Snake Eyes talks "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" at Martial Arts History Museum

LET'S GET STARTED- Director Jon M. Chu, left, and Snake Eyes actor Ray Park get set to discuss "G.I. Joe: Retaliation at the Martial Arts History Museum in Burbank, California on Thursday. (Photo by Damian Barrios)

Written by Jesus Figueroa 

Showcasing an array of martial arts talent and history "G.I. Joe: Retaliation" launched its DVD/Blu-Ray at the Martial Arts History Museum in Burbank, California today. With an array of talented martial arts instructors showcasing a variety of martial arts forms in the different styles of eastern martial arts.

SET- Chu discusses working with
Park on "G.I. Joe: Retaliation."
(Photo by Damian Barrios)

Ray Park, who plays Snake Eyes in "G.I. Joe," and Jon M. Chu, director of "G.I. Joe: Retaliation," shared their experiences making the film and training for the action scenes.
"It was a huge honor just to meet Ray Park. I've watched all of his movies and I've been a huge fan of his, especially Snake Eyes from the first film," Chu said.
"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" includes incredible action-packed fight scenes some of which allowed Park to fight with Byung-hun Lee, who plays Storm Shadow, and Elodie Yung, who plays Jinx.

READY- Park discusses the thrill of
being able to try something different
on "G.I. Joe: Retaliation."
(Photo by Damian Barrios)

"It was great because in all the years I've been working I have gotten to learn different things from different people, great stunt men and great martial artist I have gotten to work with throughout the years and On the first movie I got to learn how to use tonfers and sais. I had never fone that before so I got to execute that in the second movie. It was just awesome to show something I ha never done before. It's nice to practice something differently," Park said.
The fights took so much training and every actor had to put their own time and effort into the film to make it believable.
"Elodie, who plays Jinx, is not really trained in swords. She was literally throwing all her weight behind it," Chu said, "She was frustrated in the beginning. I remember her coming to me saying, 'I can't do that, I don't know swords,' and I told her 'We are going to go shoot somewhere else for two weeks,' we gave her her rubber swords to practice in her apartment with and I said, 'Just make it work, just figure it out,' and when we came back her arms were all ripped, she was confident and ready to go," he said.
The film uses many different styles of martial arts and fuses them together to create a smooth form of fighting for the various characters if the film.
In the Martial Arts History Museum are displayed many of the traditional or popular styles from all around the world. 

SHARP- Variety of weapons hanging
on the wall at the Martial Arts
History Museum.
(Photo by Damian Barrios)

The president of the museum Michael Matsuda spoke briefly on each style on display, on the weapons and on the traditional clothing for each style.

TRIM- Suit worn by
Shadow Storm in
"G.I. Joe: Retaliation"
on display.
(Photo by Damian Barrios)

"G.I. Joe" displayed its own exhibit with Shadow Storm's white suit an his broken sword from "G.I. Joe: Retaliation."
The display stood along displays on Samurais, Ninjas and prominent figures that brought martial arts to the United States.
Chu and park sat among a bust of Ark Wong, who was the first to teach non-Chinese martial arts.
The museum is small but filled with the history of martial arts. 
Matsuda said that there is much more in storage and that he hopes that the museum can expand to accommodate everything.
"G.I. Joe: Retaliation" hits stores July 30 on Blu-Ray 3D/Blu-Ray/DVD/Ultraviolet. It comes loaded with director's commentary, deleted scenes and behind-the-scenes featurettes.