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{{trope}}
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{{quote|''[[Trope Namer|Everybody was kung fu fighting]]''
''Those kicks were fast as lightning''
''In fact, it was a little bit frightening''
''But they fought with expert timing''|"Kung Fu Fighting," '''Carl Douglas'''}}
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Highly common in [[Wuxia]], where it's harder to name a character who doesn't know some martial art.
May overlap with of course, [[World of Badass]]. See also [[All Asians Know Martial Arts]], [[All Chinese People Know Kung Fu]], [[Suddenly Always Knew That]], [[I Know Mortal Kombat]], and [[Dragons Up the Yin-Yang]] to set the mood. [[All Monks Know Kung Fu]] seems to be this trope limited to [[Did Not Do the Research|all kinds of monks]]. Can be a form of [[Everyone Is a Super]], where "Super" is defined as "Martial Artist".
Contrast [[Wimp Fight]], when it's painfully obvious that the characters don't know how to fight, and [[Fight Scene Failure]], which is when the ''Actors'' are the ones that don't know how to fight.
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== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[
* Also, every dueling anime show of "[[To Be a Master]]" and "[[Gotta Catch Em All]]" type. Every opponent the main character meet will inevitably have a theme to their item or pet, which they will invariably ALSO be a martial arts master in this style as well. As they scream out the names of the attacks their item or pet does, they will also (pointlessly) perform shadow fighting techniques to point out how kick ass they are. Perhaps to convince us (and themselves) that they're not just, you know, ''fighting with cards and plastic toys.''
** Although in the case of [[Yu-Gi-Oh!]], many characters actually are good fighters, which was particularly relevant in the first few volumes of the manga and the Toei Anime. Jounouchi is a skilled street fighter who knocks out a trained assassin and keeps up against a Leather Face expy, Honda isn't exactly a wuss either, Kaiba kicks the crap out of a couple of people, Anzu throws some mean punches, Yami Yugi is hinted at being quite capable (particularly in the Toei Anime, where he has no troubles slamming his puzzle into the wall or kicking the daylights out of two of Kaiba's mooks who where twice his size (off-screen, sadly) and Yami Bakura wasn't exactly weak either; let's not even start bringing up their past selves, who were all without a doubt trained in combat.
*** Events like these in the card game/plastic toy show are not unique to Yu-Gi-Oh. It's more of an extension of [[Serious Business]] and [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]] than anything else: it has to be shown that the game they are playing is not a game…even if it really is.
* ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]]''. Subverted in some characters, like Niijima or the girl who has a crush on Kenichi, but pretty much the whole cast has knowledge of martial arts, even Shigure's mouse.
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** Kungfu fighting hip hop dance (the movie was called Kung Fu Hip Hop)
*** Which actually makes a little sense, considering some moves in breakdancing were inspired by kung fu films.
** A plot point in the movie ''[[Shaolin Soccer]]'': the hero wants to spread Shaolin Kung Fu and points out to a soccer coach how it could be used to improve peoples' lives (like avoiding [[Banana Peel
* Played with in the 2008 ''[[Speed Racer (film)|Speed Racer]]'' film, as everyone in the Racer family is able to prodigiously defend themselves against enemy racers, ninjas, etc. Most of them somehow know Kung Fu, although Pops doles out a beatdown with [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]. The exception is the Racers' mechanic Sparky, who [[Non-Action Guy|is totally useless in a fight]] and repeatedly has to be bailed out by his infinitely more skilled companions.
* ''[[Blade]]''. Also ''[[Blade]]'', ''[[Blade]]'', and oh yes, ''[[Blade]]''.
* ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'' ends with a massive kung fu battle. On one side you have Han's army of martial arts students, trained to kill mercilessly with their bare hands. On the other side you have... a bunch of vagrants and runaways, kidnapped from the streets of Hong Kong and freshly released from Han's dungeons. The two sides appear to be about evenly matched.
* ''Chocolate'', another Thai martial-arts film from the director of ''[[Ong Bak]]''. Everyone on the streets of Bangkok, from warehouse labourers to butchers to gangsters, is a martial artist of some kind (except for the transvestite gangbangers, who use guns). Almost all of them have their ass handed to them by an [[The Rainman|autistic]] [[Waif Fu|teenaged]] [[Little Miss Badass|girl]].
* ''[[Rush Hour]] 3'': Carter clearly knows how to fight by now against other fighting experts. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BvJZTe4L88&feature=related He even breaks into song] [[Crowning Moment of Funny|afterwards]].
* ''Undefeatable'' plays this to the bone. Random women in red dresses that resemble the antagonist's wife strike stances and ''try'' to fight, among other characters that have no business knowing martial arts. To be fair, all but the four main characters are terrible at it.
* In ''[[Big Tits Zombie]]'', even zombies know martial arts.
* In ''[[Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy]]'', every anchorman apparently keeps weapons on their person, at all times.
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* Becoming a vampire on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' didn't just mean gaining immortality or super strength... it also meant automatic Kung Fu prowess. [[Cursed with Awesome|Why is being a vampire bad again?]] Oh yeah, that [[Kryptonite Factor|sun]] thing. And that [[Our Souls Are Different|soulless monster]] thing.
** [[Lampshaded]] in Season 7:
{{quote|
** Except in Vampire Harmony's early appearances, particularly the scene where she and Xander get into a [[Rule of Funny|hilarious slap-fight]], complete with [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?|epic music and slow-motion]].
** Lampshaded in one episode where Dawn complains that it takes her forever to learn any martial arts whereas all newborn vampires "seem to spend a couple of months at the same tae kwon do school".
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* ''[[Lovejoy]]'', a British TV series (very!) loosely based on some novels about a conman-cum-antiques-dealer, subverted this one in a scene where Lovejoy's ally of the week, a Japanese man, frightens off a gang of thugs by ''pretending'' to know kung fu. After they're gone he explains that everyone just assumes he can kick their butts because he's Asian.
** That also sums up the plot of ''They Call Me Bruce?'' (1982).
* ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]''. Not only does everyone (outside of [[Red Shirt|the mooks]]) know Kung-Fu, they know different styles: Karate, Capoeira, Judo, pressure point
** Fully justified. Ancient Greece was, by modern standards, a violent place where swords, spears and unarmed fighting were commonplace, accepted elements of everyday life- yes, even in "gentle", civilized Athens. (Socrates was an ex-soldier). Pankration was a clearly defined martial art complete with strikes, throws, and submission holds, and remains a viable art even in the modern age of Ultimate fighting.
*** Even more justified as some scholars suggest that kung fu was invented by people who had learned Pankration from [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s soldiers during his eastern campaign.
** In fact, in ancient Greece, ''every'' male had to join the military, so it's entirely expected that they should know how to handle themselves in a fight. They should not, however, know Kung Fu.
***With the cavaet that the reason every male had to join the military was that most of them were expected to be minute parts of a corporate human bulldozer whose job was to move forward and crush everything in the way. Knowing fancy moves might be useful if the formation got banged up a bit but the main requirement was stamina and anyone who relied on kung fu fighting was a bother.
** Pankration was more like wrestling than a martial art relying on strikes, although it had those too. It was invented by hoplites in case a soldier fell down. In this case, trying to get up would most likely result in getting stabbed, so the alternative was to drag the opponent down on the ground with you and choke him to death. The original Olympics had Pankration as the main event with the top contenders fighting naked. The only moves disallowed are eye gouging, biting, and killing your opponent. The champions were treated as royalty.
* In one of JD's [[Imagine Spot|daydream sequences]] in ''[[Scrubs]]'', Turk and The Todd had to kung fu fight every other surgeon in the hospital for a briefcase. To the song ''"Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting"''. See it [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl9ZZsUX00s&feature=related here.]
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* On ''[[Lost]]'', everyone except Hurley is an expert marksman and close-combat fighter. Hurley makes up for this lack by [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|running people over with a bus.]]
** He knows [[Car Fu]].
* In ''[[Community]]'' episode [[Community/Recap/S1
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== Tabletop Games ==
* In the roleplaying game ''[[Feng Shui]]'', one of the cardinal rules of combat is that
** Except for those who have just the Guns skill combat-wise, like the Killer or the Techie. Those guys just dive around, take cover, and use the [[Guns and Gunplay Tropes]] to full effect. Or the Sorcerer, who uses the Sorcery skill to rain all over his enemies' parade. Sometimes literally.
* ''[[Hong Kong Action Theatre]]'' may be a better example of this trope in tabletop games than ''[[Feng Shui]]''. In this game, every character, whether they specialize in melee, gunplay, sorcery, or just kicking ass [[Martial Arts Movie]] style, knows Kung Fu. You even get to select your character's specific style of Kung Fu upon creation!
* The RPG ''[[Weapons Of The Gods]]'', and (one assumes) [[Adaptation Displacement|the Taiwanese comic book on which it's based.]]
* One officially listed campaign suggestion for ''[[Dungeons
* Since it hasn't been listed before, the [[Exalted]] companion book "Scroll of the Monk" suggests using this trope liberally and with gusto should one of the PCs be looking for a hidden martial arts master.
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== Video Games ==
* ''[[Fugitive Hunter]]: War on Terror'' is all about tracking down terrorists around the globe, taking them on in fistfights, and capturing them. Terrorists who, inexplicably, have the same martial arts skills as you do ? including ''{{spoiler|[[Osama Bin Laden]]}}''.
* In ''[[Jade Empire]]'', almost every character or enemy seems to have some sort of training in a martial art. Even the lingering spirits of random dead people seem to be capable of martial arts skills as advanced as yours. Makes the sole case of a [[
* ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]''. Everybody seems to have a hardon for Big Boss's CQC system.
** Somewhat justified in that everybody who knows it, knew, was trained by, or learned it from Big Boss or The Boss themselves. Doesn't explain the PMC [[Mooks]]' knowledge of it though.
* The two-person non-lethal takedowns in ''[[Deus Ex: Human Revolution|Deus Ex Human Revolution]]'' often begin with the targets attempting to expertly melee Jensen followed by an equally expert counter and finishing move. Said takedowns can be done not just on enemies but also regular NPCs. Which means that you can witness elaborate martial battles not just between Jensen and soldiers, but between Jensen and ordinary civilians or even between Jensen and ''street prostitutes''.
** [[Fridge Brilliance|If anyone needs adequate self-defense skills, it's them]].
* From ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'' onwards, if you pickpocket anyone and they catch sight of Ezio, the victim will attempt to punch him out. Key word being ''attempt'': It doesn't take many punches from Ezio to put them in their place.
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== Web Original ==
* Justified in the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' stories. At the [[Super-Hero School|Whateley Academy]], students have to take introductory martial arts ("introductory" in the superpowered sense of the word) or Survival, and those who skip out usually regret it when they discover the Combat Finals at the end of term. So huge numbers of mutants at the school can pull off some aikido or Shaolin kung fu or whatnot. There are over half a dozen teachers whose job is teaching martial arts, in a school of under 600 mutants.
* There was an unusual prevalence of combat skilled characters in ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' V3 and its Pregame, especially since the characters are all, at best, highschoolers. Averted in V2 and V1, mostly, since few characters got opportunities to engage in hand to hand fighting.
** Seth vs. Walter in V2, though, was a notable exception to this aversion, with inordinate skill levels being displayed (although Seth was, admittedly, already established as fairly skilled), especially with Walter, who displayed abnormal levels of strength against both Seth and [[Villain Sue|Mariavel Varella]], along with skill in the earlier knife fight against Jin Li-Jen. The actual fight with Seth soon turned into a brutal slugfest on par with [[Good Old Fisticuffs|a bare-knuckle boxing match]].
* The [[That Guy With The Glasses]] First Anniversary Brawl, ''every single one'' of the site's contributors proved to be semi-competent, marginally deadly martial artists.
** Except for poor Ma-Ti. [[What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?|Heart!]]
* It seems that almost character in ''[[Darwin's Soldiers]]'' is fairly skilled with firearms. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that firearms training and basic marksmanship are mentioned as being mandatory or that the employee in question enjoy recreational shooting.
* ''[[Sockbaby]]''. In Sockb4by, even Ronnie's next door neighbor is one of the mook squad that attacks him.
* Pretty much the case in ''[[Greek Ninja]]''.
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== [[Web Comics]] ==
* The heart and soul of ''[[What the Fu (webcomic)|What the Fu]]''.
* Subverted in [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/eddurd/everydayheroes/series.php?view=single&ID=81803 this] ''[[Everyday Heroes]]'' episode, where Mr. Mighty and his wife engage in "Trial By Combat" {{spoiler|(actually "Trial By Guitar Hero")}} to determine who has to clean the cat box.
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== [[Real Life]] ==
* This is part of the [[Conscription]] training for citizens of both Koreas, with Tae Kwon Do instead of Kung Fu as the martial art. In fact, in the case of South Korea, it is more or less an unwritten rule that all children should learn Tae Kwon Do (and only during before middle school, apparently), although it's changing now.
** Ditto for Israel with [[Combat Pragmatist|Krav Maga]].
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[[Category:Action Adventure Tropes]]
[[Category:This Index Knows Kung Fu]]
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