# Best Kung Fu star



## Archimedes

I know Bruce Lee is the popular choice but check out the films of Wang Yu

in particular,  Beach of the War Gods is like the 300 of its day - amazing fight scenes


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## Nesacat

Bruce Lee was good for his time and the movies he made. I loved those movies and grew up on them.

However I've always preferred Jet Fi for skill and grace of movement. His fight scenes are always a joy to watch. It's like poetry in motion.


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## Talysia

I think that Jet Li has some brilliant fight scenes in his films, so I'd pick him as my best Kung Fu star.


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## ravenus

Is this Kung Fu only or a general martial arts thing? I'm not very informed about the various styles. I do like Jet Li's action and I'm very thrilled with the new Muay Thai star Tony Jaa.


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## Mouse

Jet Li for me too, he's brill!


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## BookStop

Jackie Chan is known for his showmanship, but if you ever really *watch* him, he is amazing.

Tony Jaa is fairly new (to me), but he brilliant!


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## SpaceShip

Who are the actors that used to be in The Water Margin?  I think this was on in the late '70s, early 80s and my two (very young at the time) sons and I were always rivited by it.  I know it wasn't strictly kung fu because they could fly really high at times but it was fantastic anyway!


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## HoopyFrood

My dad was always liked Bruce Lee, so I grew up watching the films of him. He's pretty cool.

Although I have to say, I love Jackie Chan. He mixes humour with some absolutely fantastic and often outrageous moves! 

Tony Jaa is in *Warrior King*, right? Man, that film is awesome! Elephant-kidnapping! And so many arms and legs being broken! A brilliant film purely for entertainment value!


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## Mouse

I do adore Jackie Chan too, read his autobiography, couldn't put it down!


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## Jaggy Jai

Donnie Yen is one of the best over all stars.


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## Munkeygames

Sonny Chiba - The original Martial Arts Star


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## Connavar

Jet LI is my second fav but the best almost as great as Bruce is Jackie Chan cause he has made soo many great martial arts movies. So many funny ones with action scenes that makes doubt your eyes.  If you knew how many times he broke almost every bone in his body just to make awesome scenes you admire him more.  Heh he even said there is no greater fear than when he is just about to do a stunt, no wonder with his track record.

Great touch he shows in the credits how he does his action scenes.  Cant believe how he does everything for real. For example i saw Project A 2 and in the credits you saw how he ate chilli peppars to use it against his opponent.  I was like you dont even wanna fake a simple thing like that and the same thing with a scene they were drowning him for real just to make look realistic i was like what th heck 

Bruce is untouchable.  No has hade the skill and charisma as he had.


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## D_Davis

Easily Lau Kar Leung.

A real martial arts master.  LKL's family lineage can be traced all the way back to original shaolin disciples and his father studied under Lam Sai Wing, Wong Fei Hung's star pupil.

His family is the originator of the Hung Gar fist - the style most often seen in the kung fu pian.

Not only is he an amazing martial artists, but he has made some of the most amazing films of all time:

36th Chamber of Shaolin
Heroes of the East
Disciples of the 36th Chamber
Legendary Weapons of China
Martial Club
Mad Monkey Kung Fu
Dirty Ho
Challenge of the Masters


Also, LKL, along with Tong Gaai, choreographed many of the best Shaw Brothers kung fu flicks.

It is no exaggeration to say that without the Lau family, martial arts cinema would not be the same as it is today.  LKL shaped the genre more than any other single person.


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## Humaren

Toss up between Jet Li and Jackie Chan...depending on my mood.


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## Connavar

D_Davis said:


> Easily Lau Kar Leung.
> 
> A real martial arts master.  LKL's family lineage can be traced all the way back to original shaolin disciples and his father studied under Lam Sai Wing, Wong Fei Hung's star pupil.
> 
> His family is the originator of the Hung Gar fist - the style most often seen in the kung fu pian.
> 
> Not only is he an amazing martial artists, but he has made some of the most amazing films of all time:
> 
> 36th Chamber of Shaolin
> Heroes of the East
> Disciples of the 36th Chamber
> Legendary Weapons of China
> Martial Club
> Mad Monkey Kung Fu
> Dirty Ho
> Challenge of the Masters
> 
> 
> Also, LKL, along with Tong Gaai, choreographed many of the best Shaw Brothers kung fu flicks.
> 
> It is no exaggeration to say that without the Lau family, martial arts cinema would not be the same as it is today.  LKL shaped the genre more than any other single person.



Arent you overrating LKL ?   He is unknown world wide.  No has done as much for martial arts movies like Bruce Lee.  His skills and charisma made the genre as famous as it is today.   Not saying LKL isnt great cause i havent seen any of his movies.

He is one of the biggest legends in movie history.  Im not saying Shaw Brothers wasnt important it wasnt Bruce Lee famous.


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## D_Davis

Overrating Lau Kar Leung?

No.  That's impossible to do.



Perhaps in terms of the western world, Bruce Lee is more well known, but in terms of Hong Kong and martial arts cinema, Lau Kar Leung, and the entire Lau family reign supreme.

The Lau family is the heart and soul of martial arts cinema.  Their lineage can be traced back to the very beginnings of shaolin kung fu (the film Executioner From Shaolin is a movie about the beginnings of the Lau family, and the genesis of the hung gar fist, the Lau family style).  Lau Charn, the Lau patriarch, worked on the Wong Fei Hung series during the 1940s.  Without the Lau family, martial arts cinema as we know it would not exist.  And the films of Lau Kar Leung have done more to influence modern martial arts cinema than any other filmmaker.

While Bruce Lee was a great man, brilliant, and physically powerful, in my opinion he never made a film that truly captured his unique talent.  His films, frankly, are quite poor.  

His worst decision?  

To put Game of Death aside and focus on Enter the Dragon.  Had Game of Death been completed to Lee's original vision (just watch the 40 minutes of unedited footage on the second disc of the ETD special edition) we would have a real Lee film.  However, this didn't happen.

As far as martial arts films go, Enter the Dragon is pretty bad.  The action is horribly framed and edited beyond all comprehension.  The camera is pushed in way too tight, thus blocking from view most of the movement.  Kung fu is all about movement, and the framing and editing in ETD impedes the movement of the bodies at each and every turn.  Of course, this is not Lee's fault, but still.

I've seen literally hundreds of martial arts films better than anything Lee did. 

I will not deny Lee's charisma, and his amazing talent.  He was a one of a kind.  However, I do not think he was ever given the proper film to showcase his true talent.  

He just didn't work with very talented filmmakers.  

Had he signed on with the Shaw Brothers, and worked with LKL, or Chang Cheh, or Sun Cheung, he might have made better films, but the Shaw Brothers were to strict in their contract and so he went to Golden Harvest, a studio that didn't start making great films until after Lee's death.

Bruce Lee was a mega star, and did a lot to popularize the genre in the East and West, but the heart and soul of martial arts cinema belongs to the Lau family, and LKL specifically.  Lee is a more iconic figure, and more well known outside the genre, but LKL is truly the king.  They call him "Pops" in HK because he is considered the father of the genre.  LKL directed, starred in, or choreographed over 50 films.

Even Bey Logan, one of the most well known martial arts film experts, calls LKL "The Undisputed Martial Arts King."

You should watch those films I listed.


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## Connavar

Im not talking about who made the best movies since im not blind and saw his movies was very low budget,low quality but his talent,charisma shone through.


LKL might be important as director,starred,choreograph but i doubt he is Bruce Lee big in HK .  Father of the genre sure but there is only one king.

The real shame with Bruce Lee is that he died when he became huge and the genre more famous and would get to make his own movies with better budget and quality.

Still no matter the quality of his movies not even the greatest martial arts stars of today like Jet and Chan can touch him.


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## D_Davis

We'll just have to agree to disagree.

If this thread was titled who is the most popular, then I could see Lee being chosen - he is an icon.

But, the thread is asking for the best, and LKL is clearly the best and has done the most for the genre, and the Lau family was involved in martial arts films when Lee was just an infant.

You really should see and study some Lau films and his impact on the genre though - you might be surprised to find that you change your mind when you realize what a monumental force he was.


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## Connavar

Im not saying Lee is good just because he was the most popular, IMO he is the best Kung Fu star i have seen  despite there are several great ones.

I might see some of LKL  movies if you could direct me to the best ones.   I might come to understand his impact,place in history of the genre.  

Also it would be good to see older Kung Fu movies that were good.  Other than Master Killer, many of the 70s or earlier movies i have seen was so bad that they make Enter The Dragon look like a masterpiece.   I dont care much for Enter the dragon.

But its hard to think i could rate anyone as high as BL.  He has awed me too much with his skills.


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## D_Davis

Connavar said:


> Also it would be good to see older Kung Fu movies that were good.  Other than Master Killer, many of the 70s or earlier movies i have seen was so bad that they make Enter The Dragon look like a masterpiece.   I dont care much for Enter the dragon.



My best of thread has loads of examples of older films.

I would definitely start by going through the catalog of Chang Cheh.  He start making wuxia pians in the 1960s, and then moved on to the kung fu pian in the 1970s and 80s.  His most popular stuff are the films he made with the Venoms.  While these are fun, I prefer his more serious work in the 60s.  He made some films that I think are better than just about any film ever made, on par with those of Kurosawa, Leone, Peckinpah, and so on.

Chang directed over 100 movies, and at least half of these are worth checking out, and a 1/4 of them are down right amazing.

He was not a martial artist at all - he actually started out as a film critic, and some of his scholarly work on cinema has shaped Chinese film criticism.


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## chang1326

Bruce Lee is simply u can say the person who took kung fu at this level ...These days my obvious choice is Jet Lee,jackie chan and Stephen Chow (kung fu hustle fame)


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## biodroid

I can't believe you guys are saying Jet Li is better than Bruce Lee! Are you kidding me he is the only kung fu artist who was so fast that they had to slow the film down so you can actually see what he was doing. Bruce Lee is the epitome of martial arts he is the only one I have heard of who has invented a fighting style that can adapt to any other fighting style. E.g. it's a bit difficult to fight kung fu against tae kwon do, so he developed a style (not sure what it's called but saw the biography on him) that whatever style you are competing against will let you adapt to that style and more. Jackie Chan has no idea how to be a martial artist, he is a clown more than anything else. I admit Jet Li is the best in todays times. Has anyone considered the other big kung fu fighter the world has seen and was Bruce Lee's on screen enemy a few times, the mr Bolo Yeung.


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## Humaren

biodroid said:


> Jackie Chan has no idea how to be a martial artist, he is a clown more than anything else.


 
Jackie Chan is a very good Martial Artist, he just likes to have fun with it and I see nothing wrong with that. Buce Lee Chose a serious path, Jackie a fun one. Neither is right and neither is wrong, and the two men should realy not be compared to each other.


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## D_Davis

Jackie Chan, along with Sammo Hung and Yeun Biao, was trained in performance martial arts and, more specifically, Peking Opera.  Just as Jet Li performs wushu, a kind of performance martial art - one designed to look spectacular over being a form of self-defense, although it is still a full-contact sport.

So no, Chan is not a trained "fighter", but he could most definitely hold his own, and he is still a martial artist.  There is more to martial arts than simply being able to fight.

But still, no one touches the Lau family.


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