The video was masterfully done with resemblance to many classic Martial Arts films. The opening scene with the Chinese text and white captions are reminiscent of many of the Martial Arts movies of my youth. In one scene, the couple is a set of fighting ninjas in a temple at night. In another, they are flying around akin to movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In yet another, they display a ribbon dance much like House of the Flying Daggers. And in one very impressive display, they play with a multi-handed dance that you might have seen in some traditional Chinese dance routines.
This isn't as big of a stretch of theme as one might first assume. Rihanna has been associated with Martial Arts before. According to an interview with her trainer in Shape.com, Rihanna's training involves a mixture of "..martial arts, dancing and calisthenics" to achieve her killer body. And Chris Martin is good friends with Robert Dowey, Jr., who made an amazing appearance with Wing Chun in both Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes.
The two aren't alone. There is a long list of music stars that have even stronger ties to Martial Arts. Just to name some:
- Elvis, the king himself, was an avid Martial Artist
- Madonna was inspired at one point to take up karate thanks to her former husband, Guy Ritchie who is a black belt
- Kylie Minogue is said to train in taekwondo
- Jack Black has a background in Judo
- Ice-T has taken martial arts all his life and is well versed in jujitsu.
- Emma Bunton (formerly Baby Spice) learned karate as a child and her mother is a Martial Arts teacher
- Mick Jagger reportedly used to train in Judo in the 60s
- Michael Jackson and his brothers studied kung fu
- Phil Collen of Def Leppard has trained in both Muay Thai and karate.
- Glenn Danzig has studied Jeet Kune Do
- David Lee Roth both practices and teaches Martial Arts between his music projects
- Jaime "Taboo" Gomez of the Black Eyed Peas trained in Jeet Kune Do from the age of 12
- Willie Nelson is a black belt in taekwondo
