“Bruce Lee, My Brother”, a biopic that focuses on the youth of this world-renown kung-fu icon of all time will start shooting this month.  Funded by a consortium of studios from Hong Kong and mainland China, the film is budgeted at US4.5m. It will be co-directed and produced by Manfred Wong and Raymond Yip.  At a press conference held in Hong Kong on June 21, Wong told reporters that the script had taken four years to prepare.  This new film will be the most accurate and authentic portrayal of Lee’s teenage life as first-hand information was collected from Lee’s family and friends.

Of most interest to movie goers is who will play Bruce Lee.  The answer is: 23-year-old Aarif Lee has been lucky enough to get the part to play this legendary figure.  Albeit sharing the same last name, Aarif is not related to Bruce.  The singer-turned-actor shot to fame after winning the Best Newcomer Award this year at the 29^th Hong Kong Film Awards for his role as a high school track star in “Echoes of the Rainbow”.  Another screen newcomer, Jennifer Tse, will play Bruce’s girlfriend while Tony Leung Ka Fei has been casted to play Bruce’s father.

Location shooting in Lu Zhou of Sichuan will begin in early July.  The tentative Chinese title for this film is “Nunchuck”, literally.  One can expect to see scenes featuring Lee’s training in mastery nunchuck.  The film is scheduled for completion in November and release in the same month in China, Hong Kong and other Asian markets  to coincide with the 70^th anniversary of Lee’s birth.

Bruce Lee, also known to most Asian fans as Lee Siu-Long, was born in San Francisco in November, 1940.  He died of cerebral edema at 32 in Hong Kong in 1973.  This new film will likely be a hit to those who admire this kung-fu master and his legacy, especially after a host of films on Lee’s teacher Ip Man have proved to be so popular in the box-office among martial art movie fans.

Sources:

Wall Street Journal Blog: China Realtime Report

IGN Movies

English Xinhua News

Sina Entertainment (in Simplified Chinese)

Yip Gei-Man “Ye Jiwen” and sometimes known as “Ip Man”, was born into a wealthy family in Foshan in 1893 and died on December 2, 1972. When staying in Foshan, Guangdong, he began to learn the art of Wing Chun from Chan Wah-shun, who at the time is believed to have teached out of the Yip Man’s Ancestral Temple.

At the time, because of his teachers age, Yip had to learn most of his techniques and skills from his master’s second eldest disciple Ng Chung-sok. Sadly three years after his training began, Master Chan Wah-Shun passed away, and one of his final wishes was that Ng Chung-Sok continued to teach Yip Man. Shortly after Chan’s death in 1911, Yip set off to Hong Kong to attend St. Stephan’s College (Which was a wealthy secondary school for families and foreigners who lived in Hong Kong).

A story was told about the time he stayed at the college, where he and his friend seen a foreign police officer beating a women in the street, who then tried to attack Yip, but it went wrong when Yip used his martial arts skills to srike and knock the officer to the ground. After this the classmate of Yips told a old man who stayed in a block of flats nearby, this led to Yip being invited to his home, where he was asked what style of martial arts he studied. He then asked Yip to show him 2 forms (Sil Lim Tao and Chun Kiu), which after he told him that his form wasn’t to great and was then invited to Chi Sau (controlled attack and defence training), Yip thought this was a great idea and knew he could make his skills even better. Yip was beaten easily within just a few strikes, who then told him he was his master’s elder fellow-disciple “Leung Bik”, son of his master’s master Leung Jan (Shown to great light in Sammo Hung’s classic The Prodigal Son). Then at the age of 24, Yip Man decided to return to this home town of Foshan, with his kung fu skills very high up indeed.

The famous wooden dummy

Return to Foshan
When Yip arrived back in Foshan, he first became a Police Officer and didn’t really teach Wing Chun at all, only a few people at this time was taught by him (Mainly subordinates, his friends and relatives). The most well known of his students are Lok Yiu, Chow Kwong-yue, Kwok Fu, Lun Kai, Chan Chi-sun and Lui Ying. Chow Kwong-yue was known to be the best student of Yip’s but eventually stopped training in martial arts altogether, Kwok Fu and Lun Kai are actually two of yip’s students who taught most people in Foshan and passed the art down to the next generation.

In 1942 his resources grew severely depleated under the “Japanese occupation” and in order to repay any kind of kindness, hehad to take on some students in Yongan including Chow Ywong-Yiu, Kwok Fu, and Lun Gai. At the end of 1949, the Chinese Communist party won the Chinese civil war. Yip Man being an officer of the opposing Kuomintang political party, decided to escape to Hong Kong without his family when the Communists had come to Foshan.

Foshan to Hong Kong
In Hong Kong Yip opened a wing chun school, at this time it wasn’t unknown that the younger generation liked to smoke Opium (Mainly wealthy families). Like them, Yip also liked to smoke opium and charged alot for his lessons, mainly for two reasons, firstly to take care of his family and secondly to pay for his addiction to opium.

At the time business was poor because his students only stayed for a couple of months.Due to this, he moved his school twice, to Hoi Tan Street in Sham Shui Po, and then to Lee Tat Street in Yau Ma Tei. By the time he had done this, alot of his students were so skilled in wing chun, that they started their own schools and no longer needed the help from Yip Man.

Yip man and Bruce Lee

Some of Yip Man’s most famous students were/are, Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, Tsui Seung-Tin, Wong Shun-Leung, Cheung Chuk-Hing (William Cheung), Lee Siu-Long (Bruce Lee), Ho Kam-Ming, Moy Yat, Leung Ting, and many, many others. Some of Yip Man’s students compared their skills with other martial artists in combat. Their victories over other martial artists helped to bolster Yip Man’s reputation as a teacher.

In 1972, Yip Man suffered throat cancer and later died on the 2nd of December that same year. Yip Man left behind a huge legacy of Wing Chun that now spans across the globe. He also left behind a written history of Wing Chun, whose factual accuracy has been debated.

The family tree

Family Tree

Films
Yip man’s story suddenly came to life in 2008 when Donnie Yen brought the character to life in the movie ” Ip Man”. The movie was a massive success and at the box office won awards for Best Film, Best Choreography (Sammo Hung), Best Actor (Donnie Yen). Since then, the craze started and now everybody cant get enough of Yip man with another Ip Man movie set for release at the end of the month, and also Sammo hung and Yuen Biao are back together in The Legend Is Born “Ip Man”.

This also happend to another folk hero, known all over the world as Wong Fei Hung, a role that Jet Li made famous in his own right, also Jackie Chan with the Drunken Master movies. Since then, hundreds of Wong Fei Hung movies have been made, and i feel we will see this happen with the latest Yip Man based movies.

Donnie Yen

Also the other two big names related to the art of Wing Chun is leung Yee tai and leung jan.Leung Yee Tai was the teacher of Leung Jan, Many kung fu masters came to challenge Leung Jan, but all were defeated.

The story lives on, and with the movies that are recently being made and new books written all the time about Yip man, its safe to say he will never be forgotten. I Hope you have enjoyed this read and please feel free to leave a comment.

Sources – http://www.kwokwingchun.co.uk – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yip_Man

Since the news that Sammo would play the Hung Gar master and would get to take on Donnie Yen, i really couldn’t wait but am i glad the wait is finally over. The premiere brought together some famous names with action star Donnie Yen traded poses with hong kong mvie legend Sammo Hung.

Donnie Yen vs Sammo hung

Ip Chun (The actual son of Yip Man), got to see his dad’s name in big letters as it appeared across the screen, ans what i wouldn’t give to have been sat there with the legends and watch this great movie.

Everyone has said it will outclass the first movie, with the choreography being better and the fact sammo and donnie have to fight on top of a table will show the wing chun style at its best (The Prodigal Son is a great example).

Premiere of Ip man 2

20. Donnie Yen Vs Bad Monks – Iron Monkey

Regarded by many as one of the best martial art films of the 90s as well as being one of Yuen Woo Ping’s finest, this film featured not only excellent fight scenes but some of the best use of wirework (wire fu) seen. The fight with the Bad Monks is no exception. Here Donnie Yen takes on many monks using the trademark Yen Kicking techniques which have made him famous today inner played with great hand techniques to take on armed enemies. The conclusion of the fight sees a masked nun come down from the skies to ambush Yen.. but of course Mr Donnie Yen is having none of it! A true classic from the 90s!

19. Way of the Dragon – Bruce Lee Vs Chuck Norris

You see we do have some love for Bruce Lee!

After all it was Bruce who made most of this all possible. If it wasn’t for his exploits many of todays martial arts stars would never have seen the light of day. One of our favourite Bruce Lee fight scenes and maybe one of his most important is the fight with Chuck Norris.

Not only was this one of the first times we ever got to see a fight between two true international superstars of the arts but also the fight could not have taken place in a more fitting location.

The Colosseum.

The Colosseum during the Roman Empire was used to host Gladiatorial contests and for their day there was no bigger Gladiators in martial arts than Chuck Norris (former 6 time consecutive Karate world champion) and Bruce Lee (arguable the world’s most important martial artist)

18. Jet Li Vs Chin Siu Ho – Tai Chi Master

Jet Li. Mr Wushu himself, in this fight Jet Li successfully exchanges Wushu for Tai Chi and to devastating effect! Under the guidance of the great Yuen Woo Ping (who had earlier directed the Drunken Tai Chi movie with Donnie Yen), Jet Li fantastic in the lead here (alongside Michelle Yeoh), for many along with Fist of Legend this is one of Jet Li’s best films (also known as Twin Warriors).

Jet Li masterfully uses wirework to fully showcase the inner powers of Tai Chi in order to defeat his former friend (Chin Siu Ho). This film showcases wirework at its best. Just as Jackie Chan is known as the Drunken Master, Jet will forever be known as the ‘Tai Chi’ Master.

17. Pedicab Driver – End Fight

How does he do it! How does the big man move so quick! So agile, so quick so fluid with his moves. Its no surprising that Sammo Hung is regarded as one of the best scene fighters of all time. Here in Pedicab Driver we see Sammo at his best! Dishing out the punishment to multiple foes, stunning stunt work and acrobatic moves. Just as Superman had us believing that a man could fly. Sammo shows us that a big man can really move! A quick mention to the stunt team here too, some of the falls – amazing!

16. Prodigal Son – Yuen Biao Vs Frankie Chan

Yuen Biaos greatest film? This really should have been the film that kick started his international career. Prodigal Son as we already mentioned in a previous article is one of the best martial arts movies of all time. Not only because of the fighting but also due to the excellent story and of course the brilliant Wing Chun training scenes (No true kung fu movie is complete without a good training sequence!). The end fight whilst not the best fight in Prodigal son easily surpasses many fight scenes from other movies during its time. Yuen Biao never looked so good, here Yuen does not only focus on his excellent kicking techniques but instead uses the fluid close combat speed of Wing Chun.

15. Dragons Forever – End Fight (Factory)

Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Yuen Biao in the same film? The same fight scene? For the second time! Of course this fight is gonna be in the top 20! Crazy Stunt work, Killer Moves, great comedy, and to top it off this is Jackie Chan Vs Billy the Jet 2! This fight would have been higher on the list if it wasn’t for the doubling for Jackie Chan for some of the stunts.

14. Prodigal Son – Lam Ching Ying Vs Ninjas

The Late Great Lam Ching Ying, there was no better showcase of his talents that in Prodigal Son. Possibly the best fight scene in the Prodigal son, here we see a team of Ninjas attempt to attack and kill Lam and Yuen Biao. The timing here is some of the best I’ve ever seen in a group fight. It is Yuen who is first attacked near a empty market stall he quickly dispatches of them before they move onto their next target Lam Ching Ying. Outside of Warriors Two (also by Sammo), Lam showcases some of the best screen Wing Chun ever in order to fend off the Ninjas. As with any good screen fight the scene is so well put together that at times it seems like a well choreographed dance. Outstanding!

13. Knockabout – End Fight

Yuen Biao again, but this time he’s joined by Sammo as they attempt to take down the great Lau Kar Wing (brother of Lau Kar Wing). Yuen shows amazing flexibility in this fight and his peking opera skills are truly on showcase here with his aerial work, a very long end fight scene but worth every minute of your attention.

12. Heroes of the East – Gordon Liu Vs Yasuaki Kurata

What top 20 would be complete without the great Gordon Liu! Arguable one of Gordon’s best movies. The end fight sees Gordon ‘Iron Arms’ Liu up against Japanese Actor Yasukai Karata (later famous for his battle with Jet Li in Fist of Legend). The fight starts with a clever hidden pole fight with darts and ninja stars thrown in for good measure.

11. 8 Diagram Pole Fighters – End Fight

Gordon is back again. Just missing out on the top 10 is this great fight scene from one of the all time great martial art movies from the 80s. Gordon is back once against in the familiar Shaolin gear which originally made him famous, but this time he seeks to master the pole. Here is takes on Pan-Mei and his gang. Whilst the first half of the fight scene is great the second off is completely off the hook as with Gordon on his last legs his Shaolin buddies come in to help just in the time. This is a film where you will find some of the best pole and spear work ever put to film.

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50.Project A – Final
Get ready for a brawl as the three dragons Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao square off against 40 pirates (maybe more), in this hong kong cinema epic. It starts with Jackie Chan pretending to be a badguy to get close to Dick Wei but when all hell breaks loose he steps in to help Hung and Biao, here we see Biao performing high kicks and sommersaults with Chan also performing a few. The three finally take on Dick Wei and here we see the great choreography with perfect timing as all throw kicks and punches with dick wei blocking and countering. Good fight which ends with a bang.

49.Shanghai Exrpess – Final Fight
Massive cast involved in this film and in this final scene we get to see them all in action and it doesn’t dissapoint. It starts off with Yuen Biao taking on super badguy Dick Wei with Meng Hoi and Hsiao Hou going head to head with Wang Lung Wei. Also at the same time Sammo Hung shows us some brilliant stick fighting with power then takes on Cynthia Rothrock (Here we see sammo doing is excellent Bruce Lee impression).
Hwang Jang Lee, Yasuaki Kurata and Yukari Oshima are also in the mix of things and just when you think its died down, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao take on Hwang Jang Lee (But only lasts for 10 seconds). Great fight scene with superb choreography.

48.Enter The Dragon – Unground Fight
A Bruce Lee masterpiece which is shown all over the world to this day and here we get to see him take on an army full with lightening fast punches and kicks with power you rarely get to see these days.
We see bruce go from kicks to fighting with the staff and then switches to escrima sticks and then takes out the nunchaku’s and destroy’s everyone. Very famous scene in a all time classic.

47.7 Steps Of Kung Fu – Final Fight
Here we have a great two on one fight scene which involves Chai Kai and Cheng Tien Chi taking on Chang Shan in this fast paced finale. We get to see Great hand techniques by all fighters, brilliant kicking skills and acrobatics, Chang Shan is easily in control for most of it until the other two finally get one over on him. Some great choreography which you would find in a Jackie Chan or Sammo Hung film, good stuff.

46.Tiger Cage 2 – Final Fight
Here we see Donnie Yen taking on a western fighter in this final showdown choreographed by legend Yuen Woo Ping. The action is fast paced with Donnie’s hands being chained up for most of it but this doesn’t stop him delievering killer blows and fantastic kicking skills. It starts with him being beaten up and thrown to the ground (Like you would see in a wrestling match), but ends with Yen performing a jumping double back kick knocking the guy way back.Then he takes on Robin Shao, where we get to see some boxing skills and better timing between the fighters. Gun fire also thrown into the mix but good choreography from the master Yuen Woo Ping.

45.Opium And The Kung fu Master – Ti Lung vs Chen Kuan Tai
Legendary Shaw Brothers actor Ti Lung takes on Chen Kuan Tai in this brilliant scene which is very well directed and choreographed. Chen starts by using spears against Ti Lungs fists until he realises he needs to switch to the sword for any chance of winning, this is when Ti Lung is hurt and his son is killed by Chen.A hard hitting scene with fast paced action from the start.

44.Drunken Dragon – Suen Kwok Ming vs Philip Ko Fei
What i like about this fight is the speed in which its fought at,which is extremely fast but for some reason makes it enjoyable with some great slow motion camera work. We have grappling moves, heads smashed through tables, great kicking skills and hand to hand techniques, in this unknown Leung Kar Yan movie.

43.New Shaolin Boxers – Fu Sheng vs Wang Lung Wei
Here we have Shaw Brothers legendary villian Wang Lung Wei taking on Fu Sheng in this bloody and hard hitting finale. Before Wang enters the scene we see Fu Sheng taking on a few knife crazed badguys defeating them with ease, then as he goes outside to face Leung Kar Yan which he beats within seconds. Then we see the the two come face to face,with Fu Sheng having flashbacks to previous training sequences to remember the moves to counter the badguy, then we see Wang Lung Wei use a metal claw against Fu Sheng’s double sword which ends in a bloody mess. Great action in this excellent movie.

42.Boxer From Shantung – Final Fight
Chen Kuan Tai stars in this very bloody final fight scene which he turns up to fight only to discover he is ambushed by aload of thugs.It starts with him taking an axe straight into the stomach but tries to defend himself against it by fighting with it stuck in there, and stricks out with serious power, (Blood going everywhere). There is blood from the waste down all over Chen which could match any movie ending in terms of blood and brutalness, great fight scene.

41.Little Superman – Bruce Liang Vs James Nam
This fight is fast, hard hitting and shows us some great kicking ability and hand to hand techniques. It starts off quick and doesn’t let go until the final blow is thrown, with one guy putting claws on his hand to slice the other fighter, who ends up covered in blood and starts to lose until others finally join in and help him out. It ends with a flying kick to the face followed by three jumping round house kicks, great stuff.

It truly is an art all of its own. Often we talk about dramatic actors and how hard their task is but surely the art of screen fighting is the most impressive form of acting? timing, skill, stunts and the danger – this is what many 21st century audiences want to see.

But with so many martial arts movies how do you pick the best ones? How does the martial arts actor find a way to showcase new skills to an ever evolving audience? What about those new to martial arts movies?

The Official AMP Top 100 onscreen Martial Arts fights should help answer your questions. Over the next few days we will be counting down from 100, the best fights ever put to film. Stick with us over the next few weeks and find out which fight scenes make it into our top 10, and of course use the comments box to the right to discuss any of our choices.

70.The Young Master – Jackie Chan vs Whang In Sik
Maybe this would be in someones top 20 and maybe it deserves to but although i like the fight its to much like a street fight than anything else. This fight scene lasts about 20 minutes on a mountain top and Chan gets put through a world of pain against someone with excellent kicking techniques and grappling. Jackie needs the help once again and turns to alcohol which gives him super human strength and manages to come back performing anything he can weather its a jumping head butt to flipping to the ground about 5 times in a row. Crazy fight but also very enjoyable.

69.The Mystery of Chess Boxing – Jack Long + Li Yi Min vs Mark Long
Get ready for atleast 15 minutes of non stop action. It starts with Jack Long and Mark Long performing great techniques with grace and poise whilst the pace of the action increases by the minute, then we see Li Yi Min enter the fight to save his teachers life. Li starts to lose and gets countered all the time by Long this is when his teacher thinks back and remembers certain ways to defend against these strikes and try to win. One of the funniest parts is when Mark Long gets his arms broken right at the end and they dangle which is clearly so false but its a great watch.

68.Two On The Road – Leung Kar Yan and Philip Ko vs Wang Lung Wei
fantastic fight scene here from Leung Kar Yan, Its fast and powerful with a small amount of wirework, and some mad sound effects for Phillip Ko’s horse boxing technique. Ive always liked watching Leung Kar Yan when he’s performing hand to hand techniques but he also throws in some good kicking skills and timing and when Philllip Ko joins in they show us how good 2 on 1 fights can really be. To me Leung Kar Yan is very under-rated.

67.Two Toothless Tigers – (Samo Hung and Yuen Hsin Yi vs Johnny Wang)
Sammo Hung displays a dodgy tash but the fight certainly makes up for it with fast paced action. The fight starts in a teahouse where we see Villian Johnny Wang showcase some excellent kicking skills with speed and power with the other two trying to gang up on him. This shows great combat with Sammo and Johnny going toe to toe in parts with brilliant hand to hand combat, timing and movement. Sammo ends the fight with a kick to the groin(The same as Bruce Lee did to Bob Wall in Enter The Dragon).Sammo truely is one of the best choreographers ever showing us time and time again how its really done. Legend.

66.Dirty Tiger,Crazy Frog – End Fight
It took me a while to get hold of this film and although its not as good as Odd Couple or Warriors Two, it still has great fight scenes involving Masters Sammo Hung and Lau Kar Wing. Here they take on Lee Hoi San who cannot be hurt due to his metal armour, so they have to team up and take him down anyway they can. At the start Hoi San is in control and the other two dont know how to deal with him until Sammo sees some of his Armour starting to come loose so he starts pulling at it as Lau Kar Wing delievers lots of punches and kicks until he can no longer stand anymore. Very enjoyable film and another note is that all the flips and high kicks from Lau Kar Wing are actually Yuen Biao.

65.Fearless – Teahouse Fight
Jet li challenges a rival kung fu master to a fight but it all gets out of hand and nearly costs his characters life. The setting for the fight is my favorite part bringing back the old school feel with Yuen Woo Ping choreographing the fights. It starts with them both using swords and the place gets trashed (tables flying everywhere), also some great slow motion shots showing the power of both fighters. It then turns to hand to hand combat and this is when we see Jet taking control, a good fight scene.

64.Fist Of Fury – End Fight
Every moment of this is choreographed & shot perfectly with great pacing & suspense showing Bruce Lee deliever some incredible kicks and punches with power. He fights a guy with a dodgy tash and you can see the difference in skill between the two, with Bruce hitting him with a perfect high kick to the face followed by a chop to the kneck. He then fights the Japanese master who is using a samurai sword by this doesn’t bother Bruce as he intercepts and kicks him like 10 yards through a wall (The guy who gets kicked is actually Jackie Chan, at that time was the longest throw using a wire). Good stuff.

63.Hitman In The Hand Of Buddah – Hwang Jang Lee vs Eddie Ko
When the fight begins we get to see Hwang Jang Lee using alot more hand techniques showing us he has other skills than just amazing kicks. Hwang also shows us the Eagle Claw technique and the camera really focuses on the movement but then Hwang turns to his kicking skills and delievers some great blows, one where Hwang repeatedly crescent kicks his opponent in the face, A great fight with Corey Yuen choreographing the scenes.

62.Killer Army – Kuo Chui vs 4 spearmen
Ok you will know this guy from the five venom movies and in this film he doesn’t dissapoint as he takes on 4 spearmen showing us fantastic timing and skill, something we’d see in maybe a Sammo Hung movie.
The final scene is about 20+ minutes long and its worth every second as the fight gets better and better and also with alot more blood and violence. In the end he gets a little help and they overcome the badguys, good film from Shaw Brothers.

61.Fatal Move – Wu Jing vs 3
This was supposed to be 3 on 3 fight but as Wu Jings clan cannot defeat the first fighter Wu Jing himself has to step in and show what he’s made off. The first guy he faces is the muscle behind the 3 and uses oil so that Jings kicks and punches slide off, this doesn’t last long as he delievers some excellent kicks and an arm lock to defeat him. The next guy uses nails in his boots and gloves to cut Wu Jing and the fight turns alittle bloody with him looking like Bruce Lee at the end of “Enter The Dragon”. After defeating him the next guy appears showing us some close combat and some wire work, Jing uses elbows to get in close then delievers an incredible kick with a high jump kick followed by a jump spin kick to the chest. Excellent viewing.

It truly is an art all of its own. Often we talk about dramatic actors and how hard their task is but surely the art of screen fighting is the most impressive form of acting? timing, skill, stunts and the danger – this is what many 21st century audiences want to see.

But with so many martial arts movies how do you pick the best ones? How does the martial arts actor find a way to showcase new skills to an ever evolving audience? What about those new to martial arts movies?

The Official AMP Top 100 onscreen Martial Arts fights should help answer your questions. Over the next few days we will be counting down from 100, the best fights ever put to film. Stick with us over the next few weeks and find out which fight scenes make it into our top 10, and of course use the comments box to the right to discuss any of our choices.

80.Spiritual Kung Fu – Jackie vs the Monks
The fight starts with a one-to-one fight which is a good watch with chan vs a monk in a pole fight (which the monk gets the better hand for a while). Then jackie faces about 15 monks armed with the weapon “Tonfas”, he shows great skill and timing to show he can go and defeat the badguys. He shows trademarks were used to seeing today by the way he takes the poles of the monks and flicks the poles back to them. Good fight and did you know Yuen Biao actually plays one of the ghosts that help Jackie train.

79.Vengeance – final fight
David Chiang goes out for revenge against the men who murdered his best friend in this brutal and bloody showdown. As the fight goes along we see Chiang get stabbed alot of times as he battles back and the white suit that he is wearing seems to get more and more blooded by the second. It also shows us Chiang using the stairwell to get more height over the villians, ok the speed isn’t the quickest but it certainly is enjoyable. Also stars Ti Lung.

78.Dragon Fist – End Fight
This is my favorite Lo Wei film with Jackie Chan and here we get to see the serious side to him with moves that are fast, powerful and direct. It starts with Jackie facing a guy using a steel tonfas who is brillaint with them giving jackie a difficult fight, but we do get to see great hand techniques by chan and even a few backflips thrown in. After defeating him we see another guy jump in which is more hand to hand combat, showing chan deliever some killer blows with such speed even Bruce Lee would approve off.

77.Way Of The Dragon – Nunchuaku fight
Fight starts when Bruce Lee is led to the back of the shop by a guy with a gun but suddenly hits him then grabs a pole facing two other guys. After knocking them out more come running out thats when we see him use the nunchuks, fast, powerful and gets rid of them rather quickly. One shot is when a guy is holding two knifes and bruce knocks one out his hand, kick to the shin, nunchuck to the face followed by a roundhouse kick. quality.

76.Fists and Guts – Gordon Liu vs Lo Lieh
Great exhibition of traditional wushu weapons as we see Gordon Liu (Nunchuakus) take on Lo Lieh (Sword) in this gripping fight scene.
The fight starts off quickly then enter the sand bags hanging from the ceiling making it harder for both fighters to perform.
It then turns more to hand to hand combat and the use of the head from the shaolin fighter ducking low and counter attacking, then gordon liu ends it with a classic leg break.

75.Shanghai,Shanghai – Sammo Hung vs Yuen biao
Fantastic fight scene between two legends of the kung fu world and this makes up for a rather dull film. Sammo plays the badguy and at the end of the movie we finally get to see them square off, the hand combat is excellent with wing chun style moves and blocks thrown in there with a mix of high kicks and brillaint timing.
Who wins the fight? you’ll have to grab a copy to find out.

74.Miracles – End Fight
Jackie faces a tough battle after being caught by the local traids and taken to a factory, here he first faces super villian Billy Chow with both of them hitting fast and hard (billy getting the upper hand). Chan decides to run and then incomes atleast 15 fighters to attack him, we see him perform some great stunts and his stunt team do a great job falling from 30ft to the ground in one shot.
He wraps it up with a jump spin kick followed by a low spin kick then roundhouse to the face. class fight.

73.Armour Of God – Jackie vs 4 women
Yep jackie faces his toughest test to date (maybe not) fighting against 4 women after just defeating aload of monks, who give him a run for his money. The women actually have some muscle on them and as the fight progresses yes there is some heavy doubling going on but its still brilliant to watch Jackie against 4 women and just hitting them like you’d see in a Sammo hung movie. Jackie hits out with power until he punches one of the womens breasts and says “sorry” before beating them all up.

72.Above The Law – Yuen Biao vs Melvin Wong
After defeating Cynthia Rothrock melvin wong faces legend yuen biao in a battle to survive and bring wong to justice. Biao delievers excellent kicking skills and shows this when he performs a double spin kick to wongs face knocking him to the floor. Wong tries to escape in his aeroplane this is when biao shows us how good a stuntman he is by hanging from the side of it thousands of feet in the air then falling into the sea. Yes he did it before Jackie Chan in Police Story 3, good fight.

71.Pantyhose Hero – End Fight (Factory)
The film isn’t sammos greatest film by any means but the final showdown with him and Alan Tam (Armour Of God) facing aload of gangsters is well worth a watch. When the fight starts both sammo and Alan run off in different ways and cuts inbetween the two but Sammo’s scenes are excellent showing him take on a few guys with a metal pole going one to another and taking them down. We see brilliant weapon work from the master before he gets into a fight with the main guy, this guy can kick very well and delievers some brutal kicks to sammo (one that hits him in the throat and he falls back into a ditch falling through wood). The fight is great but the only thing id change is the annoying girl who doesnt stop screaming throughout it all.

The art of screen fighting

It truly is an art all of its own. Often we talk about dramatic actors and how hard their task is but surely the art of screen fighting is the most impressive form of acting? timing, skill, stunts and the danger – this is what many 21st century audiences want to see.

But with so many martial arts movies how do you pick the best ones? How does the martial arts actor find a way to showcase new skills to an ever evolving audience? What about those new to martial arts movies?

Where do beginners start in order to find the best screen fighting artists around?

The Official AMP Top 100 onscreen Martial Arts fights should help answer your questions. Over the next few days we will be counting down from 100, the best fights ever put to film. Stick with us over the next few weeks and find out which fight scenes make it into our top 10, and of course use the comments box to the right to discuss any of our choices.

New Legend Of Shaolin – Beginning Fight

This fight starts quick with Jet Li being attacked by a load of ninja’s led by the main bad guy, Jet uses a spear to disguard some of the foe sticking through about 4 at a time.
There is some wire work (which i’m not always pleased with), but it seems to work, the setting is very similar to the fight in Once Upon A Time In China with the burning fire and the fight being at night. A hard hitting fight in a movie all will truly enjoy.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon – Michelle vs Zhang
The camera takes us to the heart of the action one moment and then pulls away to let you appreciate the complexity of the movements on display. Both fighters are very impressive, with great weapon work, fantastic timing and movement and this is one film where wire work actually works. Good fight and a shining example of wirework used correctly.

Righting Wrongs – Yuen Biao vs Cynthia Rothrock
When I first saw these two go head to head I thought damn Cynthia can fight, she has great kicking skills and she puts it to test against a legend in the kicking field Yuen Biao. The fight isn’t very long but it does show some fast action with Biao flipping from one chair to the next and Rothrock trying to arrest him using any move possible. Both do great in the scene with Biao performing an impressive jump from a balcony at the end.

Game Of Death – Bruce lee vs Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
This was Bruce’s tallest ever Opponent and he has to find different ways to defeat this giant. After getting a beating in the early stages of the fight (which leaves him with a huge footprint on the front of his clothes) Bruce switches to grappling his opponent to the floor and apply a head lock. Great to see a small man defeat such a bigger man. This fight is not only well executed but also showcases how martial arts can be used to defend a real life opponent.

Once Upon A Time In China – Opera House Fight
I know some people might have this fight higher in the list and although I enjoyed it I couldn’t get it out of my head that Jet gets doubled alot throughout this and the movie (He broke his leg). Apart from that the fight is good to watch with the use of hand techniques, weapon work and kicking skills to get rid of the foreign invasion. The scene is quiet harsh with the killing of innocent people but the fight makes up for it with Yuen Biao also popping up in the scene and Kent Cheung.

HERO- Jet Li vs Donnie Yen
This is the only action scene in the film where Kung Fu is the focus and not cinematography or flashy editing. Also this is the second fight between both guys (OUATIC 2 being the first).
When Donnie and Jet do face each other though the results are great, although the fact they are fighting each other in their minds and not physically is a shame. Its a good scene with both fighters using wepons more than anything else.

Warrior King – Tony Jaa verses 100
After getting beat up for a bit and then a stabbing Jaa finally starts to fight back with a new kind of brutality not seen on screen before. Every person that comes towards him he must break a part of their body with some brutal moves.

Hells Wind Staff – Meng Hoi and Meng Yuan Man vs Hwang Jang Lee
First of all Meng Hoi finishes off a henchman without too much difficulty but then he comes face to face with super kicker Hwang Jang Lee and his devastating ‘Hellz Wind Staff’.
Hwang does perform some great pole fighting with some amazing kicks but the intensity only increases when Meng Yuan Man joins in. Brilliant 2 on 1 fight scene from the man they call Hwang Jang Lee.

Invincible Armour – John Liu & Tino Wong vs Hwang Jang Lee
Yes people another Hwang Jang Lee fight scene and this one again doesn’t fail to impress. Hwang brings the style of Eagles Claw to the screen and in this fight we see Tino Wongs character not being able to defeat the eagles claw. Then we see John Liu turn up and it all changes from there, with great kicking techniques from the fighters and also what i really liked was the fact it would show a egg being crushed when someone would get hit in a certain part, (Have a think) ha. Its a fast paced scene with great timing and skill.

Last Hero In China – End Fight
Yuen Woo Ping choreographes the fight scenes and you can certainly tell as he pushes Jet to the max. We actually get to see him using Drunken Boxing and although not as good as Jackie Chan it still looks good on screen, there is once alot of wire work throughout the movie (someone that would later become a trademark of Jet Li films) and some doubling involved but seeing Jet use this style to defeat his opponent with the Wong Fei Hung theme playing behind is a great watch.

90 – 81 coming soon

The New School Wuxia wave started by taking male-oriented action films to the centre of Hong Kong cinema, which had long been dominated by female stars and genres aimed at female audiences. Stars such as Cheung Pei Pei were casted along side male action stars to continue the tradition of story telling of women in Wuxia films. King Hu a legendary director back in the day also made his own Wuxia films with independant productions in taiwan such as the massive hit Dragon Gate Inn (1967) which was also remade with Donnie Yen in the lead.

In the 1970′s Hong Kong cinema would become the Kung Fu wave, with massive stars such as Bruce Lee, Lau Kar Leung, Sammo Hung,Gordon Liu and Jackie Chan. Alot of people say that a certain movie in 1970 started of the craze and that movie was Chinese Boxer starring Jimmy Wang Yu, but you also had the legendary Shaw Brothers film company and they were banging out movies such as Vengence the same year. Also on the scene was Bruce lee, an American-born, Hong Kong-raised martial artist and actor who was impressing everybody around China and the world with his incredible kung fu. Bruce Lee only completed 4 movies before his death in 1973, they were The Big Boss, Fist Of Fury,Way Of The Dragon and Enter The Dragon. He was cinema’s first ever global chinese star, everybody was amazed by his power and skill (The One Inch Punch), Lee also starred in a US TV series at the time called The Green Hornet (currently in the process of being made into a hollywood movie).

When Bruce Lee passed away, film companies were searching very hard to try and find the next “Bruce Lee”, they started with knock off movies with lookalikes calling themselfs “Bruce Li, Bruce Lo,” – You get the picture. Also in the efforts to manufacture a “new bruce lee” they tried to turn to other fighters such as Jimmy Wang Yu and Angela Mao.

Lo Wei who worked with Bruce on a few movies also had another young actor trying to make his name for himself, he was Jackie Chan. At the time Jackie was starring in movies with a director he didn’t even like, and after failing to gain many fans Lo Wei decided to loan him out to seasonal films with director Yuen Woo Ping placing him as lead in his movie Snake In The Eagles Shadow (1978). The movie was a overnight box office smash hit and from that moment on everybody knew who Jackie Chan was, then came his second outing and again it was lead by Yuen Woo Ping.� Drunken Master was even bigger than Snake In The Eagles Shadow and created its on style of kung fu,(kung fu comedy) which Jackie Chan became the front person for. Chan’s clowning may have helped extend the life of the kung fu wave for several years.
Nevertheless, he became a star towards the end of the boom, and would soon help move the colony towards a new type of action.
In the 1980s, he would forge a slicker, more spectacular Hong Kong pop cinema that would successfully compete with the post-Star Wars summer blockbusters from America with movies such as Police Story and Project A.

Part 2 Coming soon