of the sit-on-the-guy’s-chest scene in Way
of the Dragon. “Exactly!” he said. “That’s the move I had
to pay homage to in the first episode — it was the first
thing I ever saw Bruce do.”
During our conversation, Tropper and I rehashed
other Bruce Lee-isms. “There’s nothing coincidental
or accidental about any of them,” he said. “It’s a Bruce
Lee–inspired show. They’re in there because we’re all big
Bruce Lee fans.
“Thus, I had to capture his views on a period in Ameri-
can and Chinese history in Chinatown when tong wars
and the Chinese Exclusion Act were looming. The goal
was to make the show for him. Sure, he wanted a kung fu
show, but he also wanted to convey a sense of what it felt
like to be ... a foreigner, an immigrant. It was crucial to
thematically deliver the heart of his message.”
Tongs play a pivotal role in Warrior. The first tong was
founded circa 1853 in San Francisco. In the beginning,
they were benevolent organizations that arose to offer
Chinese laborers legal, financial and protective services.
Tong names were derived from a member surname or the
region from which a prominent member came.
Things started to change in the 1850s. Previously,
Chinese immigrants were admired for their moral code,
generosity and hardworking nature. However, in 1852
California Gov. John Bigler ginned up hate by propagat-
ing fake news like this: “Five hundred came last week,
1,000 on the way, 20,000 line ports waiting to come to
be paid $4/month and bring slavery to California.” His
leaflets essentially gave Americans permission to attack
the Chinese.
In the 1860s, with America desiring more trade with
China, with the gold rush in the West and with the push
to build a railway from coast to coast, Chinese immigra-
tion skyrocketed. When the Chinese were subsequently
labeled as inferior, race riots erupted. Whites and Mexi-
cans reportedly lynched Chinese immigrants in Los
Angeles in 1871. The Page Act of 1875 banned Chinese
women from immigrating in an effort to stop the popu-
lation from expanding. As the Chinese male-to-female
ratio grew — at one point, it was estimated at 20:1 — the
tongs splintered and ventured into prostitution, pro-
tection rackets, opium sales and gambling. In 1876 the
Workingmen’s Party, founded by a naturalized Irishman,
unveiled a “Chinese must go” policy to purge the for-
eigners. Which brings us back to Warrior.
Set in 1878, a year before Sen. James Blaine intro-
duced the 15-Passenger Act, which limited to 15 the
number of Chinese who could be on board any ship
entering American waters, Warrior has fresh-off-the-
boat Ah Sahm searching for his estranged sister. He
goes straight from the frying pan into the fire of the
Workingmen’s Party, then gets sucked into a steaming
wok of tong wars.
Caught in the Act
In Warrior, Sen. Crestwood runs for president. He’s the
fictional version of U.S. President Chester A. Arthur, the
man who helped the Chinese Exclusion Act become law
on May 6, 1882. It marked the only time in American
40 BLACKBELTMAG.COM § AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2019