When I was younger (probably too young), my father used to take me to see martial arts movies. I can remember seeing Bruce Lee movies, all the Shogun Assassin movies, many samurai movies and tons of Chinese martial arts movies. I think seeing those movies played a pivotal role in me becoming a martial artist later on in life. Unlike most of the martial arts movies of today, those older films always were almost always centered around a moral message or cautionary tale that were not unlike a Greek tragedy. The protagonist was always some person who had to not only over come some situational adversity but also a personal one as well.
In the month of September, New Beverly Cinema (owned by Quentin Tarantino) will be showing many of the Shaw Brothers greatest Kung fu movies. Many of the movies being shown, I have seen personally but there a few I have not. I can recommended Gordon Liu in the 35 Chambers of Shaolin and Jimmy Wang Yu in the One-Armed Swordsman, both are classics.
They will also be showing Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo starring Toshiro Mifune on September 4 and 5 at 9:35 pm.