What Jackie Chan and Yuen Woo-ping’s stunt teams brought to the martial arts icons’ classic movies

Yuen Woo-ping, who choreographed films such as Drunken Master, could call on the complementary martial arts skills of his five brothers

Jackie Chan realised that a team which trained and developed stunts together would be more efficient, safety-conscious and creative on set

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Yuen Woo-ping (left) and Donnie Yen on the set of Ip Man 4: The Finale. Stunt teams used by Yuen and Jackie Chan in their classic martial arts movies revolutionised the genre.

Published: 9:15am, 27 Jun 2021Updated: 9:15am, 27 Jun 2021

Martial arts choreography began with the performers often designing the moves themselves before the profession became standardised in the 1960s, a development which provided careers for great martial arts choreographers such as Lau Kar-leung.

The late 1970s and the 1980s saw the foundation of stunt teams such as the Jackie Chan Stuntmen Association, the Sammo Hung Team, and the Yuen Clan.

“We were really competing against each other,” Mars, a long-time member of Chan’s troupe, told the Hong Kong Film Archive.

Below, we recall the history of the Yuen Clan and the Jackie Chan Stuntmen Association.

The Yuen Clan

Martial arts choreographer Yuen Woo-ping is well-known for his wirework techniques, his skill at choreographing scenes based on Northern-style martial arts, and his use of acrobatics drawn from Beijing Opera. Yuen, the son of martial arts veteran Yuen Siu-tin, often works with his brothers Yuen Shun-yi, Yuen Cheung-yan, Yuen Chun-yeung, Yuen Yat-cho, and Yuen Lung-kui. They are collectively known as “the Yuen Clan”.

Yuen Woo-ping made his name as a movie director when he started the kung fu comedy craze with Drunken Master in 1978. Before that, he was a well-known stuntman and martial arts choreographer – he choreographed his first film, The Mad Killer, in 1971 with Yuen Cheung-yan – and he continued to work as a choreographer while directing.