Question 1

What is jeet kune do, the unique way of fighting that Bruce Lee developed?

Accepted Answer

Jeet kune do is a Cantonese term which translates as something like “the way of the stopping fist” or more poetically, “the way of the intercepting fist.”

Question 2

How did Hong Kong kung fu movies first make their mark in America?

Accepted Answer

It has something to do with the phenomenal success of Bruce Lee, and the appeal of Jackie Chan.

Question 3

How much do you know about Shaolin Monastery, home of kung fu that a 1982 Jet Li martial arts film rescued from obscurity?

Accepted Answer

We sort fact from myth about the staple of martial arts films.

Question 4

He was played by Jet Li and Jackie Chan in movies, but who was Wong Fei-hung for real?

Accepted Answer

For a man whose story has featured in 100 films, surprisingly little is known about this most famous exponent of the southern style of kung fu.

Question 5

Which Hong Kong martial arts series was the world’s longest running film series?

Accepted Answer

Actor Kwan Tak-hing played Wong Fei-hung in 80 films and made the martial arts legend a household name.

Question 6

How did wuxia movies drew on martial arts novels by Louis Cha, Gu Long and Liang Yusheng?

Accepted Answer

Film directors such as Wong Kar-wai and Tsui Hark mined plots and characters from novelists’ tales of romance, chivalry and combat.

Question 7

What is wushu, which Jet Li studied and made famous in Hong Kong martial arts movies?

Accepted Answer

Led by Jet Li and Donnie Yen, wushu hit the big screen during the 1990s Hong Kong martial arts film revival.

Question 8

How did Yuen Woo-ping shape the Matrix trilogy with his action choreography?

Accepted Answer

Although The Matrix movies were heavy on special effects, Yuen also applied the physical wire work techniques he used in Hong Kong.

Question 9

What was so special about the Oscar-winning film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon?

Accepted Answer

For starters, Ang Lee’s martial arts classic mixes sword fighting, romance and female empowerment.

Question 10

How does Wong Kar-wai's The Grandmaster capture the essence of Chinese culture and history?

Accepted Answer

The film shows with precision the different martial arts styles, with choreography by Yuen Woo-ping, and sets them against 20th century Chinese history.

Question 11

Jet Li’s nameless Hero encapsulates Zhang Yimou’s political philosophy in the director's 2002 martial arts film. But how exactly?

Accepted Answer

It’s difficult to ignore the film’s propagandist politics, which are a justification of China’s philosophy that authoritarianism is better than chaos.

Hong Kong martial arts cinema