What do The Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Kill Bill have in Common? A man named Woo-ping.
Yuen Woo-ping (American Style: Woo-ping Yuen) has not only done many things in Chinese Martial Arts, but he also helped transform the American Cinema to include Kung Fu and Wuxia in the film culture. Multiple award winning, Hong Kong Avenue of Stars Inductee, and Chinese native, this man is not only a martial artist, but also an actor, director, and a choreographer as well.
Yuen Woo-ping’s History starts on January 1, 1945 at the tail end of World War II’s Pacific Theater. He was born in Guangzhou, Republic of China and has been known to only speak fluent Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. Often his interviews are translated and he uses translators when he is choreographing with American Filmmakers.
His film-making history starts in Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow. This was his first film directing famed artist, Jackie Chan. Immediately following this film, he directed Drunken Master which also included Jackie Chan, Hwang Jang Lee and Yuen Siu Tien. This new film also followed a similar plot to his first film but he was able to dip his feet into directing with such box office smashes.
Having completed directing these films in addition to many more, he was able to help Seasonal Films turn into a big independent production house. As an occasional actor, he saw what it was like for an actor to be directed and choreographed which gave him new insights on film-making. Having seen both the directorial side and also the acting side, he was able to be a better choreographer knowing what the middle ground between the two was. This is significant because it made him able to connect the director to the actor better and to help reach the audience in a more in depth way. He also helped steamroll the new impressions of Martial Arts on the new generations in Hong Kong and the Cinema world. As a choreographer, he changed the game once he made his transition along with Jackie Chan, and a few others, to American Cinema.
As the Action Advisor/Choreographer on American films such as Lethal Weapon 4 and The Matrix series, he gained experience in such a wide arena. He also was able to see multiple cultures enjoying his films on such a worldwide stage. Every major motion picture he choreographed, directed, or acted in Hong Kong made less money combined than his choreography for the first Matrix movie which made over $464 million dollars. In fact, if you tripled the box office numbers, it is still less than his single movie the Matrix. Clearly, he and many other filmmakers saw the potential for Chinese Martial Arts in America.
After creating these masterpieces and many more, he also choreographed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, one of the arguably memorable full Chinese Martial Arts movie in America. This movie will be talked about in later blog posts.
Moreover, Yuen Woo-ping has done more martial arts films in America than in China in the last 20 years. His IMDb page is extensive with the various things that he has done. He is not only well trained in martial arts, but his legacy remains that he is fantastic at choreographing various “Woo-pings.” Interesting that his name in American English describes exactly what he is best at. Though he may be 72, he still has a few more left in him and will never cease to have his films recognized as international sensations.
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