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Martial arts

Martial arts
Latest martial arts news, features and opinion, covering movie icons Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen, as well as the debate surrounding the practicality of traditional martial arts as a combat style in China in the wake of the rise of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Forms covered include boxing, wing chun, karate, taekwondo, Muay Thai, kick-boxing, kung fu, judo, wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
Leung Kar-yan in a still from “The Postman Fights Back”, directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Ronny Yu. The film features Leung as a courier in Republican China tasked with delivering a mysterious cargo to a violent mountain bandit, whose motley crew of associates includes a young Chow Yun-fat.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Ronny Yu’s The Postman Fights Back is an unusual wuxia gem

Starring Leung Kar-yan and with a young Chow Yun-fat on the cast, 1982’s The Postman Fights Back is an intriguing mix of Western and wuxia.

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Japan

Fatal Tokyo fist-fight leads to rare duelling arrest under 19th-century law

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Why Jet Li and Wong Jing’s The New Legend of Shaolin is underrated

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Stephen Chow and Donnie Yen reinvented Bruce Lee’s classic Chen Zhen

Fist of Fury 1991 with Stephen Chow and TV series Fist of Fury with Donnie Yen saw two different versions of Bruce Lee’s famous character.

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Donnie Yen in a still from the television drama series Fist of Fury (1995).
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

3 forgotten Hong Kong wuxia gems from director Chor Yuen

Chor Yuen’s Duel for Gold, Clans of Intrigue and Jade Tiger may be less famous than some of his other films, but are just as groundbreaking.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

3 female action stars who ruled Hong Kong cinema alongside Michelle Yeoh

Like Michelle Yeoh, female fighters Cynthia Rothrock, Kara Hui and Shih Szu starred in their own must-see Hong Kong action classics.

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Made in China 2025

China’s Unitree teases platform allowing users to control robots via smartphones

Hangzhou robotics unicorn’s platform is designed to bring embodied intelligence into everyday life.

Unitree Robotics is preparing for a listing on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market. Photo: Handout
Performing arts in Hong Kong

Review | Thrilling Bruce Lee dance show explores Hong Kong star’s life and career

‘Kung Fu Artistry: Bruce Lee’s No Way as Way’ by the Hong Kong Dance Company is a powerful mix of dance and martial arts.

MMA

International MMA body formed to unify governance, target Olympic inclusion

Federation of Mixed Martial Arts has held early discussions with the IOC and plans to ‘work very hard’ to advance process.

Hong Kong society

Hong Kong extends martial arts star Bruce Lee’s memorial trail with new monument

Monument, marking the 85th anniversary of his birth, will be constructed at the site of his former family home in Jordan.

Bruce Lee’s younger brother Robert, right, was in attendance as plans for a new monument, extending the memorial trail, were unveiled at the Prudential Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui. Photo: Eugene Lee
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Bruce Lee hit the big time and other Hong Kong cinema highlights from 1972

Amid Bruce Lee’s rise to stardom, we look at what else made Hong Kong film headlines in 1972, from a Lee challenger to a local ‘Bond Girl’.

Bruce Lee in a still from Fist of Fury. The 1972 movie cemented the martial arts actor’s superstar status in the Hong Kong cinema industry. Photo: Criterion Collection
Lessons from China's history

Reflections | From slapping body parts to National Games, China’s history of exercise

Used to train soldiers long before its benefits were taught to regular folk, exercise has become a matter of national resilience in China.

Trending in China

China martial arts icon Jet Li goes shirtless to dispel heart transplant rumours

After Shaolin monk Qiufeng’s body was reported to have suture marks, rumours began to swirl, especially since Li was hospitalised during same month.

NBA

Shaquille O’Neal: kung fu taught me one lesson. My dad taught me another

While teammates partied, he studied business. Now he’s a Reebok president with stakes in Ring, Google and a 20-year China relationship.

Shaquille O’Neal, American basketball legend, is helping spearhead the NBA’s return to China. Photo: courtesy Authentic Brands Group
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

How Chan Koon-tai, Bruce Lee’s counterpart, wowed with his kung fu skills

Hong Kong’s Shaw Brothers Studio made Chan their answer to Lee in the 1970s. Here are 2 films that put his martial arts prowess to good use.

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Chan Koon-tai in a still from Man of Iron (1972). The Hong Kong actor, known more for his kung fu skills than his looks, became a big star in the 1970s.
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Sammo Hung’s directorial debut was a hit. Then came Bruce Lee’s Game of Death

Hung’s first film as director, The Iron-Fisted Monk, led to the daunting task of wrapping up the film Lee had left unfinished when he died.

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Wellness

‘It’s like human chess’: Brazilian jiu-jitsu and its rise in Hong Kong

BJJ gym co-owners and a star student describe the physical and mental benefits of the martial art and why it’s never too late to start.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Jean-Claude Van Damme films with Hong Kong roots, including Bloodsport

Action star Jean-Claude Van Damme has made a number of films either filmed in or linked closely to Hong Kong. Here are four.

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Jean-Claude Van Damme (right) and Bolo Yeung in a still from Bloodsport (1988), which was shot entirely in Hong Kong and is populated with local talent Photo: Warner Bros
2025 National Games

Hong Kong wushu star Sham says National Games could be harder than world event

World champion and World Games champion says competing at Chinese Games will not be ‘straightforward and easy’, as some have suggested.

European cinema

Why Jet Li’s action thriller Kiss of the Dragon was banned in China

Kiss of the Dragon was a box office success in 2001, but its racial stereotyping, violence and sexual frankness caused it problems in China.

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Wellness

Tai chi with swords, neck swinging: Chinese seniors’ health hobbies

Chinese pensioners engage in a range of activities – some rather unconventional – to try and stay fit and healthy in old age.

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A Chinese woman practises tai chi with a sword in Beijing. Photo: dpa
Hong Kong culture

Ballet inspired by Hong Kong kung fu legend Bruce Lee set for global spotlight

Marketing expert Colleen Yu says the city needs ‘structured and tailored storytelling for each type of fan’ to boost cultural tourism.

Olga Wong, deputy Hong Kong editor of the South China Morning Post, left, alongside Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, Lesz Banham, Artistic Director of Hong Kong Ballet, Septime Webre and Chief Marketing Officer of Live Nation Connects, Colleen Yu, at the ‘Redefining Hong Kong conference on Culture, Sports and Tourism’, hosted by the South China Morning Post. Photo: Dickson Lee
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Better looking than Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, the rise of Yuen Biao

The youngest but least famous of the ‘Three Dragons’, Hong Kong star Yuen Biao doubled for Bruce Lee and boasted his own martial arts style.

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Video gaming

Hong Kong author Louis Cha’s works form the basis of China’s next AAA video game

CreateAI is developing a wuxia role-playing game franchise that will feature characters and famous scenes from Cha’s 15 martial arts novels.

Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

This film featured some of Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung’s best action scenes

Wheels on Meals, starring Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao and filmed in Spain, was a mix of incredible fight scenes and a great plot.

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Jackie Chan in a still from Wheels on Meals. Photo: Eureka Entertainment
Maho Ono

Karateka Lau ‘cool’ about carrying Hong Kong’s gold medal hopes at World Games

World No 1 says she just needs to perform at her level in the multi-sport event in Chengdu, and the results will take care of themselves.

Hong Kong’s Grace Lau won individual kata bronze medals at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, and the Asian Games the same year. Photo: Dickson Lee
Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan disliked this Hong Kong film director, but why?

Lo Wei, Hong Kong’s first ‘million-dollar director’, made hits including The Big Boss and Fist of Fury but had a big ego that caused issues.

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Hong Kong

How Girls with Guns movies made stars of Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung

The armed-and-dangerous women genre of the 1980s and 90s was a rollicking roller-coaster during Hong Kong’s silver screen heyday.

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