7 Grandmasters is a 1978 kung fu film

Martial arts film

Martial arts film is a film genre. A sub-genre of the action film, martial arts films contain numerous fights between characters, usually as the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often as a method of storytelling and character expression and development. Martial arts are frequently...

 directed by Joseph Kuo, starring Mark Long, Jack Long, Corey Yuen and Lee Yi Min. It was filmed in Mandarin, as opposed to Cantonese which is more common due to Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

's enormous output on the genre.

Plot

Sang Kuan Chun is an old kung fu master who is getting ready to retire from martial arts. He is satisfied that he's mastered the martial arts and is the best in China. But just as he is about to put up the kings signboard and call it quits, he receives a note alleging that he's not the best. Thus begins his journey for one last challenge with each of the Seven Grandmasters to prove his superiority. As Sang Kuan Chun and his three students travel from one challenge to the next, the foursome acquires a fifth—a young man named Siu Ying who wants desperately to train under master Sang Kuan Chun to avenge his father's death. So he tags along, despite the master's insistence that he will not accept any more students. Eventually we learn more about the master's past.

His own teacher, before he died, left him the secret book of The Pai Mei

Bak Mei

Bak Mei is said to have been one of the legendary Five Elders — survivors of the destruction of the Shaolin Temple by the Qing Dynasty imperial regime — who, according to some accounts, betrayed Shaolin to the imperial government...

 Twelve Strikes. However a masked man soon stole several pages of the book, leaving only nine strikes. So, somewhere out there, is this unknown man, and he has the final three strikes of Pai Mei, which are the most deadly and can beat even the other nine strikes. Sang Kuan Chun soon accepts the seemingly devout Siu Ying and teaches him the nine known strikes of Pai Mei. Siu Ying ends up learning from his “uncle” that Sang Kuan Chun (who was set up) killed his father during a friendly tournament. Siu Ying is taught the final 3 strikes from a mysterious figure and almost kills Sang Kuan Chun until he realizes he is in the wrong. This all leads up to an exciting climax, where we learn the identity of the masked man who stole the Pai Mei final strikes and the identity of the man who killed Siu Ying's father.

Cast

• Li Yi Min as Siu Ying
• Jack Long as Sang Kuan Chun
• Mark Long as Sangs elder student
• Corey Yuen
  Corey Yuen
  Corey Yuen Kwai is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and producer. He was a member of the Peking Opera Schools and one of the Seven Little Fortunes.-Life and career:...
  
   as Sun Hung
• Nancy Yen as Sang's daughter