About Us

From an early age, I have been fascinated with Kung Fu movies.  I remember my parents taking me to Chinatown in Honolulu, one of the oldest Chinatowns in the United States, on the weekends.  Back in the late 70s and early 80s, there were a few movie theaters that specialized in Kung Fu movies: Liberty Theater, Empress Theater, and Golden Harvest Theater.  It is here that my love for Kung Fu began.  I was always excited to pass the movie posters outside of each to see what spectacular movie was playing at the time.  I was so short at the time that I would keep the seat up and sat on the edge so I could see over the row of seats in front of me.  The red vines and overly buttered popcorn were my favorite treats.  I would munch on these waiting for the giant velvet curtains to open up and the Shaw Brothers or Golden Harvest theme music to begin playing.  Soon after, I would be transported back in time for the next couple of hours to a time and place, where Kung Fu masters reigned.

In addition to the theaters (especially after they began to close down), Black Belt Theater on Friday nights was my other main source of Kung Fu movies.  When I was allowed to, I would stay up late to watch as they didn't start until after the news at 10:30pm.  Regardless if I could stay up late or not, we would setup our Betamax (yes, Betamax...not VHS) timer to record whatever was playing.  This is the beginning of my collecting of Kung Fu movies AND it gave me the means to watch kung fu movies over and over and over again.  My favorites were definitely the period pieces that took place in the Ming and Ching dynasties, in particular the ones where the hero or heroine had to learn or train a new style.  I would then try to imitate this training process at home, so that I could become the next Kung Fu "master".  I grew up watching all the Shaw Brother stars, the first wave being Chen Kuan Tai, David Chiang, Ti Lung, Alexander Fu Sheng, Gordon Liu, and my favorite, Chi Kuan Chun.  The next wave of stars being the Five Venoms that included Kuo Chui, Lu Feng, Lo Mang, Sun Chien, and Chiang Sheng.  We also cannot forget the actors whom I affectionately refer to as the Immortal Bad Guys.  You knew their faces as they were always playing the bad guys, but at that time, I didn't know their names, such as Wang Lung Wei, Ku Feng, Lo Lieh, Chang Tao, Leung Kar Yan ("Beardy") and Fung Hark On.

Being a 5th generation American Chinese, I guess my parents did not know where to find me a Kung Fu teacher OR I was just too busy with sports and other things.  So, even though I had a passion for Kung Fu from early on, I didn't start officially taking lessons until high school.  I was definitely a late bloomer.  At this point, Jackie Chan and Jet Li were the big names.  My new source of movies were Tai Seng Video and copies made from laser disc.  When DVD technology emerged, VCDs from Chinatown shops and an awesome website for its time, Poker Industries, fueled my obsession and collection.

Fast forward almost 30 years, I still love watching Kung Fu movies, which you can watch on streaming platforms, such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, and Youtube.  I am now one of the teachers and owners of a traditional Kung Fu school.  My appreciation of the choreography of old school Kung Fu movies, from the greats, such as the legendary Lau Kar Leung, have grown immensely over the years.  The beauty of the fight scenes in the old school movies was that you could see each individual move, and they were not cluttered with ever-changing camera angles and tricks.

Some of my students jokingly, but affectionately call me the Kung Fu movie encyclopedia, so a common gift would be anything associated with Kung Fu movies, like T-Shirts or other apparel.  It's a real niche subject category, but a passion of mine.  So, when the pandemic hit, I decided to create Guess Foo so that I could hopefully create another source of income for my family.  Guess Foo would be the vehicle, where designs based on my passion for Kung Fu movies, cult classics, and pop culture would come to fruition.  I have a lot of puntastic ideas and designs floating in my head, that I'll be slowly releasing along side of my Kung Fu movie designs, so stay tuned!  I may even release a collection inspired by my home, Hawai'i.

Follow and support us on Instagram or Facebook (@guessfoo).  You can also check out our Kung Fu school (@saamfu).

E malama pono,
Brandon