A man begins studying "The Secret Book of 36 Deadly Styles" to avenge the death of his father.

A country bumpkin arrives to help his brother's rice business. Things get out of hand while a rival company becomes corrupt. The bumpkin, an ace martial artist, fights off the rivals. Angered, the rivals hire a martial arts expert to fight the hero, only to get beaten up himself. The expert send his teacher to hurt the hero and succeeds. The hero is sent to a temple where he learns a new style of kung fu. Now with the skills, our hero is ready to get even.

A gang of thugs led by a ruthless bully (Hwang Jang Lee) has been terrorizing the residents of a small Japanese town for years, and the townspeople have finally had enough. But they won't stand a chance without the help of a local man's son who's been secretly studying kung fu. Now, it's a classic battle between good and evil, with warring factions throwing punches, kicks -- and insults -- with impressive skill.