Jet Li

When the only people who could be considered comparable to you are Bruce Lee, Chow Yun-Fat and Jackie Chan, you know you're special. Jet Li is officially one of the greatest martial arts masters in China's history, a title he earned by winning five national titles during his teenage years. Even as he's approaching 40, there probably isn't a man on Earth who could kick his butt.

The name Jet Li is of the household variety in China, where he is the most popular movie star of his generation. At the turn of the century, his roles in such American blockbusters as Romeo Must Die and Lethal Weapon 4 made him famous on this side of the Pacific as well.


It was in an ironic twist that his mother enrolled him one summer, when he was a boy of eight, in a school today known as the Beijing Sports and Exercises School. As luck would have it, Li was sent to the wushu class, where he turned out to be quite a success and was asked to return at the end of the season. This boosted his confidence in himself, and under the expert supervision of coach Wu Bin, he acquired the nickname of “Jet” for his quicksilver moves.

He was selected the following year to perform at the opening ceremony of Pan-Asian-African-Latin American Table Tennis Championships, where he earned praise from the then premier Zhou Enlai. This was the first time he had left home, and he followed it up with a rigorous training schedule under Bin. Two years later, in 1974, he entered the National Wushu Championships. Here he became the All-around Champion, impressing the judges with his skill at spear and swords. This gave him widespread fame as a child prodigy in martial arts, and he continued his strenuous routine at the special martial arts school, which he had been attending ever since he was nine.

He began to train with twenty of the finest young wushu exponents in China, and was sent the same year on a diplomatic mission to America, when China opened diplomatic relations with the country. Here he displayed his skill on the lawns of the White House for President Nixon. This was part of the program of his ongoing participation in state functions under which he was chosen to represent his country in front of foreign dignitaries. He won the All-China Youth Championships upon his return from America, and despite serious injuries, won the National Games the next year.


By the time he was sixteen, he had won numerous accolades unmatched till date by anyone else, had won praise for his contribution to Sino-American relations, and experienced a close encounter with death while flying on a faulty plane. He was no longer the timid boy of his childhood, and lived up to his image as the "All-Around Wushu Champion of China,” by practicing Taiji, which involved the internalization of his wushu through philosophy.

He entered the silver screen in a movie that was the first to be released worldwide, Shaolin Temple, in 1981. It was an instant and stupendous success in Honkong, China and Korea, and propelled him to movie stardom overnight, breaking all known box-office records. His successive movies, Kids from Shaolin and Martial Arts of Shaolin, became hits merely on the strength of his name. He started off a kung-fu trend and kept on blazing a trail of success till his directorial venture Born to Defend in 1986, which did not do well at all.


His image took a hit and he was not taken into any remarkable roles for a few years, till Once Upon a Time in China in 1991, which was equally acclaimed by stars and fans, and was followed by successful sequels. This helped him establish himself as the one of the greatest Asian movie stars, and continued to charm his fans. When Quentin Tarantino showed an interest in him, Hollywood woke up to his potential, and he was cast as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4, where he proved his star qualities beyond doubt. He worked in movies like Romeo and Juliet, The One and Kiss of the Dragon, and has definitely arrived in Hollywood.

He was also cast in Hero and Cradle to the Grave. Though he has yet to find true Hollywood movie stardom, Jet Li is on his way, and he has superb talent and his age on his side. A Huo Yuanjia biopic and an untitled movie collaboration with Malaysian director Ronny Yu are currently on the cards, but if Jet Li has to crack Hollywood, more directors have to take notice of his undeniable good looks, killer charm, martial arts abilities, and star potential.