Chinese martial artists in Hollywood

Yes, I understand that very few people would be interested in this, but why not blog about something you know about and love. I love martial arts movies. This isn't nearly complete but I think I know more than the average person.


Of course it started with Bruce Lee. That's when Hollywood really started to take notice. His last complete movie, Enter the Dragon, went on to break records in the Hong Kong film industry and make Bruce an international movie star/actor. All the fights were clearly his own design and displayed his strength and agility. In fact, a young Jackie Chan was there taking Bruce's blows in a couple of scenes.

Hollywood now knows Jackie Chan through the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon/Knights films. But before movies like Rumble in the Bronx, Supercop, and Operation Condor were re-released in U.S. theaters, before he was misunderstood and changed into something he was not by Hollywood filmmakers in movies like The Protector, Battle Creek Brawl, and Cannonball Run, he did stunts. In Enter the Dragon, Bruce is fighting off a number of Han's men after discovering the opium factory. Jackie takes the hits a couple times, first when he grabs Bruce from behind then Bruce takes him down. And second, the last guy Bruce fights with the bo is Jackie; first hitting him in the stomach and then slashing down on his face. (Which actually made contact by the way! When you see Jackie's head turn in pain, he wasn't acting!)

So everyone knows Jackie does his own stunts. Many of his movies show outtakes at the end, which include stunts that go wrong. In Rumble in the Bronx, Jackie broke his foot. A sock was painted to look like the shoe he was wearing in the end of the film. In Supercop, Jackie jumped onto a pole from the moving train that was supposed to swing. However, the pole didn't swing, and Jackie was helpless in getting hit by the helicopter temporarily connected to the train.

Sammo Hung was also in Enter the Dragon, sparring with Bruce in the opening scene. Although he is not as well known in the U.S. as Jackie, he did a short-lived TV series called Marshall Law. He also directed Jackie in Mr. Nice Guy, which released in U.S. theaters, and has a long friendship and working relationship with Jackie beginning as kids in Peking Opera School.

Donnie Yen may not be as well-known neither, but has tremendous influence on films around the world. We finally see him in a fight scene with Jackie in Shanghai Knights. He was fight choreographer and also had a small role in Blade 2 with Wesley Snipes. He is also known in the U.S. through his role as Wong Kei Ying in Iron Monkey (thanks to Quentin Tarantino).

That's all for now. I could almost write a book on this stuff with all the movies I've watched (including documentaries), and book and articles I've read. Maybe another part will come later.