Charlize Theron’s ‘Old Guard’ tapped Filipino martial arts for fight scenes

This image released by Netflix shows Charlize Theron in a scene from “The Old Guard”. Image: Aimee Spinks/Netflix via AP

Netflix’s latest action film “The Old Guard” drew from multiple fighting styles to give credibility to its warrior characters who have been fighting for centuries.

Among the combat sports used in the film were Filipino martial arts, particularly kali, said fight coordinator Danny Hernandez in a teaser video on YouTube last Thursday, July 9.

Kali uses hand-to-hand combat and can incorporate weapons such as sticks and knives.

Hernandez said they tapped fighting techniques from around the world that included wushu from China, silat from Indonesia and pankration from Greece.

“Old Guard” follows four warriors who have an inability to die and have been spending their immortality as mercenaries protecting the world.

Actress Charlize Theron, plays the leader of the group, Andy, who wields a labrys or a double-headed axe associated with the Amazons.

“Andy moves fluently from multiple styles, from ancient styles to modern techniques,” said stunt coordinator Brycen Counts.

“I obviously had to fight like somebody who had to fight for 6,000 years,” Theron said of her grueling training.

The film is based on the eponymous comics by Greg Rucka and is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood. It premiered on Netflix last July 10. JB

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