The gongfu master who trained Jet Li, Life.
Jet Li is a Chinese-born Singaporean film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion who was born in Beijing.
Li won his first national championship after three years of training with his teacher.After retiring from competitive Wushu at age 19, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor, making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple.He played Wong in the first three films of the Once Upon a Time in China series and went on to star in many martial arts epic films.
Li played a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 and his first leading role in a Hollywood film was as Han Sing in Romeo Must Die.In French cinema, he starred in the Luc Besson-produced films Kiss of the Dragon and Unleashed.He played a villain in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, as well as co-stars in War, The One, and The Expendables.
Li was the youngest of four children and was born in Beijing.His father died when he was two years old and his family lived in poverty.[4]
At a school summer course, Li was noticed for his talent for Wushu.He joined the Beijing Wushu Team which did a martial art display at the All China Games.The coaches made extra efforts to help the boy.Li's family couldn't afford to buy meat, so Wu Bin bought food for them.The national all-around champion from 1975 to 1979 was a very young Li.[7]
I was so young when I won the first place that it caused a sensation.The other two medalists were in their twenties.As I stood on the top step of the podium, I was shorter than the 2nd and 3rd place medalists.It must have been a sight.
As a child, Li was asked by Nixon to be his personal bodyguard when the Chinese National Wushu Team went to perform in the US.I don't want to protect anyone.I want to defend my Chinese countrymen when I grow up.[9]
Li is a master of several styles of wushu.He has studied the arts of Baguazhang (Eight Trigram Palm), Taijiquan (Supreme Ultimate Fist) and others.The training he received focused on the Northern Shaolin Styles.He has mastered the main weapons of wushu, such as Sanjiegun and Gn.10
Li became an assistant coach of the Beijing team for a few years after retiring from competitive wushu at the age of 18.Li's martial arts prowess would eventually contribute to his domestic and international fame.[13]
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star in mainland China and then into Hong Kong.The publicity company that gave Li his screen name thought his real name was hard to pronounce.They put the name Jet Li on the movie posters because they likened his career to an aircraft.The nickname, "Jet", given to him as a young student, was the reason why he was called this new name.He made his film debut in 1982.His more famous Chinese films include:
In the 1995 film High Risk, Li plays a Captain who becomes upset after his wife is murdered by crime lords.Along the way, he pairs up with a wacky sell-out actor, who is played by Jacky Cheung, and proceeds to engage in violent battles in a high-rise building.The setting is similar to Die Hard.The movie is notable because the director Wong Jing had a bad experience working with Chan in City Hunter and chose to make Cheung's character a biting satire of Chan.Li apologized to Chan for taking part in it.
The White Snake and Flying Swords of Dragon Gate were both directed by Tsui Hark.
In 2012 Li starred in a film called Tai Chi and co-produced it with Chen Kuo-Fu.The Tai Chi master was portrayed by Li.It was 13 and 14.
In 1998, he made his international film debut in Lethal Weapon 4 which was the first time he had ever played a villain.He agreed to do Lethal Weapon 4 after the producer promised to give him the leading role in his next film.The film made a lot of money at the box office.At the time of production, Li spoke very little English, but his performance as a Chinese Mafia hitman was praised.[15][16]
Li turned down the role in Hidden Dragon because he promised his wife that he wouldn't make any films while she was pregnant.He turned down the role of Seraph in The Matrix trilogy due to his belief that it wasn't a role that required his skills and that the films were enough without adding his name to the cast list.The Green Hornet was still in development when Li was cast.It was moved to another studio in 2001.Jay Chou played the role of Kato in the film that was released in 2011.
He appeared in two more films in 2001, The One and Kiss of the Dragon, both of which did well at the box office.In July 2001 Li agreed to produce and star in an action film with Chan which was to be released in 2002 or 2003 but no further news of their collaboration surfaced until 2006Hero was released in the Chinese market in 2002.The highest-grossing motion picture in Chinese film history at the time was this film.In 2003 he reprised his role as a martial artist in the film Cradle 2 the Grave, which he starred in with Mark Dacascos.In 2004, Li provided motion capture work for the video game Jet Li: Rise to Honor.
East West Players, the oldest Asian American theatre in the United States, presented Li with the Visionary Award in 2002.The award is given to artists who have raised the visibility of the Asian Pacific American community.He delivered his speech in his native language.[21]
Li played a more serious role in the film.He portrayed an adult with a mentality of a child who has been raised like an animal.Although his martial arts skills were used extensively, it was a somber film with more depth than had been previously seen in Li's films.
In 2006 a martial arts film was released.He will continue to make martial arts films.He played the real-life founder of Chin Woo Athletic Association, who defeated foreign boxers and Japanese martial artists in publicised events at a time when China's power was seen as waning.Li has portrayed both Chen Jun, the avenger and the student in the film.As well as Huo Yuanjia himself.The film was released in Hong Kong on January 26, 2006 and in the United States on September 22, 2006.
I entered the martial arts movie market when I was 16.It won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years because I have proved my ability in this field.My life as a martial arts star is over.[23]
In an interview with the Shenzhen Daily newspaper, Li stated that this will be his last martial arts epic.He will continue his film career in other genres.He will continue to act in martial arts and epic action films that deal with religious and philosophical issues.There is a citation needed.
In August of 2007, Li's Hollywood film, War, was released, and he re-teamed with his co-stars, including the actor who starred with him in The One.War raked in a disappointing US$23 million at the box office, becoming one of Li's lowest grossers in America; however, it was a hit on video, accumulating nearly US$52 million in rental revenue.Most of Li's American/Western films have only been modest hits like Kiss of the Dragon, The One, Unleashed, and Cradle 2 the Grave.
He has a good control of his strength.He used too much strength in the past.He is the epitome of power.He's still the best.
In late 2007, Li returned to China to participate in the China/Hong Kong co-production of the period war film The Warlords.The Hong Kong Film Award for Best actor went to Li.
The first time that Li and Chan appeared together in a movie was in The Forbidden Kingdom, which was released to critical and commercial success on April 18, 2008.The Monkey King is a legend from the Chinese novel Journey to the West.The lead villain in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was played by Li.[28]
After a one-year hiatus from filmmaking, Li returned to acting in 2010, playing a mercenary in the film The Expendables.It was the third time he had worked with him.He reprised his role in The Expendables 2 and 3 in 2012 and 2014, respectively.According to a post on Diesel's Facebook page, Donnie Yen replaced Li in XXX: Return of Xander Cage.There are 29 and 30 words.
Li married Beijing Wushu Team member and Kids from Shaolin co-star Huang Qiuyan in 1987, and they have two daughters, Si and Taimi.They divorced in 1990.Li married a Hong Kong-based actress in 1999.He has two daughters with her.[37]
During the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, he was in the Maldives.Although it was widely reported that he had died during the disaster, he only suffered a minor foot injury, caused by a piece of floating furniture, while he was guiding his daughters to safety.The four of them were by the pool and slightly above the beach when the wave hit, barely escaping to the upper floors of a hotel building.[39]
At the World Wushu Championships in Beijing in 2007, Li was appointed as the IWUF ambassador.
In 2009, Li gave up his US citizenship after working in the United States for many years.He was thought to have taken up Singaporean citizenship, although Singaporean authorities did not initially confirm this.On July 28, 2009, the chairman of One Foundation announced that Li had become a Singaporean citizen.He was said to have chosen Singapore for his daughters' education.[3]
He launched his own fitness program in 2009.Adidas launched a special clothing line for the program that bears the initials of "JL".There are 43 and 44 words.
Li had been dealing with the issue of hyperthyroidism for the past three years.He stated in 2016 that he had recovered from his illness and that accepting fewer film offers was due to his charity work.[46]
He likes to play badminton, ride his bicycle, read and meditate in his free time.He has a collection of Tibetan beads.He says he is never bored.There are 47 and 48 words.
The difficulties of everyday life can be overcome with the help of religious philosophies according to Li.He doesn't care about fame because he thinks it's not something he can control.50
I don't think I'm the best fighter in the world.If someone learns martial arts to pick fights on the street, to lean on it as a keystone weapon in conflicts, and to use it to bully and intimidate others, then that person, in my opinion, cannot be considered a true martial artist.[51]
In three of Li's films, the message is that the suffering of one person can never be as significant as that of a nation, and that violence is never a solution.Li thinks that a smile and love are the most powerful weapons.[52]
He believes that the essence of martial arts is not power or speed but inner harmony, and that today's Wushu Championships place more emphasis on form than on being a martial artist.According to his views, the fastest athlete in the race shouldn't be considered a winner of the Wushu race.He would like to see artists have a distinctive style.According to Li, the new competition rules place limitations on martial artists.[52]
Li thinks that people should think about peaceful resolutions of conflicts instead of trying to play the hero and call the police if necessary.
A gun beats years of martial arts training in a split second.It is important to distinguish between reality and movies.The hero in a movie may be able to knock the gun off his opponent and save the day, but probably not in real life.[54]
He has stated that he does not want to use his martial arts skills in a real-life fight.[51]
Li is a "philanthropic ambassador" of the Red Cross Society of China.He made a contribution to the Red Cross' psychological sunshine project, which promotes mental health.[55]
The One Foundation was formed in April 2007, after Li's life-changing experience in theMaldives, when he was close to death.The One Foundation supports international disaster relief efforts in conjunction with the Red Cross as well as other efforts, including mental health awareness and suicide prevention.Li has been involved with recovery efforts in seven disasters since the foundation started.Li and other members of the entertainment sector were the first to appeal for donations of money, goods and materials to help the victims.The One Foundation had a volunteer who helped in the effort.61
In the December 2009 issue of Alliance magazine, Li stated that grassroots non-government organizations can help the government in its blind spots.Government relief can be detail-oriented.Grassroots NGOs can't be as big as a government effort, but they need to be flexible and independent.[62]