What do you look for?

[Kaminari]

Depends on what kind of movie you're making. By the verbiage of your statement ( "I only ask because I plan on making an independent film including martial arts" ) it sounds like marital arts is an accessory to your film and not the main focus in which case I would appreciate a good, solid plot; a good, believable, realistic character; and then a somewhat believable situation in which the character has to fight. Said fight should be brief and realistic - I'd recommend watching Tasogare Seibei (The Twilight Samurai) for an idea of what I'm talking about. Fights shouldn't be frequent (too many take away from the story...) but they can be as long as you are able to set up a somewhat believable situation.

Now, if showcasing martial arts is the main focus of the movie, then I completely agree with jedimc's assessment. Each fight should be unique, we should see growth or progression in the main character's fighting ability (not necessarily all at the end fight by the way...) and each fight should be more impressive than the last. Since plot isn't necessarily the focus, people should fight OFTEN. Please, no wire-fu.

i agree. establish what genre your film is going to be and decide whether martial arts is going to be an accessory or the main focus to your film. Personally, i would love to see a suspense or mystery genred film using the martial arts get through the story. write a plot so solid and drenched in mystery & suspense and use martial arts to fill in the holes. just my opinion.

Hmmm....I'm planning on it including a bit of suspense, although I don't know if that'll carry through. Good idea, though, and for all those wondering, martial arts are there as an accessory, like Skeptic noted. No wire-fu will be included (that would take away from the seriousness of it, which is something I really don't want). Thanks for everybody's comments, keep 'em coming! It's good to hear everybody's opinions on this.